Taffin: The work we have done so far has paid off

How did you feel the British Grand Prix went for the team?

It obviously wasn’t a classic performance but we didn’t have any particular worries. The power unit worked fine and we didn’t have any major reliability issues. It’s now the fourth race where we have used the new units and everything has worked well. We have now got to the point where we are working on the smaller issues to improve the wider picture and give extra performance through driveability or additional power. Having a reliable and generally driveable PU was one of our major targets this year and now that has been achieved we can work on the bigger picture, together with Enstone. We’re learning as a team all the time about operating car and every lesson learnt helps for the future.

Did you test anything specific in the Silverstone test?

The race weekend in Silverstone showed that we could still improve driveability in the wet. We experienced every type of condition over the three days, from heavy rain to a drying track, so we were able to see how the power unit performed in every circumstance. We identified that we could make minor improvements to the driveability in the slippery conditions so we have been concentrating on this in Silverstone. In actual fact we had perfect conditions to get this work done so when we go to another wet event – which will probably be the next race by the way we are going this year! – we will be fully prepared.

What challenges does Hungary present for the team?

We know that slower tracks with lots of tight corners aren’t where our strengths lie. In general the car didn’t perform well over the kerbs and in the slower turns, but with the extensive work we achieved at Silverstone, Budapest should benefit from new parts and a better understanding of the car. On top of that, Budapest also has short straights between the corners so this could turn into our direction. We hence look forward to Budapest to maximise what we have got.

The same power unit is used in the Red Bull, does this give an indication of the performance potential of the engine now?

It’s obviously encouraging to see that the power unit is now capable of fighting on track at the front and going for pole positions. It shows the work we have done has paid off but we know we still need to increase the power output and this is where our focus lies as we know how to achieve that.