Coluna de Nico: Finalmente, um ponto

Feliz com o seu pontinho, Nico conta nesta coluna como foi o final de semana em Valencia. Mais uma vez elogia muito os organizadores (todos os comunicados dele que li tinham elogios à organização da prova) e se disse feliz por voltar a disputar o Q3, coisa que ele não fazia deste a etapa canadense.

Falou que domingo foi um dia quente onde a temperatura dentro do cockpit atigiu os 40°c, porém para ele não foi um grande problema e mesmo assim, grande parte das voltas puderam ser feitas em ritmo de classificação.

Também, comentou um pouco sobre como será essa semana de testes em Monza e pincelou o que espera da próxima etapa do campeonato que será disputada em Spa e como é a vida na região de Ardennes “(...) não há muito o que se fazer à noite e também não há mais jogos olímpicos para assistir na TV. Pelos menos, sempre existem os jogos de poker na internet”, encerrou.

A frase que encerra a coluna não poderia ser mais otimista “teremos alguma evolução em Spa, então vamos esperar que este meu retorno à zona de pontuação em Valencia seja o início de uma série de bons resultados nesta parte final do campeonato”.

Nico's European GP Column

The European Grand Prix was an enjoyable weekend. The new Valencia street track was interesting and challenging to drive and our FW30 was reasonably competitive from the outset. To finish eighth, my first points’ finish since Turkey, was a nice reward for everyone at AT&T Williams.

It was exciting to visit somewhere new, although the engineers must have felt they knew the track pretty well by the time they arrived because of all the set-up simulations they’d carried out at the factory. Overall, we felt pretty well prepared for the race, but there was still some apprehension ahead of Friday’s first practice session and I think that was the same up and down the pitlane.

From a driving point of view, the track was great and I really want to congratulate the organisers for doing such a great job. Many of the corners were faster than I expected and the walls were never far away, so you had to treat the track with a lot of respect. I still managed to learn it quickly and I thought my second fastest time during Saturday’s final practice session was a reflection of the good job we did all weekend.

I was pleased to make Q3 for the first time since Canada and I raced well from ninth on the grid to bring the car home eighth. The ambient temperature was more than 30 degrees on race day, which resulted in cockpit temperatures of more than 40 degrees, but the heat didn’t pose a problem to me and I was able to drive what felt like qualifying laps every lap.

From here I head to Monza, where I’m testing for two days this week, before heading to Spa-Francorchamps for the Belgian Grand Prix on 7th September. I love Spa because it’s a long, flowing track with some challenging fast corners. Due to its location in the Ardennes, however, there isn’t much to do in the evenings and I won’t even be able to watch the Olympics on TV! Ah well, there’s always internet poker..

We have a few developments coming for Spa, so let’s hope that my return to the points in Valencia was the start of a series of strong finishes to end the season.

See you soon, Nico

Ps.: Esses meninos estão ficando cada vez mais viciados em poker!!! A jogatina está na moda na F1, definitivamente. Não mais contentes em apenas jogar nos sábados à noite, agora se divertem online, também?!? Xiiiii... rsrsrsrsrs
By Lu