Q & A with Bruno Senna
Monday, June 18th 2007, 16:09 GMT
Conducted and provided by Bruno Senna's press office.
Q. You've made a big impact on the GP2 series after just three races. Have you been surprised with your start to the season?
Bruno Senna: To be honest when I started the season I expected to struggle a bit more to be in the top ten, probably because our testing pre-season at Paul Ricard hadn't been that strong, but obviously that didn't happen.
We have been comfortably in the top ten, and really in the top five most of the time so it's been pretty good for me. I wasn't expecting to win a race so early [Barcelona, round two], so that was a good surprise and it showed that when the package comes together I definitely have the pace to be there and I am prepared to win races.
Q. Monaco proved quite tricky for you following your Barcelona victory, but we understand there were some car problems that were discovered after the race?
BS: Yes, they only found out when they got back to the workshop in England that the front anti-roll bar was broken. Unfortunately these things happen, especially on a circuit like Monaco.
We know it wasn't broken the whole weekend because it gets tested before every session, so it must have happened during the race, but what we don't know is if it was at the beginning or end.
The car wasn't very good the whole race, and unfortunately we just didn't have the best car in the world that weekend. We had some real problems with pace in the first sector, but Adrian [Zaugg] had the same problems so we weren't very strong with some details, but that is the way it happens sometimes.
Q. You will begin a two-day mid-season test at Paul Ricard tomorrow. What are the team's objectives at the test?
BS: We have a very detailed test programme and we are going to cover basically every area, we are just going to test everything! We have some ideas for what is going to happen at the next few circuits, and I pretty much know where the flaws of the car are now, so now I have been able to identify that at the first few races, we can work on those small areas to make the car a very good all around car.
If we can do that I believe we can be very competitive. Our lap times at Ricard have traditionally not looked that good, but we're not chasing lap times and I think we should have a successful two days.
Q. And after the test you have back-to-back races at Magny Cours and Silverstone. What is your experience of those tracks and what results will you be aiming for?
BS: I haven't driven at all at Magny Cours before. I've played it on the PlayStation so I know the circuit from that but obviously there will be drivers that have a lot more experience than me there. I have a lot of Silverstone experience, and I know many secrets that make me pretty quick there, so I will just do my best at each circuit with the experience that I have.
I had a great weekend with the Ferrari Challenge at Silverstone last week, getting two poles, and two races wins. I never won in F3 on the GP circuit, although I did take a pole position. I finished second in the race and it was wet, which I'm glad about because I know the grip in the wet and the dry, so I'm fairly confident that I can be competitive in all conditions. You need a good set-up and good balance at Silverstone, so if we have a good car, then I'm very confident.
Monday, June 18th 2007, 16:09 GMT
Conducted and provided by Bruno Senna's press office.
Q. You've made a big impact on the GP2 series after just three races. Have you been surprised with your start to the season?
Bruno Senna: To be honest when I started the season I expected to struggle a bit more to be in the top ten, probably because our testing pre-season at Paul Ricard hadn't been that strong, but obviously that didn't happen.
We have been comfortably in the top ten, and really in the top five most of the time so it's been pretty good for me. I wasn't expecting to win a race so early [Barcelona, round two], so that was a good surprise and it showed that when the package comes together I definitely have the pace to be there and I am prepared to win races.
Q. Monaco proved quite tricky for you following your Barcelona victory, but we understand there were some car problems that were discovered after the race?
BS: Yes, they only found out when they got back to the workshop in England that the front anti-roll bar was broken. Unfortunately these things happen, especially on a circuit like Monaco.
We know it wasn't broken the whole weekend because it gets tested before every session, so it must have happened during the race, but what we don't know is if it was at the beginning or end.
The car wasn't very good the whole race, and unfortunately we just didn't have the best car in the world that weekend. We had some real problems with pace in the first sector, but Adrian [Zaugg] had the same problems so we weren't very strong with some details, but that is the way it happens sometimes.
Q. You will begin a two-day mid-season test at Paul Ricard tomorrow. What are the team's objectives at the test?
BS: We have a very detailed test programme and we are going to cover basically every area, we are just going to test everything! We have some ideas for what is going to happen at the next few circuits, and I pretty much know where the flaws of the car are now, so now I have been able to identify that at the first few races, we can work on those small areas to make the car a very good all around car.
If we can do that I believe we can be very competitive. Our lap times at Ricard have traditionally not looked that good, but we're not chasing lap times and I think we should have a successful two days.
Q. And after the test you have back-to-back races at Magny Cours and Silverstone. What is your experience of those tracks and what results will you be aiming for?
BS: I haven't driven at all at Magny Cours before. I've played it on the PlayStation so I know the circuit from that but obviously there will be drivers that have a lot more experience than me there. I have a lot of Silverstone experience, and I know many secrets that make me pretty quick there, so I will just do my best at each circuit with the experience that I have.
I had a great weekend with the Ferrari Challenge at Silverstone last week, getting two poles, and two races wins. I never won in F3 on the GP circuit, although I did take a pole position. I finished second in the race and it was wet, which I'm glad about because I know the grip in the wet and the dry, so I'm fairly confident that I can be competitive in all conditions. You need a good set-up and good balance at Silverstone, so if we have a good car, then I'm very confident.
