Q:
Timo, you started 15th and finished 13th in Turkey. Do you feel you had much more performance than you were able to show?
Timo Glock:
We definitely had more potential than the result suggests. We found a good set-up for the car on Friday and I was very optimistic about making it through to the last part of qualifying and getting a strong grid position, but then things didn't work out for me. From then on it was always going to be very difficult to score points.
Q:
What happened to you in Q2?
TG:
Unfortunately I went out with the first set of tyres, made a small mistake and didn't get the lap time. Then with the second set of tyres the car was really good, the lap was spot-on and already I was three tenths up on my 1m26.6s lap from the first run. But, after Turn 8 on the run down to Turn 9, a drive peg on the right front wheel broke and I had to back off. I think a top 10 grid position was realistic and I might have even made fifth or sixth in Q2 without my problem.
Q:
What were the knock-on effects of qualifying 15th for your race?
TG:
You have little choice but to fuel up the car for a long stint and see if you can use strategy to improve your position. It wasn't helped when I made a slow start and then had to avoid the accident between
Kazuki Nakajima and
Giancarlo Fisichella. In the first stint I was behind
Rubens Barrichello and even though I had better pace than the
Honda, I couldn't get past. That was pretty much my story for the whole race and with so few retirements, 13th was the best I could do.
Q:
How was the battle with
Heikki Kovalainen's McLaren?
TG:
I enjoyed that. He had a quicker car but we were racing for position and I wasn't about to give up. He overtook me once and I got him back. It was a bit like the GP2 fight I had with
Lewis Hamilton at Istanbul. I wasn't going to make it easy for him!
Q:
In Turkey it was cooler than anticipated. Did that cause any issues?
TG:
Actually there was no problem. In the past
Formula 1 went to Turkey in August when it was very hot and this time it was May and cooler, but the race tyre choices were still the hard and medium tyres. I think that is because the right front tyre takes such a lot of load in Turn 8 that you cannot go too soft on the compound. Everyone was struggling a little bit with the option tyres, with graining and grip problems. It improved as more rubber went down and we got it right for the qualifying.
