Q & A with Edoardo Mortara

Edoardo Mortara: I am sitting here and I cannot believe what I have achieved. It is one year that I have not driven a Formula 3 car, so it is not like these guys who have been driving F3 for an entire season. Since the race in Macau last year, I haven't raced in F3. I did an event in the Euro Series in preparation but it was in wet conditions, so I could not really train. Other than that, I had no testing.

So to come and challenge with these guys and win is something really difficult. I achieved it and I am really proud of it - because after an entire season of difficulties, especially with my team, with a lot of up and downs, a victory at the beginning but then some bad results, really to win here is incredible.

Q. Does your difficult season heighten the emotions of this success then?

EM: Nobody really can imagine what I have been through this year. Really, when I was leading I was thinking, okay, I need to push, I need to push - but I was thinking how amazing this win would be.

I came here after a disappointing end of the season in GP2 where I was struggling so much. I knew that it could be a bit on my part, but there was, I think, a lot on the car and I couldn't really show what I was capable of. I was really struggling a lot and to see that my main rival in F3 last year - Nico Hulkenberg, winning all those races in GP2 - showed it was possible to win in the first race with a good group, a good team and a good car. It was really frustrating for me to do the season, especially the end of the season because we started pretty well.

On some occasions I was pretty fast. I did some fastest laps, and I won a race, but it was too much up and down. Sometimes, as I told AUTOSPORT earlier, the car was really undriveable sometimes. When it is like this, you cannot show what you are capable of. And I came here, and everybody was thinking: 'yeah, this guy is lost after a season like this, he will not be competitive'. And I was sure, deep inside me, that I could do it. I knew that they made a big step with the engine and with the car, and I am still linked with Signature so I knew what they have done for an entire year. We came here, did the job, with a 1-2, and it was an incredible weekend.

Q. Did you feel before this race that had some unfinished business in Macau after losing out on the win last year?

EM: Yeah, last year I came second but I had really dominated the weekend. We would have probably won the race if we had not made a wrong choice on the car on the final day. So I was really sad last year because I knew that I had done the job, but a small mistake ruined the entire weekend.

So again it was a perfect weekend. I am really satisfied. It was unfinished business and I proved today that even if I hadn't driven an F3 car for a whole year I could be competitive, and actually before coming here I was pretty sure to be competitive - but to be that competitive and challenge for the win and be really, really fast is different. In the mountain section I was really flying in qualifying; I put four tenths to everybody, which means everything was working really well so I am really happy.

Q. What does this victory mean for your future then?

EM: Like I say, it is all about money. With the economic crisis, and I am not the son of a billionaire, it is difficult. Every driver will say the same thing about their ambitions - it is to go in Formula 1 and win in F1.

But for the moment there are no plans for next season. Before coming here, I was really zero because nobody was taking the time to understand what happened this year. You drive okay, but when you drive a bad season or have ups and downs - and I crashed a lot - then nobody takes the time to understand why the driver is going from good results to bad results in a small amount of time. Nobody was searching for me, and I hope this victory will open me some ways for the future.

Q. Are there any particular memories of this weekend that stand out?

EM: I have only good memories here now. I was so stressed all the weekend - starting from Thursday. I was so, so stressed as I knew this race could have saved a little bit this season, and in a way also my career. So I knew I had to do the job, and I was really pushing so hard. I wanted it so much that I was not sleeping at night because I was only thinking about winning this Macau Grand Prix.

When I was behind my team-mate Jean-Karl [Vernay] I was pushing so hard because I didn't want to lose another time. That was all I was thinking about - that I was not going to finish second like last year behind [Keisuke] Kunimoto. I thought I just had to win this race, even if I have to fly or do something like that - I would win.

Q. Who were the key people who helped you take this victory?

EM: I have to say a big thank you to my team Signature-Volkswagen, plus all the people who have trusted me. There were people following me around at the races, and they believed in me. So, they have been with me in the bad times, and these are the people you have to thank really. When you are winning everybody is with you, but in the bad times then you have only the people who care about you. I am really proud to give them some satisfaction this weekend.

Q. How important was engine performance in this result?

EM: The engine was really incredible. I could feel it already in the F3 Euro Series race I did in Hockenheim because after one year, they have made a big step. And here, we analysed the data, and they made a good step. It was already a good engine last year and this year I think it was the engine to have to be competitive.

Volkswagen have shown that they have done an incredible job in just their second year. To be that competitive in their second year is amazing.

Q. Is it now the best engine in F3?

EM: You can never say 'best engine'. It is a really competitive engine. Probably here it was the best engine but I cannot tell you because I didn't drive the TOM'S or the Mercedes-Benz. What I can tell you is that the whole package was incredibly competitive, and we had probably the best car in the entire field. The engine is part of that package and every track suits more or less the engine. Here, it is a long track - and you have pretty much everything. You have a long straight and then some tiny corners - you need driveability, acceleration, top speed, everything. Here, the Volkswagen was really, really, really competitive.

Q. When the call came from Signature and Volkswagen asking you to come here, was there any hesitation because of the need to win?

EM: I have to say, that it is incredible how they believe in me because after such an up and down season in GP2, to still believe in me like they did, to give me an opportunity to come to race here, because I put pretty much all my money in GP2, so coming here and telling me I could do the race, I was okay with it.

At the time, I was coming through some bad times. My last two weekends in GP2, they were the most horrible weekends I have ever done in my career. It was Portimao and Monza. I qualified something around two seconds off the pace, and I remember the Fridays sitting in my hotel room, completely destroyed. Actually, I received this call at that time when I was really down and I thought maybe I should step down, go to this Macau race and try and win it. I was sure that I could be competitive here, and show everybody that I am not that bad. And I am glad actually to have done it.

Q. You said on the first day here that you were playing the long game here - that it was important to do the job only on Sunday, and it was not so important to be quick in every practice session and qualifying. Did you think though when Jean-Karl had that edge in the early stages, that you had blown it?

EM: Not really. I will tell you now that I can, because I won the race, that this weekend we were playing safe with everything - with the car and with the engine. We had a pretty good margin, and the only time when we started to put everything on was in qualifying. I was really frustrated after qualifying because I did the fourth best time, but that lap was done alone and actually even alone I could have done the pole position if I had no yellow flags.

So I was a bit frustrated after qualifying, but I knew that in Macau the only thing that counts, and Oliver Jarvis told it really well when he won in 2007, that it is not a question of qualifying or the qualification race, it is just the Sunday race. That is when you have to be there. It is just a question of this, so you need to start in the first five and do the job. You need to be quick on Sunday, and we all prepare for the Sunday race.

Here, we showed with Jean-Karl, that we opened a big gap because we were above the others. Because we were just thinking about the Sunday race. We kept our four new tyres, and the others didn't, so we just focused on the race.

Q. What is realistic for next year?

EM: I don't know and I don't want to talk about it. I really have no plans - and it is not because I am trying to play things down. I have no plans. Normally a victory in Macau is good for helping you in this way, and I hope it is going to be like this. I hope it will open me some good ways, honestly.