Q & A with Nelsinho Piquet

Nelsinho Piquet: It's difficult to say, but it should be a good weekend. It's going to be very difficult again, like every weekend. The car is improving and I like the track. I don't think it's the best track but I've been good here in the past so hopefully we should have a good weekend.

Q. What do you think of the track modifications?

NP: I've seen the kerbs that are different - nothing much really.

Q. Do you see your second place in Hockenheim as a turning point?

NP: I don't think it's going to change anything. It's still going to be difficult, it's still going to be challenging for me. I don't think just because I've finished on the podium it's going to change my result here. I didn't learn anything more or do anything differently in Hockenheim - I just did everything I learned throughout my whole career. We're going to be fighting hard to get into Q3 and the race isn't going to be easy. Obviously it's good - a little bit more motivation for the team and for me to push that little bit more.

Q. Are more podiums possible?

NP: To get a podium in our circumstances you need some luck, you need to be very quick, the car needs to be good - the whole package needs to get together to get there. Obviously if you're in a Ferrari or a McLaren it's very easy. But where we are you need a whole bunch of things together to go well. From fifth to eighth is already good, but to finish on the podium would be excellent.

Q. Is the engine a weak link?

NP: We're not 100% sure. We would like to have a bit more power. Sometimes we don't struggle too much in straightline speed, although you can see that we have a bit less wing than the other cars, especially in Magny-Cours, where we were topping the speeds but had half the wing that, for example, McLaren had. That's an indication that our engine is maybe a little less powerful than McLaren's and a stronger engine is also better. As engines are frozen we don't want to cheat the regulations.

Q. Is running less wing a deliberate compromise to make up for the engine?

NP: Sometimes it's a bit better - some tracks we run more than others. It all depends on what the simulation and what the driver thinks is better.

Q. Your father won here in 1986 - did you ever come here to spectate as a child?

NP: No.

Q. It was a very good circuit for him - he was very successful. Can you repeat his performance?

NP: I'm trying to win races every weekend. it doesn't mean I'm only going to try in Hungary!

Q. The circuit was called Little Brazil in the 1980s because of how well the Brazilian drivers went..

NP: Hopefully I can win the race! I'm going to be fighting but it's going to be very difficult. one day, if I have a car that can fight for the championship I'll try and do the same.

Q. Has your father given you any tips for the circuit?

NP: The circuit has changed a lot since then and I've raced a lot in the past few years.

Q. What is the biggest challenge of this track?

NP: I haven't driven an F1 car here yet. I know in GP2 the track was very hot, very hard on the tyres and you need to be careful not to push too hard because if you go on the dirty line there's a lot of dust.

Q. Can you tell us something about your contract discussions?

NP: Not much really. Nobody has decided anything yet.