Q & A with Giorgio Mondini
Q. So, you had a bit of a baptism of fire in GP2 today
Giorgio Mondini: Yes, correct! This morning I jumped in the car and then I lost ten minutes of the session for a stupid reason, and the track was a lot different this afternoon. We've had some problems with the water temperature since this morning, and if you add that to the fact that I don't know the car then we had quite a disaster this morning! This afternoon I did better - after two or three laps I was already five seconds faster than this morning, which is slow compared to what they did at the front, but I was quite happy with how I took the car on track.
It was quite good, and I like the car, but then there was a problem with the engine and I broke it. On the second set of tyres I lost a bit, and also on the first - I guess on the data I was 1.5 seconds faster on the second set until I broke the engine - and there were a lot of yellow flags out in qualifying. But I think for my first time in the car objectively I could not expect a lot more - I think we could have been about 1:34 flat, which would be acceptable as it is about 0.9 seconds slower than Pla, which I think is good.
Q. And your first time in the car was always going to be difficult, because you have so much to learn about it compared to all of the other guys.
Mondini: Yeah, but more than the time I was really happy with the feeling I got from the car - I was losing a lot in one or two corners, but it's a matter of trusting those tyres to give you something more. I need a lesson from Rosberg to see how to use the tyres like he does! It is hard to learn, and I guess tomorrow it won't change a lot, but the objective is still the same - to learn and to not make any particular mistakes. Of course I missed with the new tyres because the ones this morning, for me, they were useless, and then the second set they were quite good, and this afternoon I had my problem.
Q. How does the GP2 car feel compared to the World Series car?
Mondini: The engine is more powerful, of course, and I would say that the difference you will feel more in the top gears. The car is pushing a lot more in the top gears, so yes it is more powerful, and with the tyres I was really surprised, because this morning I had maybe a bad impression of them but actually on new tyres, on one lap and in qualifying, they are really good if you trust the car.
I would say it's tougher here because of the tyres and the accelerations and these things. Of course I have never been in the front in the World Series, so it's difficult to make a real comparison, like it is hard to say now how the car is handling, but I think I can have a nice approach to the car and an objective view after two or three races. Of course, I'm disappointed with my position - no one ever likes to be last - but today was definitely positive, and tomorrow I hope will be even more positive.
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