Formula 1

Canadian GP: Albers, Sutil pre-race interview

In advance of this week's Canadian Grand Prix, the Etihad Aldar Spyker Formula One Team has conducted Q&As with drivers Christijan Albers and Adrian Sutil. Q&A with Christijan Albers Do you feel the team made progress in Monaco? The gap to the ...

Published: Jun 7, 2007, 5:04 AM

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In advance of this week's Canadian Grand Prix, the Etihad Aldar Spyker Formula One Team has conducted Q&As with drivers Christijan Albers and Adrian Sutil.

Q&A with Christijan Albers

Do you feel the team made progress in Monaco?

The gap to the others was smaller, for sure. We were not that far away in the race, it was a shame we could not finish, especially so close to the end. Monaco is a special track and the differences in cars are not so obvious, but I hope we can keep up like this for the rest of the season.

Did you find any developments in the pre-event test in Ricard that you will be able to apply in Canada?

We did find some gains in Paul Ricard. We were able to put in some kilometres and gather some reasonable data for the race, which should help us. We know that we are still lacking in top speed and Canada is a high speed track, but we tested some issues that will help us in the braking areas and with balance and set-up.

Do you think that the low downforce, aggressive turn-in of the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve will suit your driving style?

The track doesn't matter actually as you always adapt your driving style to the circuit you are racing on that weekend. I do like the Montreal circuit though. I have had some good results there before; in 2005 with Minardi I qualified 15th, which was better than we ever hoped for at the time, and I really enjoy driving there. The event is also fantastic - you are only four or five minutes from the city so there is a good atmosphere. It's great for the team as they can enjoy everything the city has to offer.

What are the goals for this race?

We are always pushing for a good result. It's not always easy, but we have to go for it and push - the guys back at the factory really deserve it. At this point in the season we have to wait for the B-spec car to move forward a little bit more, but now, as a team, we have to concentrate on getting every small detail right to be competitive. We cannot afford to make any mistakes now, so that's got to be the goal at this race and every race now on - to be on top of everything.

Q&A with Adrian Sutil

You have just finished your first Monaco Grand Prix event. How would you sum up that weekend?

In general it was a great feeling. It was my first time in Monaco as a Formula 1 driver, although of course I have done Formula 3 it's completely different - you don't have your own garage, you only have very limited track time in practice, Qualifying and then a short race, but in F1 you are the show! It was a very special weekend for me and for all the team. More importantly though, we had a good weekend as a team. We were ahead of some people, we raced and of course I was fastest in the wet on Saturday, which was just amazing.

How did it feel to see your name on the top of the time sheets on Saturday morning?

I was surprised, but it was incredible to see the reaction of everyone in the team, the paddock and the press. I had a lot of people come up and congratulate me afterwards. I was happy to see my name up there on the top, it's a good memory.

There also seemed to be a definite improvement in performance from the team, with you actually racing for the first time this season.

We did see an improvement in the race and put in a good performance. The car was quick and we could race and outqualify other cars, but it's a shame we didn't finish. I just ran a little wide and hit the barriers. I still did over 50 laps though and got a good feel for how things were going. We were able to fight with the Aguri and the Toyota, which was very interesting. I think we could be in the same position again in Canada.

Did you find any new developments in the Canada pre-event test in Paul Ricard that will help you continue the pace in this race?

We did make some improvements in the test and the performance was overall quite good. We used the low downforce set-up on the long straight, but it's not that similar to Montreal as there are not as many chicanes. Hopefully the developments we found will work in Montreal though and we will continue at the same rate we did in Monaco. The goal has definitely got to be to keep cars behind us, have a clean race and get to the finish.

Canada is the second street circuit in a row. You went well in Monaco, are street circuits something of a speciality for you?

Monaco is one of my favourite tracks, it's very special. Montreal is a bit different as the walls are not so close and it's not quite as tight. But I think it will be a good race. I'm looking forward to it.

-credit: spyker

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