Nico's Japanese GP Column

Posted on Tuesday 14 Oct 2008 and tagged with nico, japan.

The Japanese Grand Prix was a tough race weekend for AT&T Williams. The FW30 wasn’t as competitive at Fuji Speedway as it has been at some tracks this year, so Kazuki [Nakajima] and I had a tough fight on our hands to bring home good results.

My progress in the race was hampered by a technical problem at the start. I was very slow away from my 15th position grid slot and cars literally streamed past me on the run to the first corner. I was back in 18th place by the end of the opening lap, which gave me a lot of work to do.

I was on a one-stop strategy, which meant the car was very heavy during these early laps and that made it very hard to pass the lighter two-stoppers ahead of me. I lost quite a bit of time behind slower cars, particularly Rubens Barrichello, but by the time of my only pitstop of the race on lap 42 I had climbed up to eighth place.

My pace on the option tyre towards the end of the race was good and I was able to lap at a similar pace to Nick Heidfeld, who was ahead of me on the road in 10th position. I set the 10th fastest lap of the race on the penultimate lap, which demonstrated that the car was more competitive in race trim than it had been during qualifying.

We now move to Shanghai for the Chinese Grand Prix next weekend. Unfortunately, I think the Shanghai International Circuit is going to be another track at which we’ll struggle; but I’ll give my all, as ever. The weather forecast for the weekend is mixed, which could make for an unpredictable race – and that’s what we’re going to need to stand a chance of finishing in the points.

I fly to Shanghai on Monday morning, so I’ll get a couple of days to check out the city before I’m needed at the racetrack. I’ve just bought a new digital camera, so I might take a few pictures around the city while I’m there. The Nanjing Road, for example, is meant to be the busiest shopping street in the world and it could be a great place to get some images of people going about their daily chores.

I’ll catch up with you again next week, when I’ll let you know how I get on!

Nico