Q & A with Timo Glock

Timo Glock: It was a good day. When I woke up it was what we expected yesterday: wet conditions all day. The only positive side was that it was quite consistently wet and in the end it dried up a bit, so it was quite interesting to see what's the point to switch to intermediate tyres. But other than that we just did some work on the set-up and did some qualifying simulations for the wet tyres.

Nothing really special and we just cruised around. In the end we were quickest but this is testing and the only positive side is that we put the car on the ground and that we were quick in the wet. I'm really confident with the car at the moment. It was the same feeling in Portimao and now here again.

Q. How confident are you with the new car?

TG: So far it's quite good, but in the end we still don't know where we are, because it's still mixed up. Yesterday (Sunday) Vettel and Red Bull showed quite good pace, but at the end, every time I'm sitting in the car the conditions are so different that you cannot really see a good comparison and where the teams are. It's quite interesting and I'm looking forward to Melbourne to see where we are.

Q. Do you feel better with this car than with last year's car at this stage?

TG: Definitely. It's much more in my direction. I spent a lot of time with my engineers last year and they understand more what I need in terms of driving style. Last year I spent a lot of time in Cologne trying to put my experience with slick tyres into the new car. So far I'm quite happy with it.

Q. Some teams will use KERS in Australia and some won't. Do you expect big differences between them?

TG: I don't know. At the moment when you see the laptimes... In the last test in Bahrain for example it was really close between ourselves and Ferrari and BMW. At the same time here in Jerez is also really close. You never know who is running KERS and who is not, so it's quite interesting and at the end we will see who is on the grid with KERS and who will use a normal car. I think we will be without KERS in Australia and see how it will go over the year.

Q. Where do you expect to be when you get to Melbourne?

TG: It's difficult to say. I hope we are close to the podium and we try to be quite consistently in the points. This would be a good start. But so far I have to say that my feeling is a lot better than at the same test last year here in Jerez. We struggled quite a lot more with the 2008 car to get used to the grooved tyres. Now we are back on slicks which makes it a bit easier. And also in the wet conditions the car is more suited to my driving style and that makes it more fun to drive. That's positive and hopefully we are close to the podium in Australia.

Q. In the wet you don't have the extra grip from slicks, but you still have a lot less downforce. How much more challenging is it for the driver this year?

TG: Not too much. Sure we have less downforce but the car is quite sorted and you feel exactly what the car is doing. It's sliding a bit more compared to last year, but the balance is good and that's important in the wet. At the moment I would like to see a lot of races in wet conditions, but I think in dry conditions we are quick as well and the car feels good, so I'm looking forward to Australia.

Q. Have the rule changes forced you to change your driving style?

TG: Not much for me. It didn't make such a big difference. The main difference is the feedback from the tyres. I used slick tyres since 2000 and then I came into F1 and had to get used to the grooved tyres, which was a bit tricky. But now I'm back on slick tyres and this is positive for me.

It's what I used to drive in the past so I'm happy with the slicks. The driving style is not very different, but the feedback for me is. I just feel better with what the car is doing. With the grooved tyres I got used to it in the middle of the year but it gave me some grey hairs in the first couple of months.

Q. How happy are you with the reliability so far?

TG: So far we have not had big problems. In Bahrain I was a bit unlucky because we had a hydraulic problem which cost us nearly half a day, but in the end we haven't had big problems, so I'm quite happy with it.

Q. Do you think it will be easier to trail another car and overtake it this year?

TG: I drove just half a lap behind Nick Heidfeld in Bahrain and for five or six corners behind Kovalainen here, and for me it felt the same as last year. For me there was no big difference. The car was even a bit more nervous because last year we had understeer and now it felt like the car more unbalanced. So for me it's pretty clear that at least for us it's the same as last year.