by Russell Atkins

TO HEAR THE INTERVIEW IN FULL: CLICK HERE

Alex Wurz has spent more of his Formula 1 career testing than actually participating, and following a year's competition with Williams in 2007, has now drawn a definitive line under his racing activity in the top flight and taken up a test-driving role for Honda in 2008.

The Austrian has a wealth of experience in the uppermost echelon, having raced for three of the sport's grandee teams in Williams, McLaren and Benetton, and he knows he will need to draw on all of that to help Honda progress up the pecking order this year following a desultory 2007 campaign for the big budget Japanese manufacturer. The 33-year-old spoke to Crash.net Radio about his new challenge…

Q:
First of all Alex, how have you settled into the team so far?

Alex Wurz:
I've not had that much time yet, because everything is quite new. I already knew quite a few of the mechanics and engineers, though, and I didn't really need much time to settle in because I started working immediately with the team and car. That's what I'm here for.

Q:
You've raced with quite a few of the top teams in Formula 1, like McLaren, Benetton (now Renault) and Williams. How does Honda compare from what you've seen so far?

AW:
Well apparently I'm the only driver in Formula 1 history who has raced only for the top three British world championship-winning teams, but coming here there's nothing I've seen somewhere else which Honda hasn't got. Just because they had one season last year which wasn't really that good, the years before that they were very good, so it's just a short recession and hopefully we can turn that around. We are not able to do that overnight – that's a fact, because the competition is far too big and hard in Formula 1 – but step-by-step, with the people we've got, I definitely think we can turn it around and bring Honda back to the top.

Q:
You mentioned the difficult season Honda suffered in 2007; has that made the team more motivated do you feel to succeed in 2008?

AW:
That's difficult for me to answer having only been here a few weeks, but I can definitely feel that everyone wants to improve and they're putting a lot of manpower and effort in to do that. That's already a very good sign.

Q:
What are your impressions of the new car so far?

AW:
The initial shakedown was quite good; usually on a first day you have little problems, but the car immediately ran for quite a lot of laps without anything strange happening. I think that gave us a very solid base to now try and extract the real potential of the car over the next tests.

I also want to get more used to driving without traction control, because I haven't done that for quite a few years, since it was last legal. That's something I want to learn and adjust my driving style to, and also work on drivability, which will be a big issue for everyone on the grid.

Q:
You hung up your helmet from racing in F1 at the end of last year with Williams; any regrets so far, or are you happy to have stepped back to a test-driving role?

AW:
I'm really happy with my position where I am now, and I mean really happy because I love testing and development, I love speaking with the engineers trying to find little bits – every little thing is important on a race car. That's what I've always enjoyed, and being with Honda now is exactly what I wanted to do. I'm really happy.

Q:
So is Alex Wurz and Honda a long-term relationship do you think?

AW:
Well let me assure you, I'm not here for the short-term.

TO HEAR THE INTERVIEW IN FULL: CLICK HERE