Q&A Alan van der Merwe

"Yes, definitely. It was important for us to get the deal out the way as early in the season as possible, in order to be able to start testing early, because adapting to Formula 3 is going to be the first hurdle. Anthony [Davidson] was at the front after his third or fourth race and I'd like to be doing the same thing next year, so starting testing early this year is going to be really important."



"I think driving the car is not really the difficulty, it's more all the things around it. Like being able to use the tyres in qualifying and the extra pressures of F3 that make the jump more difficult. From what I felt at the two-day test at Pembrey last week, driving the car isn't really a lot more difficult, it's just something that you have to get used to. But I think the whole experience of F3 is just a little bit more difficult."



"Exactly. And also I think the fact that every weekend is a double-header event and you have to be consistent and you always have to finish in order to do well in the standings. It's just slightly different and all things considered, I think it is quite a big step."



"No not really. I think Formula Ford has become so competitive over the last five or six years that it's not really necessary to do anything in between. If you look at this year's series - you have a bad day and you're not just fifth or sixth, you're going to be well down the order. From the point of view of competitiveness, I think Formula Ford is almost up there with F3."



"Not at all really, because I think that job will be up to Anthony next year. I think my job will be to help the team and help Anthony to win the championship, like Anthony did this year for Takuma. The important thing for me is to be right up there by the end of the year, so I can take Anthony's place the year after."



"I think it's most probably due to the lack of running that you get and the testing ban as well. You can't really expect to be winning races in the first part of the season if you have come from a different series. I'm hoping to do that towards the end of the year or by mid-season and by that time the guys that already have F3 experience will have built up an advantage."



"Well, to a certain extent, yes. But my goal for next year is to be top rookie. I don't know how competitive the series is going to be in terms of drivers, but I think that's a realistic goal. I'd like to be right up there like Anthony has been this year. He's had the best first season of anyone for ages. He's definitely favourite to go for the title next year and with Carlin behind him I think that's possible."



"I think there are a lot of good drivers coming out of Formula Ford, but a lot of them are going to struggle to find good seats, whether its due to funding or waiting too long to make decisions. I think there's going to be a lot of good drivers who miss out on opportunities, so the championship could be more or less competitive this year, we'll just have to wait and see who ends up where."



"No not at all. I still really want to win the races this year. Nothing is going to take away from what I do in Formula Ford now. Even though I'm with Carlin, I'm still going to give it 100 percent and try to get third place in the championship. Then after that I want to win the Formula Ford Festival, which in many ways is more important than the championship."



"In terms of the F3 deal, he's done an excellent job, maybe a better job than I expected to be honest. I've seen how difficult it is - there aren't a lot of top seats in F3 and to get signed so early in the season I was actually very impressed by the work that Jim did. As far as our relationship as team boss and driver goes, it's just the same as the other drivers. As of next year he'll play a much larger role."