RB:
Glamorous probably comes more into it with
F1, where the guys are earning lots of money and stuff, but it’s a good standard of life, that’s for sure. But it’s a lot of hard work. We’re always on the move and racing, testing. When you’re not racing and testing, you are training and it’s quite hard work, but I enjoy it - and I think that’s the most important thing.
Q:
How important is money becoming for drivers who want to get into F1? We have seen a few drivers who have had to basically pay for their seats. Is that becoming more prevalent, do you think?
RB:
I hope not. I think it’s becoming quite important to get involved with big manufacturers, and manufacturers are also becoming more and more interested in young drivers in general. Some guys need money to get up there and others can use their management but, at the moment, the situation over the last couple of years is probably quite stable - in the minor teams, you need a big budget to get in, and the major teams take on drivers without asking for money. It’s probably going to stay like that for a while.
Q:
You mentioned driver management. What about your own situation? Even though perhaps there has been a perception that your position has been a little privileged, if we can say that, in hooking up with a big manufacturer at an early age, do you think that your management is going to need to play a part in you securing a seat rather than just being tapped on the shoulder by the manufacturer?
RB:
Definitely. I must say I was very lucky to be picked up by Toyota, because it’s a huge privilege, but I’ve got a manager and you need one for negotiation and stuff because, even though I have a contract with Toyota, nothing is guaranteed and, at any time, if results aren’t coming in or whatever, I could be asked to go home. So nothing is guaranteed, and I’ve got to be obviously working hard. And I have got to rely on my management as well a little bit to work hard with negotiations and keeping me in and trying to keep moving me up.
Q:
Can you tell us who your manager is? Is he one of the high-profile F1 managers or someone we wouldn’t know?
RB:
He is not a very known manager. He is Massimiliano Angelelli, he is Italian. He is actually more known as a racing driver probably as, up until last year, he was racing Le Mans with General Motors and team-mating with JJ Lehto. He also had quite a long career in open-wheelers as well. [
In 1993-94, Angelelli raced in the German F3 Championship against Alex Wurz, Ralf Schumacher and Jos Verstappen].
Q:
You are obviously very well assimilated there in Italy because you have lived there now for maybe six or seven years. Toyota’s F1 team is based in Germany. You told us 12-18 months ago that you were intending to learn German. Are you branching out into things like that?
RB:
Actually, I’m learning French at the moment, and I’ve been learning it quite intensively all this year. I had a few lessons last year as well. It’s part of the programme, picking up a third language. French has been quite good for me because, this year, having a few races in France, it’s been very useful having a few interviews in French and so on - it’s all been good. On the subject of living in Italy, that basically came about for the driver training, because Toyota’s F1 doctor [Riccardo Ceccarelli] is Italian and has a fitness centre here in Italy, so it’s a perfect facility for driver training.
Q:
When you mentioned doing the interviews in French, are you talking about print media interviews or television as well? Are you at the standard of being able to do a television interview in French?
RB:
Yeah. On Sunday at Le Mans, I did a whole interview in French on television, which was my first time and, hopefully, I sort of said all the right things. I’m still quite rusty, but I give it a go.
