AT&T Williams F1

I'm writing this column at 37,000 feet, while en route to Japan. I'm heading home for 10 days during the three-week break to see family and friends, before heading straight to Turkey for the next round of the GP2 Championship at the end of the month.

It will be nice to have a break because I've been busy recently. After the Nurburgring round of the GP2 Championship two weeks ago, I flew straight to Jerez in Spain to test the Williams FW29 for two days.

It was a very important test for me because I completed several low-fuel runs, which allowed me to learn about how the car behaves in qualifying trim. It was also extremely hot on the second day of the test and I was pleased not to have any problems with my fitness.

I then returned to England to concentrate on the GP2 races in Hungary. I'd never previously driven at the Hungaroring, so I did a lot of preparatory work on the simulator at the Williams factory and I watched videos of previous races at the track.

I felt quite well prepared by the time I arrived at the track, but I was still surprised to end Friday's practice session second fastest. The car wasn't to my liking over the bumps, so there was still a bit of set-up work to do before qualifying.

While we managed to improve the car, I found it hard to get into a rhythm during qualifying because there were a lot of yellow flags during the session and I seemed to find traffic on all of my quick laps. As a result I lined up eighth on the grid, which was a bit disappointing.

In race one I made a good start, but I pitted at the end of lap two for new rear tyres. That gave me a handful of clear laps in which I could drive faster than if I'd continued in traffic, in eighth place. The first car I caught was that of Karun Chandhok and the time I lost behind him cost me the lead of the race.

During the race's only Safety Car period, Adam Carroll exited the pitlane just ahead of me and he went on to win the race. Without the time lost behind Chandhok, I would have been ahead of Adam but, as it was, I ended the race 0.7s behind him. I didn't expect to finish second from eighth on the grid, so it was a good result, but I felt a little disappointment that I didn't win as well.

Sunday's race was a bit more fraught. After starting seventh, I battled hard with several cars, until I touched wheels with Giorgio Pantano in the middle of the race. The impact bent my left front suspension, but I continued. However, when Adrian Zaugg turned into me at Turn 2 later in the race, my DAMS team thought it sensible to retire the car on safety grounds. It was a frustrating end to the weekend.

Only one step of the GP2 podium remains unconquered for me… Roll on the next race at Istanbul Park on 25 August!

Kazuki