Q & A with Colin Kolles

Q. How would you sum up your Canadian Grand Prix weekend?

Colin Kolles, Spyker's managing director: Again we were again very strong on pace, we were racing other cars and towards the end of the race we were faster than other teams as Christijan was lapping quicker than Alex Wurz, who later finished on the podium.

Adrian too was a very strong prospect and, given the way the race went, we could have been in for a potential points finish. We got the strategy calls right, so the double DNF was clearly a missed opportunity. But we are no different to any other team out there - there are so many 'what if's' about the race.

Q.You said after the race that two retirements could not happen again.

CK: Exactly. The retirements were avoidable and we know that. We cannot continue making mistakes that ultimately cost us positions and points. As we have seen, anything can happen in a race and we need to be ready and waiting to take advantage. We can't afford to let opportunities go past like this.

Q.How did you address the drivers after the race?

CK: Both Mike (Gascoyne) and myself spoke to Adrian and Christijan after the race and explained how we could not accept another situation like this. But the drivers know this themselves - they are their own harshest critics and if you can't take some constructive criticism then there is no place in any team for you. They understand and are as disappointed as we are, but now we have to move on. We have another race in four days and we have to focus on this.

Q.Is it encouraging that you've been closer to the front-running pace at two very different tracks?

CK: Yes, with one high downforce and one low downforce track we've been right there, and I think that's a mark of where we are now. I think that reflects the Malaysia update - you're actually seeing that manifest itself now, where instead of being three seconds off the pace we're two to two and a half seconds off. We've got a lot coming along, the wind tunnel programme is really delivering, so we've got things to look forward to.

Q.What will be the aims for this race?

CK: I think that is very obvious, to get two cars to the finish without making any mistakes. We never forget that we are not here to lap around at the back, we do want to move forward, but the only way we can move forward is to set good foundations and build on them.