XYY about Sepang

This interview was held by Reh on Wednesday 16th November 2011.

Question: Hello XYY! How was your race, are you satisfied with your results?
XYY: Honestly, I'm fine with my 10th place. Thinking that Sepang is a) a track that I don't like so much and b) a track that I couldn't get to before earlier (because it's obviously in Malaysia) I can't complain.

Question: Why don't you like Sepang then?
XYY: It's basically a track which combines some nice corner section with two top speed straights. Not too bad, but if you just get the first two corners a little bit wrong, you won't be able to drive a good time any more. While I had an acceptable best lap in race, this also cluttered me in Qualifying, although it could have been still a lot worse. And starting from the 4th was still okay for me.

Question: What were your strategies in the race?
XYY: Having to figure out how I can start best from 4th place, I recognised it's best to set a good AI directly in front of me and two bad ones to the front row. Although I didn't make a wonderful first lap I was able to overtake all other drivers in the first few corners.
Then, for pit stops, I chose to make four stints (I went to the pits three times). I had the impression that it gives the best balance between new tyres and worn ones, although I usually can't profit by less fuel then. However, this race showed me once more that it worked quite well, and I think I will use this strategy for many more races.

Question: Why did you loose so much time at the end of the race?
XYY: I was a bit unconcentrated. At first, the laps became worse and worse and then I even crashed. I'm glad though that I made it to the pits. But I was satisfied anyway - it wasn't so much worse than in training sessions.

Question: What are your targets for the season?
XYY: I think I want to get in top 5 of the drivers standing, even though my first race showed that I can do better. But I fairly doubt that I can keep this pace up... I would also like to give Lotus a good position in constructors championship, but that also depends on the performance of Skybreaker. Sadly he missed the first race, but I'm sure he'll participate in the next races as he did in Sepang.

Question: What do you think about the next track in the calendar, Shanghai?
XYY: Frankly speaking, I actually rate it as equal to Sepang... The first two corners are very similar and also Shanghai has two straights interrupted by a very slow part. But I haven't practised too much yet, the only thing I'm sure about is that pole position time will be below 27 secs.

Question: Thanks a lot for the interview, XYY! Hopefully you can reach your goals.
XYY: Thanks, I hope that too. But I also want to wish my competitors good luck and especially that they will enjoy the season as much as I do.