I’m on my way with the DAMS team to this weekend’s GP2 Series round at the Hungaroring, after spending a bit of time at their Le Mans base preparing. That’s our routine really. Just analysing everything we can to ensure we hit the ground running, and travelling together to the race weekend.
After Silverstone, there’s only way one for us and that’s forward, because I don’t think we can drop any further back than we were. We’ve been working pretty flat-out to solve our car issues and to try to find some pace. In Hungary, we’ll turn up and as usual give it everything we’ve got. We need to stay strong and together as a whole team.
Two bright spots are my test after the Silverstone GP2 round with the Williams Martini Racing Formula 1 team, which was hugely enjoyable, and the fact that I won at the Hungaroring with DAMS last year. It was a great weekend – we got everything right and we won the feature race from pole position. So of course I’m looking forward to going back to Hungary, but my main focus is on this weekend, not on reminiscing about 12 months ago.
Funnily enough, the Hungaroring is not a circuit I’d usually liked. It’s a mix of predominantly slow and medium-speed corners, very tight and twisty, and it’s never been my favourite track of the year – as a racing driver you always prefer the quick stuff! But I seem to go quite well there. One thing about this year for us all to be aware of is that they’ve put a new Tarmac surface on it and a lot of new kerbs, so that’ll be a challenge. But the layout hasn’t changed.
Some other series have raced there on the new Tarmac this year and had a lot of problems with tyre degradation, as well as finding that the lap times are a fair bit quicker. This weekend we’re using the hard Pirelli as our prime and the soft as the option, so you might expect us to be a bit worried about tyre wear on the option. But those other categories that have raced there are ones where they go flat-out all the time, whereas GP2 is all about managing what you’ve got and pushing when you have to. We think about tyre conservation from the first minute we hit the track, so I don’t think it’ll be an issue for us. Anyway, we’ve had experience of a similar Tarmac from other circuits – looking after the tyres isn’t new to anyone in GP2!
It’ll be good to get a qualifying run in on brand-new softs on a high-grip surface, but to be honest after the last couple of weekends I’m looking forward to going quickly rather than just feeling quick.
The first race at the Hungaroring marks the midway point of the season, and we head straight to Hockenheim for the following round the next weekend. So it’s crucial for us to bounce back and get on a roll – it’s vital to put some points on the board.
That’s especially important because I’m aware that the championship is so close and no one has made a break yet, and that we’re all still in contention. But personally I haven’t looked at the standings for a while. There’s no point. The key for us is to start winning races and then the championship takes care of itself.
