British Grand Prix Preview
Only one week after the conclusion of the French Grand Prix,
teams will be out in action again for round nine of the FIA
Formula One World Championship. The British Grand Prix at
Silverstone Circuit Northamptonshire is particularly special
for the Etihad Aldar Spyker Formula One Team. Based just across
from the main gate of the circuit, for many of the team's
230 strong staff, this is a 'home' event.
Team Q&A
Colin Kolles, team principal and managing director
Do you see Silverstone as a particularly special race for
the team?
For sure personally we all look forward to it as it's just
across from the factory so family and friends can come more
than they can to another race. The atmosphere is always very
good too and I hope we will have quite a few supporters! We
also spend many days testing there so it does feel very familiar,
but professionally we don't approach it as any different to
any other event on the calendar. We ultimately have the same
aims we always have and we do not make any more effort than
we do for other events as we are always trying our best.
After a frustrating French Grand Prix, what are the
goals for Silverstone?
There is little point in dwelling on France - we now have
to leave France behind and focus on getting a fault-free performance
from the team and drivers. We have shown that our race pace
is getting better - Adrian's lap times in the early part of
the race last weekend show that we are quite capable of keeping
pace with the teams in front, but we have to look for consistency
now without making any mistakes at all.
How were you disappointed in the French Grand Prix
weekend?
It was overall a difficult weekend and I am never pleased
when we don't get two cars to the finish. There were some
positives from the race though - after a difficult start,
Adrian's pace was particularly good before his first pit stop
and despite his penalty he managed to keep the same speed
as the rest of the field. He was just too far down to be able
to make up any positions. Christijan did have a very hard
weekend though, with a damaged car and then obviously that
pit stop. But we now have another race and we need to concentrate
on this.
Mike Gascoyne, chief technical officer
With the Spyker factory just across the road from the circuit,
does the preparation for Silverstone differ to any other race
on the calendar?
In terms of our preparation for the race, no, we don't view
it any differently as we do for other races. We had the luxury
of returning to the factory after France, while most teams
came straight to the circuit from Magny-Cours. While we are
used to operating from the trucks at the track, with only
one week between the French Grand Prix and Silverstone we
are able to bring them back to the factory and re-prep there
ready for Thursday. It makes it much easier for the boys to
get ready. It doesn't make much difference being so close
to the HQ over a weekend, but obviously if we have any problems
with the cars it's much easier for us to get parts over.
Adrian's performance was particularly promising in
France. Despite the problems in the race, is this a sign of
the team's improving race pace?
To be honest when Adrian was in free air, his pace was a lot
better than we saw on Saturday, which shows we have to get
Qualifying right. We know what the pace of the car is at the
moment, but we qualified a second and a half behind the Super
Aguris, and over 70 laps we finished 20 seconds down on Sato,
so obviously we are better than we are making ourselves look
in Qualifying.
The team ultimately had to race with two spare cars
in France, has this put the team at a disadvantage now for
Silverstone?
Obviously Christijan damaged a chassis on the Friday, and
we drove a replacement that we had built as a test car out
from the factory to France. It was fortunate as obviously
we needed it on Sunday when Adrian developed an electrical
problem on the grid. Christijan's original race car has now
been repaired and will be the test car for the next test at
Spa. In the race although Christijan had his problem in the
pitstop, we were able to repair the car and the fuel rig very
quickly and there was no major damage to either. There won't
be any penalties at all this race for using the two spares
in the race, Adrian has to use the same engine he used in
the T-car, but it is a full race-spec engine so there won't
be any further problems from this point of view.
Are you happy to be going somewhere where you've
had three days of testing?
Definitely. We were more competitive in Barcelona where we
had tested pre-event, so hopefully Silverstone should be better
for us.
When you were last in this factory it was during
the 'glory years' of Jordan. For you personally, this race
must hold a great deal of memories.
Silverstone was great when I was last here. In 1999 we had
Damon racing in his last season and we were having a very
successful year, especially with Heinz-Harald Frentzen. He
had won in Magny-Cours and coming here actually the whole
place was a sea of yellow. We used to park at the factory
and then walk over and it was very good to get the reaction
of the fans congratulating you and wishing you luck and the
atmosphere. The race in '99 was a real 'home' race.
Now you are back at Spyker, the expectations are
slightly different?
At the moment we are where we expected to be at the back of
the grid, but with the weather we've had over the last few
weeks in the UK and the rain showers that could obviously
mix things up. We'd look to get the strategy right and see
what we could pick up. Rain or showers and changeable conditions
would be very good for us.
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