I was really looking forward to going to Istanbul for the race last weekend: first of all I really love this place because the track is fantastic, and also I love the city as well. In fact I took a flight home late on Monday so that I could take a bit of time and walk around the city a little bit, which was really nice, especially so that I could take my mind off what happened at the circuit over the last few days before that!
The circuit itself is really nice: I know the circuit very well, it has all kinds of corners, fast corners and slow corners, and you can overtake there because the circuit is fast and it's wide, so it's my favourite kind of circuit. Last year I was on pole there, and this year even though I didn't have a very good qualifying and first race because of some problems, still I was quick and was as fast as I expected.
When I arrived on Thursday I went around the track with my engineer, and we had a good talk about the set up: if you remember ART have always been very fast here, and we wanted to try something to make the car faster. Unfortunately it was quite cold on Friday and we had the hard compound tyres, and in free practice we tried the different set up but it just wasn't working for us.
We changed the set up back for qualifying, and at the start we were reasonably quick, in the top five or so, but my sidepod started to come off with the second set of tyres so I had to come back to the box. Of course this was when they called me to the scrutineers, and I lost another five minutes there! When I could finally come back out there was only two minutes left and I wasn't able to improve: I think for sure I was able to be in the top five but in the end I wasn't there, so the first race was not going to be as good as we expected.
I was hoping that all the bad luck was gone by the time I made it to the grid for the first race, but I think maybe that's where it all started: I was talking with my engineer Gaetan and I said I need to have the mirror turned a little. He reached over to move it and it snapped: we just looked at each other and I said wow, it's going to be difficult today! I just hope this doesn't last for the next seven years…
After that we had the start, or at least the other drivers did, because I was stuck in the middle of the grid. After the race we took a look at the data: for some reason the gear changed up while we were waiting for the lights, and unfortunately you can't see what gear you have at that time because the display needs to show the temperatures, and then it went to safety mode so I stalled.
It's really difficult to understand how and why it happened for us, but we know that there is a problem and now we're racing with a spare steering wheel. Something happened, some sensor worked when nobody asked for that, and that caused a problem, caused the safety mode, and when it was in safety mode I wasn't able to leave from my grid.
The team got me restarted after I was pushed into the pits, but of course I lost a lap at that time. After I came back onto the circuit my pace was good: I was just a little bit slower than Giorgio and Zuber, but apart from them I was I about the quickest, and I had no more problems on the car but I could only manage to finish in P16.
Of course this didn't give me the best opportunities for race two, but I had a good start and could overtake some drivers, and I was quite fast too. Unfortunately I made a mistake when I was overtaking Nunes at the end of the big straight: I pushed too hard and put a big flat spot on my front tyres when I tried to pass him, and after that I just tried to hold on as much as I could.
It's a big shame because I was ahead of Ben Hanley before that and he finished sixth, so for sure I think I should have made at least a point there. I have to admit that it was my mistake though, and after all the problems I am a bit mad that I couldn't bring some points back for the team, who have worked so hard this week with everything that happened.
But that was that: of course I wish we could have had a better start to the season, but this is what has happened and we have to just deal with it. I am going up to the factory to see everyone this week and to discuss what has happened and what we will do now, but we are all 100% determined to make sure everything is okay from now.
After that it is back to Monaco: last year I had a great feeling there, and I finished fourth from seventh, even though I had the problem in qualifying because I wasn't able to use the second set of tyres. I really love the circuit: it was my first time on a street circuit last year and it was good, and so I would like to go even better this year.
To have a podium in Monaco would be a great thing, and I'm really confident we can make a good job: ART is always very fast there, so I think we will have a good car, and I am determined to start my season with a strong result there.
Until next time,
Luca
![Luca Filippi - ART Grand Prix [pic credit: GP2 Series]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/438570.jpg)
