AT&T Williams F1

It was a really great feeling to finish third in Melbourne and I want to thank everyone at AT&T Williams’ factory in Grove for giving me such a good car. All your hard work over the winter is beginning to pay off.

The Australian Grand Prix was a tough race because there was always so much going on. There were three Safety Car periods, other people’s accidents to avoid and, of course, some pretty extreme weather conditions to deal with. Cockpit temperatures exceeded 50 degrees, which wasn’t pleasant, but it was satisfying to discover that I was still able to drive flat-out from start-to-finish.

We endured a difficult start to the weekend, due to a gearbox problem on Friday morning and a malfunctioning differential on Friday afternoon. As a result, we weren’t able to learn much about the set-up of the car and it was pretty amazing that the team bounced back to claim third and sixth places in the race. It proves the quality of FW30.

After the race, everything went a bit crazy. First there was the podium ceremony, during which it was a great feeling to look down and see all the AT&T Williams personnel cheering. Then there were two press conferences and lots of television interviews, and it wasn’t until 90 minutes after I crossed the finish line that I finally made it to the AT&T Williams garage to celebrate with everyone.

The champagne was flowing, but due to the back-to-back nature of the Australian and Malaysian races no-one was able to go mad. The equipment still needed to be packed away in preparation for the flight to Kuala Lumpur, and I kept a lid on it as well. I had dinner in the Nobu restaurant in the Crown Towers with some friends and had a couple of drinks in the bar, but already my mind was beginning to focus on Sepang. Such is the fast moving nature of F1.

At 0800 on Monday I was back in the gym, lifting weights and doing some cardio work to prepare for the heat and humidity of Malaysia. Then later today (Monday) I’m due to catch a flight to Singapore, where I’ll contest the first round of the RBS 2008 Grand Prix Challenge.

I’ll arrive in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday, ahead of what should be another thrilling race. We know our car is good and we have some momentum behind us now, so I’ll be looking to get another good result.

Until next time,

Nico