AT&T Williams F1

I came away from Turkey feeling a little deflated. Having scored a podium at each round of the GP2 Series since Silverstone, it was disappointing to come away from Istanbul Park with only one sixth place.

The track was new to me and while I'm good at learning new tracks, I still like to be well prepared. As a result, I cut short my holiday in Japan so that I could visit the ATT Williams factory on the Monday prior to the race to use the simulator. That meant I didn't have to waste much track time learning Istanbul Park.

During practice I was 12th fastest, one second shy of the fastest time. I wasn't happy with the handling of the car so we decided to increase the tyre pressures for qualifying. That improved the balance through the high-speed corners and I was able to qualify eighth.

I almost stalled at the start of race one. I did everything as normal, but the engine revs dropped to 6,500 and I had to dip the clutch a second time to get moving. I think the high ambient temperature (35 degrees) caused the rear tyres to grip more than normal and the other drivers I spoke to had the same problem.

I lost three positions at the start and three more at Turn 7 when some snap oversteer threw me wide. That put me back to 14th place at the end of lap one! Our plan was to pit early, but the strategy was ruined when the Safety Car was deployed on lap two following an accident at the first corner. That meant everyone pitted at the same time and I didn't get the benefit of running in clean air. Thereafter I battled my way up the order and was happy to finish sixth.

I started Sunday's race from third place. We changed the gear ratios to help the car away from the line and I had none of the problems of the previous day. I immediately moved into second place and closed up on the leader Karun Chandhok. I thought I'd be able to pass him on the opening lap, but he defended well.

Karun was fast in a straight line and after sitting behind him for 10 laps I decided that my best chance to overtake was at the final corner. I tried on lap 11, but he closed the door when I was alongside him and we touched. The impact bent the suspension on my car, but I was able to carry on. The stewards gave me a drive-through penalty "for causing an avoidable accident", which ended my chances of a good finishing position.

In the end I retired the car on safety grounds, but I learnt a lot from the race. I will be more patient next time.

I test the Williams FW29 at Monza this week, which I'm looking forward to. As well as helping the team to prepare for the Italian Grand Prix, it will be a useful way for me to learn the track ahead of the next round on the GP2 calendar.

Until next time,

Kazuki