Q&A with Federico Gastaldi (Lotus)

Sochi has plenty of unknowns for the drivers and teams. What are you looking forward to this weekend?

Everything! It is a brand new adventure for F1 and an exciting one. F1 is a global spectacle and to be at the first race in Russia will be a great experience for us all. Most important will be to meet and engage with the fans and to ensure they take F1 to their hearts. We have a very good Russian Formula 1 driver in the sport with Daniil Kvyat and at Enstone we had the first ever Russian F1 driver - our friend Vitaly Petrov. It will be nice to see him again and to get his thoughts on how his fellow countrymen will embrace our sport more.

Do you see Russia as an important market for F1 in the future?

Absolutely. We should be racing in the world’s biggest country. We have seen over the last 20 years or so, since the change from the Soviet Union, that the opportunities there are huge. The rapid expansion of the economy and the many big sporting events that are being held here over the next decade will make for great momentum in commercial opportunities. At Lotus F1 Team we are always investigating new markets and looking to expand the F1 experience for new audiences.

We are racing around an Olympic venue this weekend. F1 and the Olympics are two of the world’s biggest sporting attractions. Do you think there could be more events like this?

Well, for sure there are parallels, in that the occasions are massive and attract huge companies and brands. That can only be healthy for F1. It is something that the sport as a whole and the teams involved need to maximise all the time. There is so much in F1 that is attractive to big brands. The technology and efficiency of the cars this year is genuinely exciting for the future of the sport, so we need to promote it as far and as wide as possible. Ultimately though, I think F1 has been strong in having a good relationship with the Olympic philosophy because we have a race at Montreal where the Olympic rowing was held in 1976 and also the Barcelona track was built just before the 1992 Olympics, so there is a nice legacy there.

How do you summarise the Suzuka weekend?

Of course it was difficult for everyone because of the freak incident that befell Jules. It leaves a big cloud over everything. As a team we really wish him all the best for the coming days and weeks and we all hope for a positive outcome. Before that, it was difficult to draw real conclusions because of the difficult conditions. I must say that both drivers did very well, especially as visibility from the spray was so bad.

On another day we could have got points, but we got another double finish and after the circumstances of the race this was something positive.

How do you judge the FIA’s calls on safety cars and red flags during the race?

It is a hugely difficult job to have and anyone can be an expert with the benefit of hindsight. I must say I thought they got it right in the way the safety cars and the race suspension played out. Initially it was obvious that it was just too wet but they did the sensible thing to have a good number of laps behind the safety car. Later when the rain returned it was starting to get bad again and then obviously it was completely the correct decision to red flag it when the serious incident occurred. As a sport we will always look for lessons to be learnt, especially after there has been a serious incident, but overall I think they did a good job under very demanding and stressful conditions.

Are the building blocks for 2015 continuing to fall in to place for the team?

Yes, there is plenty going on behind the scenes which are positive for 2015. I keep saying that we still have opportunities for more points this season which we must focus on but at the same time we are pushing hard for next season. It looks exciting and we are working toward re-gaining our position further up the grid. Everyone at Enstone is massively concentrated and motivated on making this happen.