Q & A with Cristiano da Matta

Conducted and provided by Toyota's press office

Q. You won last year's CART championship in the USA. Why did you decide to join Panasonic Toyota Racing in Formula One?

CdM:

I have been driving Toyota-powered cars in CART for 4 years, so I am not a new Toyota driver in that sense. I think moving to Formula One is a big career opportunity for me, but it did require a lot of thought. I achieved one of my goals by winning the CART championship and now it is time to face a new challenge. Of course Formula One is the top motorsport series in the world and I am joining a team that has a very big chance of progress and chance of being a winner in the next few years.

Q. What are the main differences between CART and F1?

CdM:

Well, there are many differences between F1 and CART. On the technical side, I think that Formula One is a little bit more sophisticated, a little bit more diverted to technology. From a physical point of view, an F1 car has to have a minimum weight of 600kg including driver, so it is much lighter to drive than the CART car and also the much higher G-forces are more demanding on the neck. On the car itself, I think that having grooved tyres is another quite big difference in Formula One compared to CART. Additionally, the size of the team differs between the two motorsport categories with more people in a Formula One team than in a CART team.

Q. How do you think the 2003 qualifying rules will affect you?

CdM:

I have some experience of this kind of qualifying from CART last season, so it is not totally new to me, but now I am in a new car with a new team. I think that getting to learn the track as quickly as possible is going to be the biggest challenge, but at the moment I am fully concentrated on learning the car and just getting used to Formula One in general.

Q. Are you looking forward to your debut race in Melbourne?

CdM:

For sure, I cannot wait. I have been driving in the F1 car a lot since November, but although testing is really important to develop the car to its optimum, nothing compares to actually racing.

Q. How is your relationship with your new teammate Olivier Panis?

CdM:

Olivier is a really good guy. He is such a normal, nice person, with his feet on the ground. He is also very helpful. He told me from the first day we worked together that if I need anything, I only have to ask, so I am very much looking forward to working closely with him.

Q. How has testing been going this year?

CdM:

We have had a couple of tests at Paul Ricard in France and also in Spain, at Barcelona and Valencia. I am quite happy with the progress we have made, although some days have been more productive than others for various reasons. I am only just beginning to get a feel for the TF103 race car, and I still have another couple of tests before we head off to Australia for the first race of the season, so I am in a positive frame of mind.

Q. What are your first impressions of the TF103?

CdM:

I have not done enough laps in the TF103 yet to get a complete understanding of the car, but my initial impressions are very positive. I can already feel a big difference between the TF103 and the TF102B interim car. I have now got quite a good feel for the new RVX-03 engine having done a lot of kilometres in the TF102B. I am pleased and impressed with its power and driveability. I drove a Toyota-powered CART car in the States, so I know that the Toyota engineers will continue to make constant improvements to the engine over the course of the season and I am looking forward to making good use of it.

Q. How many of the current F1 tracks are you acquainted with and will you have enough time to learn the tracks you do not know?

CdM:

I drove European F3000 a couple of years ago, so I know a lot of the European circuits already. I can learn new tracks quite quickly, so I do not expect too much of a disadvantage. Learning the road tracks will be a challenge. I drove at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal in CART last year, so I have some experience there and I have just moved to Monaco, so I'm sure I'll get some practice in a Lexus around there. Of course this year, I am going to have less time to learn the tracks that are new to me than I would have had in previous years because of the new rules. Certainly it will be more difficult at tracks like Albert Park than at circuits I already know, but we have plenty of pre-season tests for me to get to know the car so I am confident.

Q. What does your helmet design mean?

CdM:

My brother does the design for my helmet. He was a graphic designer at university and some work he had to do was to paint something. He went and did a motocross helmet for my father and then he started to do for his friends because they liked that helmet. Then a lot of people asked him for designs and he started to charge. He has been painting my helmet for 4 years. The design is a copy of my father's helmet. Mine is blue and my father's was red. I preferred blue to red, but the stripes are the same. It has been the same since I started racing when I was 16. I think it is beautiful - I like it a lot. It is simple and easy to recognise.

Q. How do you spend your free time?

CdM:

Well, I don't get much free time to be honest, but when I do, I enjoy mountain biking. I really enjoy playing my guitar and just chilling out. When I am in Brazil, I like spending time with my family - my parents and my brothers, Felipe and Gustavo.