Q & A with Marco Andretti

The new Powered by Ferrari A1GP car is a completely different challenge to the Indy car he and the Andretti Green Racing team are used to, and it's taking time for them to learn how to get the best out of it.

But an eighth place in the feature race at Chengdu two weeks ago was an encouraging start and Andretti is confident that they are working it out.

He spoke exclusively to autosport.com about the new challenge he is facing and the pressure on him to start getting results quickly.

Q. This is the first Formula One-style road course on the A1GP calendar, how does it compare to the road courses you're used to in the US?

Marco Andretti: "This is definitely an F1 circuit rather than an IndyCar style road course. It's more flowing, it's smoother, there's a variation in camber, you know you're not going to find a bump half way through the weekend that you didn't know was there. You just know a proper race track when you come to it.

"A lot of the road courses in the US are re-paved quite a lot, so you have a lot of bumps between different surfaces. And not just the bumps, but you have different grip levels on each surface too. It can be a good thing as well, though. If you have a car that copes well with the change, it gives you a bigger advantage over the others. The surface here is very consistent."

Q. Having now driven this car on a circuit where you can really let it loose, how does it compare to the Indy car you're used to?

MA: "I have done a Formula One test and I think the A1GP car is closer to an F1 car than an Indy car. The carbon brakes and the way the car decelerates is totally different to what I've been used to. In an Indy car there's a much more gradual deceleration, here you have a much narrower window and you stop sooner.

"But a race car is a race car. You're going to get in it and drive it as fast as you can no matter what it is. The challenge is to get the car to work and to know what it needs so that it allows you to be quick. If the car lets you be quick, you'd better get in and do it."

Q. Are you now totally confident with this car?

MA: "I'd never seen Chengdu before and I'd never driven the car, but I was on the limit on the out lap, just because you find when there's no grip. If you're sliding, you can't go faster anyway. If you can drive, you can drive, then it just comes down to setup. You need to work on the brakes because even if the system is better, you still need the mechanical balance and one small change can have the rear jumping out.

Q. Have you ever experienced racing in this kind of heat and humidity before?

MA: "It was hot at Sonoma, really hot. And that's a super physical circuit, you're in corners for a long time with a high G-load. Here there are long straights and the track is really smooth so it's not so bad. If it's bumpy, you grip the wheel tighter as the car moves and you exert a lot of energy where you shouldn't need to, and that wears you down. If your car is working, you exert less energy, but it's also less mentally draining.

"There's time to rest driving round here and I'm not breathing heavily when I get out of the car or anything. It's just really humid - but that's the same just standing on the pit wall as it is driving the car. You can only try to be sensible. The two races aren't too far apart so if you go crazy in the sprint race you could be knackered before the feature race even starts."

Q. Is A1GP giving you the experience you hoped it would to take back to IndyCar next year?

MA: "It's brilliant. The only unfortunate thing about it is that people are watching. It's not like it's a closed test where I can just drive round and round to get used to it. The physical side of it is awesome, learning in a car that isn't working so well is awesome because it all helps you to learn, and the competition is unbelievable.

"But it's crunch time for me, I need to win some races soon and I'm going to get to the point where I need this thing to start working for me. It's the same in the states, I've had a lot of bad luck in the last couple of years and when that comes back around to my side, and we get some consistency, we're going to be there.

"In general, we're just still really new with this car. I know everyone else is too, but I think that if you're used to the way of handling and working with the old car, that makes it a little bit easier.

"This is 180 degrees different from IndyCar in what the car needs mechanically. For example, at Chengdu there are a lot of bumps, so we'd have thought you need the car soft so you have grip. But here you need it stiffer to generate the tyre temperature to get them to work. It's just very different, but we're working on it."