Nico's Chinese GP Column

Posted on Tuesday 21 Oct 2008 and tagged with nico, china.

Nico_s_column_article

There’s not much to report after Shanghai, except that I wish I’d finished higher up! To come home in 15th place was disappointing and I’m already focusing on Brazil, which should be a little better for us.

My problems in the Chinese Grand Prix actually began before the race had even started, when Mark Webber dropped 10 places on the grid following an engine change. That promoted  me to 14th, on the dirty side of the grid, and that made it difficult to get good traction away from the line.

I ran as high as 11th during my first stint, despite getting stuck behind Rubens Barrichello early in the race. I then made my first pitstop on lap 15 and my second on lap 39, after which I sat on the gearboxes of Heikki Kovalainen and Mark Webber until the end of the race. I was quicker than them through some sections of the track, but my top gear was too short and that meant I wasn’t able to attack them at the end of the long back straight.

My team-mate Kazuki Nakajima proved that a one-stop strategy was the way to go if you were starting outside the top 10, but we decided to spread our bets as a team in case there was a Safety Car period. We thought there might be a Safety Car when Adrian Sutil parked his Force India on the outside of the final corner, but it didn’t happen.

I’m now heading to New York to spend time with my girlfriend, Vivian, who’s working over there. The city’s on pretty much the same time zone as Sao Paulo, so I’ll be able to acclimatise for the next race while I’m there. I think we’ll have a good time because I’ve never spent any time in the Big Apple and I’ve heard great things about it.

While I’m there, I’ll do a lot of training because Interlagos is one of only three tracks on this year’s calendar that runs in an anti-clockwise direction. That makes it very tough on the neck and the track is also very bumpy, so your body gets shaken around a lot.

I’m looking forward to Interlagos because it’s an interesting track to drive and was the scene of one of my best races last year, when I finished fourth. The layout seems to suit Williams and, unlike many teams, we don’t seem to have any problems with tyre wear. Unfortunately, Bridgestone are going one step harder with their compounds this year, but we’ll see what we can do. I want to end the season on a positive note.

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