Interview with Christian Vietoris

Racing Engineering’s Christian Vietoris didn’t have the luckiest start to the season and an accident in the second corner of the sprint race at Valencia resulted in a 10 position grid penalty for Silverstone’s feature race for the young German. Whoever thinks this might demoralise him, is wrong. The Racing Engineering driver is more dedicated than ever to overcome his bad luck of the opening rounds of the 2010 GP2 Series. Knowing that the speed is there and finally racing on tracks he is familiar with, the German feels confident and is convinced that qualifying is crucial to fulfill his objective to be on the podium in Sunday’s sprint race at the legendary Silverstone circuit.

Christian, Silverstone is the fifth round of the 2010 GP2 Series and you were not very lucky so far. Do you think getting back to a more classic track configuration might be the turning point?

I really hope so. Silverstone is the first track on this year’s calendar I actually know well. I have been testing here before and also raced on the old configuration two years ago in A1GP. I am happy to race here and feel quite confident. We will see how things go on Friday, but so far things look fine.

Despite the fact that you have faced several difficulties during the opening rounds, you managed to achieve some convincing performances. Is this helping you to keep your morale for the races to come?

Definitely. The tests before the season, some free practice and qualifying sessions, went really well which keeps my morale and motivation up. I know we can do it and will be able to perform well in the races. We showed in Istanbul’s sprint race that we were set for a podium finish. A problem outside of our influence stopped us, so all we need now is it to put it all together. Our problem is not the speed, but having everything fall into place as it should.

You scored your first points of the season in the feature race at Istanbul and you were set for a second place finish in the sprint race. What possibilities do you think are in store for you for the rest of the season?

Hopefully I can fight for pole positions and race wins. Before the season started, I thought the same from the first race on. We were quite unlucky, but I am convinced we can turn it around and have a good second half of the season. Our speed is always good, starting every time in free practice and from now on, we are racing on tracks I know. So, I feel confident and I am motivated to show what is really possible.

Silverstone has a new layout which is considered to be faster than Monza. What are your thoughts on the new track?

What I saw until now about the Arena configuration looks pretty good. Maybe not so much from an overtaking point of view, but the driving is really fast. I really like fast corners and therefore to race at Silverstone, I feel more comfortable than on tracks with many slow corners. Now we have to see how free practice goes.

You are starting this weekend with a significant handicap, a 10 position grid penalty for the feature, race handed down in Valencia. However, what are your expectations for this weekend?

This doesn’t make my weekend easier in any way, but my motivation is even higher for Friday as I am eager to get a good result in. Performing well on Friday might make the penalty not as hard. I really need a good qualifying result to have the opportunity to finish Saturday’s race in the top 8. The aim must be to finish on the podium on Sunday and for all this, we need to have a good qualifying.