GP2 Hockenheim - Race 1 press conference

Starting with you Pastor, it looked like your race was all about the start and after that you just managed the race keeping Pic behind you.

Pastor Maldonado: Yes it was very like that. The start was good and I saw he didn’t have a very good start so I was looking for Sergio. The car was perfect today and I had a good pit stop so everything was good. My pace was very constant and it wasn’t easy but it was quite a good race for us. Another win, our fourth this season so I’m happy for the points and the championship. It’s good for us and we will keep pushing for the next races. I am very happy for the team because they work hard to give me a good, consistent car. Maybe we don’t have the quickest car in GP2 but we are the most constant which is maybe the difference between us and the other drivers.

At this point of the season, the only question we can ask you is what can go wrong and what would make you lose the title?

Pastor: Everything can happen. The championship is still open and we still have a lot of races to do, but I think we are working in a good direction to win the championship and we need to keep the same way with our working to stay like that. Our strongest point is the consistency.

You have made no mistake this season. What’s changed for you?

Pastor: I think everything. Everything is going good for us. From the beginning when you start good i think you finish good. It’s difficult to make mistakes because we have a very good car and I’m driving very well so the team is very confident in me.

What about tomorrow?

Pastor: Tomorrow I will do my best to get on the podium and get more points. It’s going to be difficult because I have a lot of quick drivers ahead of me, but I will try to do my best and get more points for the championship.

Sergio, you were struggling a little bit during free practice on Friday and then you found pace in qualifying… Today, it was all about the start with you too and you kept pushing but couldn’t catch up with Pastor.

Sergio Perez: I think our first stint was really good, probably stronger than him, and then after the stop I tried to do one lap more and make the difference but it didn’t happen so when I came to the pits I think I was in a good position to come behind Maldonado but then the pit stop was okay, but then the limiter didn’t work so I lost some metres and then I lost about 3 to 4 seconds to him so the race was done. After the pit stop I struggled a bit with the grip of the car but then I picked up some and pace and was consistent so I think second place was good for us.

You’re playing catch-up with Pastor and Dani Clos this season? Where can you gain in performance?

Sergio: We’ve been quite good but unlucky. We had two weekends when we could’ve scored very good points but we didn’t. Valencia I was on pole but Pastor hit me in the first corner so my weekend was finished, then Turkey so I had two weekends with no points which is quite a lot. Pastor has been consistent so we need to improve.

And the race tomorrow?

Sergio: Tomorrow we are in a good position and in front of him so we should score more points I hope. But it’s a long race.

Charles you didn’t have the best start what happened?

Charles Pic: Yeah my start was bad. Something happened with the antistall, but I don’t know if it was me or an electronic problem but we have to solve it. The first few laps were good and I was able to overtake Zaugg and Turvey but Pastor and Sergio were already quite far ahead. The first part of the race we had the same pace but were not able to come back. After our pitstop we tried to push as we had the same pace but still weren’t able to come back. But we had big tyre degradation for the last five laps and Clos was close to us. To finish third is still very good for me and the team. We will start sixth tomorrow so I think we can take good points. I will have to resolve the start for sure.

Yesterday during the press conference you were a bit worried about not knowing the track in dry conditions. You seemed to have learnt it pretty quickly…

Charles: It was my first time here so on the dry it was completely new to me. Yesterday night I spent quite a lot of time to learn with videos and data to learn everything I could without driving. I just tried to do my best and I think it was good.