Q & A with Timo Glock

Timo Glock: I would say not too bad. The problem was that we had only I think 13 laps at the end in dry conditions because of the problem we had this morning. The positive is that the car was pretty good in wet conditions. We were quite quick and had no major problems. Then we had the problem when the oil pipe broke and the car was on fire.

It cost us nearly five hours so we just did a check run with a few laps to get used to the track in dry conditions and that's it. The first impression was not too bad, we were straight on the pace without any setup work. The car was still not perfect with these conditions but I was quite happy and it felt pretty good.

Q. Did the car behave pretty much as you expected it to with the new rules?

TG: Yes. I would say it was more the direction that we have in GP2. The positive thing was that I could feel no major problems. The car wasn't unstable under braking or not good enough in quick corners or whatever. It was in a good window and it was a good start point. It's important that you don't after 10 laps have a major problem with the car. That's what we don't have and that's a good sign.

Q. You don't know exactly what the performance targets are with so many new rules, but as a driver did you get any kind of feeling that this could definitely be a good car?

TG: Yes. When I compare it with last year it's definitely a better feeling. Last year, after the first couple of laps I said 'it's difficult, the car is not behaving like I expected from knowing GP2 cars and the BMW Sauber from 2007' and last year the car behaved different to what I expected. This year, the handling is more what you normally get from a race car with slick tyres. This is already positive that it is a better feeling than last year for me.

Q. You have only had 15 dry laps on your first day in the car. How frustrating is that, especially with more bad weather expected?

TG: The point is that these conditions today it was still pretty cold, the track temperature was low and there was still water running across the track in a couple of places. These conditions you don't have really in the races in the summer. The test in Bahrain will be more important because there is more consistent weather and conditions like we have in the season.

We lost half a day in terms of dry running, but it's positive that the car is good in wet conditions good already without having to make any big changes on the setup, so I would not say that we missed something today. A few more laps in dry conditions would have helped, but it's OK. The first impressions are positive, but the question mark is where are the other guys.

Q. How difficult is it not knowing exactly what will be a good pace for a 2009 car?

TG: It is the same for everyone. It's more like a roll-out I would say. After the first test in the winter it is difficult to have a conclusion about where you are and where the others are because you never know whether they are testing KERS or what they are doing. When you have more consistent, stable conditions it's easier to see a picture of the car and see the picture of the other guys.