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Question:
You are on a great roll
right now. Did it take you a half the season to get back to where you wanted
to be from a competitive standpoint?
Christian Fittipaldi:
"I honestly don't think so. For one
reason or another I just think we were just extremely unlucky and it isn't
really worth going into all the detail. First of all we were not even
finishing the races. If you actually look at my qualifying performances last
year they were on average better than we did this year so far. I don't think
the car was really that slow it was just for one reason or another that we
couldn't put the races together. I think one of the greatest improvements
this year is the consistency of the car. It's been very, very quick apart
from the first race in Homestead where I was a little bit off the pace all
weekend. Other than that the car has been very good. The crew this year is
definitely a lot stronger than they were last year. They are not making any
mistakes in the pits and that's also helping me a lot. Especially today
because the races are so tight it's very hard to pass people out there."
Question: Could you talk about the euphoria in rio after you captured the pole and the
crew put you up on their shoulders? The fans in brazil must have been going
crazy.
Christian Fittipaldi:
"In America you are going to eight to twelve different races here
(throughout the season) and when CART goes to Brazil it's for that race
only. We go to Rio only once a year so for us it's pretty big over there. I
was very happy because it was my first (pole) and I think everyone down
there in Brazil was too especially for the race on Saturday."
Question:
At the conclusion of the race in rio what were your thoughts about finishing
third? After you won the pole I am sure your expectations were that you had
a really good shot at winning the race.
Christian Fittipaldi:
"There is not doubt about that. To
be honest I was happier with the points we got towards the championship than
where we finished. I really thought that we had it this weekend and
unfortunately we didn't. We ran the car with very little wing and I was very
quick down the straights unfortunately I was not that quick in the turns.
Both of the cars that finished ahead of me seemed to have a little quicker
car in the turns that allowed them to have a nice breather coming on the
straight. I was only able to catch them both at the end of the straight
under braking and that was obviously too late. Apart from that the amount of
yellow flags we had did not help us either. We were starting and stopping
like every five or ten laps and as soon as I got my tires warm I would have
to slow and they would cool down again. But once I got some heat into my
tires the car was pretty good."
Question:
Were you surprised at all by (Juan) Montoya's start and his ability to
improve his position as much as he did?
Christian Fittipaldi:
"Honestly, no. Someone who starts
third has a pretty easy chance to go into first because as long as you start
close (to the car in front of you), and he was right on my gearbox, he could
get a pretty good draft off of me. He had a run on me and tried to really
protect it going down on the inside and I thought maybe I could get away
with it on the first turn but I probably would not get away with it on the
second straight. It's a situation you have with the rolling starts. As he
went by I was not really concerned by it because I figured sooner or later
we would catch up with him, but I was wrong."
Question:
What tracks do you see as key tracks for you in your championship hunt?
Where do you need to do well?
Christian Fittipaldi:
"Everywhere. Basically we don't have a very
good read on our car on the road courses yet. When we went to Long Beach we
were hoping for a little more from the car. We didn't have a perfect car and
we know we need to work on it. The road courses and the street courses are
where we need do most of the work."
Question:
How do you plan on doing that? Do you have tests planned?
Christian Fittipaldi:
"Yes. Michael
(Andretti) is running in Elkhart next week and I am running in Portland the
following week, which adds up to about five days before we are off to the
next road course. So we need to do some work otherwise it is going to be
very difficult."
Question:
What are your thoughts to cart's decision to employ wheel tethers and is it
going to affect the car at all?
Christian Fittipaldi:
"It's definitely not going to change
anything in regards to how fast we are going to go. As far as safety it's
definitely the right way to go. Maybe it's not the perfect solution but it
should be a lot better. Theoretically we know how it works but we have not
tested it on the practical side and I don't think anyone wants to test it.
But, sooner or later it is going to happen because it's the nature of racing
and hopefully when that happened we can prove to everyone that it is a very
good system"
Question:
As someone who is a veteran of the series do you think Juan Montoya can
sustain his current form?
Christian Fittipaldi:
"Myself and Dario (Franchitti) after the race were
laughing about it. The guy is definitely on a roll. Obviously we are going
to do our best to stop him but there is no doubt he has a lot of talent and
an excellent team behind him and a lot of guys behind him and when you add
everything up together he is tough. We will see, the championship is
definitely going to change a lot in the next 30 to 35 days because we don't
race on the ovals much after that as we go to the road courses. We still
have a lot of races ahead of us. I think when you are not in the position to
go for the win you still need to go for the points."
Question:
You are the only team to have completed all of the laps run through the
first five races. You and the team have to be very proud of that.
Christian Fittipaldi:
"We are.
What a difference from last year, the crew is very motivated and they have
worked real hard through he first five races. Everyone has really helped me
a lot and made my life a lot easier. Believe it or not since Homestead we
have just got better."
Question:
One thing you will see when you get to gateway is the new lighting system
that the track had installed. Right now there are plans for you to test
under the lights on friday, what are your thoughts on that?
Christian Fittipaldi:
"That's what
someone told me when I was testing a week ago. I honestly don't see any
problem with that. If we have the right kind of light it should be very
similar to racing during the day. I raced go-karts on tracks under the
lights before and did not have a problem with that."
Question:
What are your imprssions after testing at St. Louis and where are the
oportunities for passing going to be?
Christian Fittipaldi:
"We were not trying to set any quick
lap times but we left Gateway pretty happy. I wouldn't say I was the
happiest, but I was happy with what we learned. As far as overtaking I think
everything is going to happen going into turn one because we brake a little
bit and shift one gear. And obviously if you can get around traffic quick
you have chances too but if you are running on a one to one basis with
another car the only place to pass him is going into turn one."
Question:
With the problem that Michael had with an engine letting go in Rio do you
have any concerns relating to the engine?
Christian Fittipaldi:
"We are always concerned when
something happens and you can not finish the race. We always try to find out
the problem and solve the problem for the next race. It's not a huge
concern. We had a lot more problems with engines at the beginning of the
year but we have solved that. Right now we are working on a few small
glitches but it is definitely not a huge concern on my side. To be honest
with you in regards to the engine things have gone pretty smooth for me."
Interview provided by Ford Motorsports
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