ACTION !!!

Wev'e been waiting for our precious sport to be back, here it is! Well not exactly today, as Melbourne is in one week, but to help us waiting for that, the first words of Nico are already online

''"I'm really looking forward to getting out onto the Albert Park track. I had a great race in Melbourne in 2008 and I am determined that we will have a similarly strong start to this season. In character, it’s a very challenging semi-street circuit which usually suits our car well.

Winter testing has been good, but I think we are not where we want to be just yet. However, the potential for development is huge because of the new rules, so we will be looking to making strong progress throughout the year to get closer to the podium.

I think the regs are all good. It is very likely that they will improve overtaking and ramp up the excitement in the sport for everybody’s benefit."''

We can wish him the best for this week-end, wich means for Nico to end the week-end by champagne like last year...so beautiful memories!

Friday 27th of march: I've got circles under my eyes but alors a biiig smile on my face. Is there a best test day possible for Nico? First at the end of the first free pratcice and first at the end of the second free pratcice, here is our champion!! The new season couldn't start in a better way (for Nico's fans of course!). Let's see what will happen tomorrow and if Nico will do a big performance during the qualification session! Let's hope for it!

"''We were definitely quicker than I thought, which is really nice. We've done very well today but our target is to score points because it is not clear how much fuel other people were running; having said that, we weren't running on fumes either. We have some more performance to show, and it will be interesting tomorrow. My hopes are now higher than before, and I think that we can score consistent points this year.

I'm confident, and think I will do a good job but we still need to wait and see because we don't know what other people were running today; I am definitely pleased with today and I think we have done very well.''"

Saturday 28th of march: I have to admit that I'm a little bit disappointed after those qualifications...Nico is "only" 5th, that's not what we hoped for after he finished all the practice sessions in the first place...but well, nothing is lost, we will see what he can do tomorrow...and I'm sure he can do many many things!! GOOOO NICOOO

"I think it is a good thing to be a bit disappointed with fifth place! Our qualifying session itself was consistent with everything else I have experienced so far and the car has been nice to drive all weekend. From the work we have done today, we are in a good position to start the race, perhaps better than we would have imagined when we arrived here. We are among the fastest cars but it will be interesting to see what fuel load everybody is running. The start tomorrow of course will be important, but thankfully we will don't have too many cars running KERS close by us and possibly challenging us off the line. The big factor tomorrow will be tyres, but I think we have a good strategy and positive reliability, so we have all the tools to do a good job in the race." N.R

Sunday 29th of march: A nice race, it's good to see other pilots on the podium. Nico did a great start, but he was surprised by the pilots who have the KERS. He fought during all the race, each turn but unfortunately his tires were off at the end of the race...it's a pity because he could have been on the podium =( But well, the 6th place is not so bad! And a little present or compensation, Nico recorded the fastest lap of the day ! Yes, champion!

"It was a challenging race and we suffered with a few glitches here and there, firstly from my side when on lap one I left the door open at turn three and I lost some positions, and then we had a problem on my first pit stop. The restart after the first safety car on cold tyres was very difficult, I had no grip at all and again in the last part of the race, I had taken everything out of my tyres and they were dropping out, so it was impossible to keep anyone behind me. All said, I think two points is a good outcome because I believe we are faster than a couple of the cars who finished ahead of us today, so from a championship perspective, it's looks okay. It was an exciting race today thanks to the new rules. "

Photo: Sutton Image