Catching Up With Kazuki

Posted on Thursday 25 Oct 2007 and tagged with kazuki.

It was a big day for the top three; but it was just as memorable for Kazuki Nakajima.

The story of Formula One is a narrative of continuity and change – and 2007 seems to bear witness to one of its periodic convulsions: change, most definitely, is in the air. This year’s rookie roster: Hamilton, Kovalainen, Sutil and Vettel. Davidson, Kubica and Yamamoto with less than a season’s experience between them take on the air of weathered veterans. And in this climate, the stereotypical image of the modern rookie has evolved: studied nonchalance, as yet untroubled by the attainment of the dream, immune to pressure and unaffected by the media glare into which they have been thrown. Kazuki Nakajima knows the template, but he isn’t a slave to it. “Oh, I’m excited – of course I am, this is what it’s all about.”

It doesn’t show: Kazuki is the same relaxed, affable, endlessly polite character that he’s been all season, whether he’s testing for Williams or driving for DAMS in GP2. You could say that he’s coping with the pressure very well – though the 22-year-old insists that there isn’t much to cope with. “Brazil was a pretty good race at which to debut. Everyone had their attention on the three guys fighting for the title; no-one was looking at me. As for the team, there was no pressure from them. They made it clear that it was an exercise to build my experience – it wasn’t a trial for next season.”

Not that he seems to have a problem with pressure; Friday morning practice in Melbourne proved that. Running on the slippery Albert Park circuit, Kazuki blasted out of the pits for his first official Formula One drive under genuine public scrutiny. The track was green, as it tends to be. It was also damp, and he could have been forgiven for taking it easy. Instead, he was sixth fastest: either Williams had produced a front-runner, or Kazuki had the right stuff. The FW29 turned out to be good and the Japanese driver firmly dispelled any notion that his position at Williams was a Toyota vanity exercise.

While other GP2 drivers have tested for Formula One teams this season, Kazuki was unique in juggling the junior championship with Friday commitments at the F1 flyaways. While GP2 cars are purposely similar to F1, the differences still outweigh the similarities and switching between the two is difficult, but, Kazuki reasoned, “it’s a nice problem to have – and quite simple to deal with. A car is just a car, you have to strap in and go for it”. “He’s pretty useful,” says Sir Frank – which in Williams F1-speak is praise indeed.

Senior staff at Williams will discuss Kazuki’s progress as a test driver this year, something he puts down to the positive influence of Alex Wurz. “Feedback, as a test driver, is the most important thing, and I’ve been lucky to have Alex to learn from this season. The usual format has been for me to drive the first day and Alex the second, which gives me the opportunity to observe what he does and says, and compare it with what I’ve done – if we were doing and saying the same things, then I could be confident that I was doing the job correctly. Most of the time I think I got it right, and it makes you comfortable in the team, knowing that you’re making a contribution.”

Consistency during testing hasn’t been reflected in GP2. A spate of fastest laps and podiums gave Kazuki fifth place in the Championship and the honour of being top rookie – but the year hasn’t been without its low points. By far the most aggressive driver of a GP2 car at the sharp end of the Championship, occasionally Kazuki’s races have disintegrated in a shower of carbon fibre. “I’ve made mistakes,” he acknowledges, “when I return to Williams it’s something that Frank talks to me about. At a basic level, I think he wants me to be aggressive, but obviously there are times when it isn’t appropriate – and knowing the difference comes with experience. Our discussions have been constructive, and the theme has always been that I need to learn from my mistakes. I will. I think I’ll take a lot from the season in general. Clearly, racing here is the final challenge.”

Though both team and driver are at pains to stress that the drive in Brazil wasn’t an audition for the vacant 2008 race seat, F1, by nature, is still examining. It may be true that a failure wouldn’t unduly affect Kazuki’s future, but success will certainly put down a marker. Given the current cliff-hanger driver market, anything could happen in the next few months, though Kazuki is sanguine, and careful to downplay his prospects. “It isn’t impossible for me to get an F1 seat next year, but I think it will be another year in GP2. I think before Christmas, I will be testing in F1 again, which will be a good opportunity to show what I can do, but I really don’t know yet.”

It wasn’t the first time a Nakajima has made his debut in Brazil – Kazuki following in the footsteps of his father Satoru who, took his bow for Lotus in Rio 20 years ago. Ironically, this followed a spell where, as Honda’s test driver, he worked on the development of the Williams-Honda driven by Keke Rosberg. Kazuki smiles at the parallels. “It is strange isn’t it? But it’s good for me. I like the idea that I’m following in his footsteps. My family weren’t there at the weekend. I don’t think it would have affected me if they were because I’m not bothered by that sort of thing, but it is one less thing to think about, and obviously my father understands that and doesn’t want to make things more complicated. We’ve talked on the phone. I was planning to break the news to him, but he already knew. I think someone at Williams or Toyota had already called.”

It prompts a smile and an unsolicited admission: “I found out on Sunday evening after the Chinese Grand Prix. Patrick [Head] told me that I would race in Brazil, and at the time it felt weird. I didn’t feel like I had imagined I would, not thrilled or excited, just strange. Fortunately, there was a gap and I had time to get used to the idea. And by the time the race arrived, I was ready.”

Article courtesy of The Red Bulletin.