GP2 Hockenheim - Race 2 press conference

Q: Sergio, congratulations on your third win today.

Sergio Perez: Yeah. It is my third win. I am very happy. It was a really good race for me. We were extremely competitive. We have had a very good weekend in Hockenheim and of course, now I am really looking forward to Budapest.

Q: You had a good start and you made your way to the win. How was it from the car?

Sergio: It wasn’t easy at all. I made a good start, but then my first lap was not so good. I didn’t take much risk so I dropped to eighth behind Pastor. Then he made a mistake so I overtook him. From then, it was very good. I managed to overtake all the others. I was very competitive. It’s a good result for us.

Q: You scored the maximum points today with the bonus point for fastest lap.

Sergio: That’s very satisfying. We’ve been unlucky this season so now I hope that part is over and that we will have only good weekends until the end of the season. I’m looking to fight for the championship. It’s not over and we can still fight for the title and beat Pastor.

Q: Next week, what do you expect in Budapest?

Sergio: I know the track very well and I am sure that we can still be very competitive there.

Q: Oliver, congratulations on this podium. You made a very slow start. What happened?

Oliver Turvey: Yeah, I did not have the best start. I got a little too much wheel spin on the grid and I dropeed to third. That was a bit disappointing, but then I went on the attack straight away and I managed to out-brake both Marcus and Zaugg into the hairpin and get passed Marcus on that one. At the start of the second lap Adrian Zaugg went a bit too wide into turn 2. So I managed to pass him on the inside. I was back into the lead. Then I felt pretty comfortable. We did improve the car from yesterday. My pace was a bit stronger and I was able to make a little bit of a gap to the guys behind. I was trying to look out for the tyres and manage the race at the front. We had reasonable pace and I felt comfortable, pushing as hard as I could every lap. I led for the first half of the race and I felt like we could win it. But then I looked in my mirrors and I saw Perez… He was much quicker again. His race pace was too strong for us and he was able to overtake me fairly easily. I decided not to defend the corner. I thought he was too far back to out-brake me, but he managed to! I didn’t think could. Once he got free he could pull away. I wasn’t able to challenge him for the win. That was unfortunate. I wanted to get a win today, especially after Silverstone. I wanted to be on the top step of the podium, but we gave our best today. I was pushing every lap. I did the maximum to finish second. I am pleased to get on the podium here in Hockenheim. It’s my first time racing here.

Q: Even though your pace was not matching Perez’s today, it seemed that you have made a step in the right direction this weekend…

Oliver: Yeah. Definitely. I think that it’s been a successful weekend. I qualified third in a wet session and then to get into the race in the dry. We struggled for race pace yesterday but we managed to hold onto to eight, get a point and reverse pole for today. I think we made another step forward today for the car. We still need to find a bit more, but I an confident we can find a win race soon. I am pleased to get a podium for my team and for my sponsors the Racing Step Foundation.

Q: You know Budapest pretty well?

Oliver: Yes, I have raced there last year. I know it pretty well. It’s quite challenging. There is not a lot of slow speed and a lot of change of direction. I will work hard with the team in the next few days. I hope we can make another step forward there. I want to be able to race at the front again.

Q: Adrian, great result for you and Trident today! You must be over the moon…

Adrian Zaugg: I think when you saw where we were so far this season, we have been unlucky at times, but also never really capable of trying to get on the podium. So the whole team worked really hard and I think it was a great team effort this weekend. We were strong in the wet and also in the dry. The car was really consistent and we found a very good balance. So I’m very happy for the team.

Q: You had a very strong start and you took the lead. Unfortunately you got passed first by Turvey and then by Perez. There was nothing you could do? A

Adrian: Actually, about Turvey, I locked up and I had to let him go because I was off line completely. I think I just tried to push a bit too soon and the front tyres were a bit damaged. As soon as I hit the brakes I just locked the left and the right and flat-spotted them. I had quite strong vibrations from then on. But all in all, I may have struggled in the opening laps to keep up, but as the race was going on also the balance and everything started to get better. That’s how we could finish.

Q: Twice this weekend you have led the race. Do you feel that there has been a step forward for you and the team and that you can aim even higher than third place?

Adrian: As I said, I think we are working very hard with the team. This week, we made a big progress and I am pretty confident that we can keep this momentum going and to aim the target to finish in the points more regularly. It will be our target for the last races.

Q: Looking at next week, how well do you know Budapest?

Adrian: I raced there last season and I like this track a lot. And I am quite confident that we can achieve a great result there as well.