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09
February
2010 @ 08:45
GMT - Max
Moore
2009 was a
transitional year for the team, and you scored your best result in F1
to date. How would you sum up this year?
2009 was a really
important year. I was very close to scoring points in a lot of races
and, frustratingly, something always happened. So when we got to
Monza, it was a pretty perfect weekend. I scored my first front row,
my first points since 2007 and it gave me a lot of extra confidence.
I was very happy when the success came and it was for sure a big
moment in my career, the turning point. It's really different to
start from the front row and race at the front and I feel it has
helped me to grow. I know I need to follow it up this year now.
How do you feel
going into this year?
I hope we will
have a good season and I am pretty confident we will. We have had a
good winter and a very good development programme so expectations are
high. The car looks great, we did a positive step with the wind
tunnel simulations but let's test and see where we are. I know we
need to perform well and from my side I have tried to be perfectly prepared.
What will your
aims be this year, how do you intend to build on last year?
2010 is a really
important season and we are very optimistic about going well. When
you start a season you always want it to be better than the previous
one and I think this year it's important to be consistent from the
first race. It's the first time we have been completely on schedule
so I feel this will be the first season when I can show from the
beginning to the end what is possible on the car and what I can do.
I'd like to be in the midfield and be competitive from Bahrain.
This is now your
fourth season with the Silverstone-based team. What does this
stability mean for you?
I feel really good
in the team, it's like family for me as they know me very well, they
know how I work and my strengths and weaknesses. With that kind of
relationship they can really get the things that suit me and I have
confidence in them to do it. At the end of last season I felt very
good and it was hard to find a better option for 2010. Over the past
four years we have of course seen many different changes but when
Vijay took over in 2007 it was a step in the right direction. He's
committed to go for it and he has his goals. Right now we're looking
really good, we've sorted out all the issues and this winter has been
a consistent working situation so it's a big advantage. It's nice to
be one of the few teams who have stability now and can just focus on
the racing.
The competition is
very tough this year, with new teams and more world champions in the
field than in previous years. What are your thoughts on this?
The competition of
course will be really tough with four world champions in the field
now - of course Lewis and Jenson in McLaren, Fernando in the Ferrari
and now Michael back in Mercedes. I have a lot of respect for all of
them and I'm actually really excited about being on the same grid,
but at the end of the day they are your competitors. You can't hold
them up as heroes or goals - when we're racing they are people you
need to beat. If you do go well against them it will really lift you
so I'm looking forward to seeing how I do. |