07/07/2004
NEWS STORY
Jarno Trulli: The R24 was very competitive with Ferrari last weekend in Magny-Cours, and we hope to be able to continue that in Silverstone. Personally, I will obviously be looking to get over my disappointment from France. Looking back at the last lap, I was quite wide on the entry to the penultimate corner, which gave Rubens the opportunity to make his manoeuvre. Once he had done that, though, I had two options: either I could try and close the door and risk a collision and not finishing, or I could accept I had made a mistake. I was really dejected after the race, but that's reality in Formula 1: you cannot afford even the tiniest mistake. It was a hard lesson to learn, but I am determined to come back stronger this weekend in Silverstone. I was on the front row there last year - after our performance in Magny-Cours, we have to be looking for podium finishes once again.
Silverstone is another technical circuit, and very demanding for the cars: it has every type of corner, so it is not easy to find the right set-up and set a good lap. When we are working in practice, we need to make the car responsive through the fast and slow corners, and find the confidence to push right to the limit: there are a number of corners where you need to be very committed to get a quick lap-time, like Copse or Bridge. In terms of enjoyment, Becketts is definitely the best section of the circuit, but every part is challenging.
Fernando Alonso: I'm feeling great coming in to the Silverstone race. Magny-Cours was a strong race for the whole team, and we really forced Ferrari into racing hard for the win - not many people have done that this year, so really we should be pleased. I think Silverstone should suit us quite well too: you need good aerodynamic performance there, and we have that. It is a power circuit, and we were a little bit behind our rivals at the last test in June, but we have found more performance since then. I am expecting us to be very competitive.
In terms of driving the circuit, Silverstone is one of those places where it is hard to make a real difference: every driver knows it, and we test there a lot, so the performance between the drivers is quite equal - there is not much advantage to gain from circuit knowledge. The first sector is undoubtedly the best - with high speed corners, it is interesting for the driver. But the third sector, which looks quite normal, quite standard, is where you can gain a lot of time if you really focus on it. The other strange thing at Silverstone is the wind direction - as a driver, it is very hard to tell what is happening. You can guess, but never be totally sure. Usually, we only find out about a tailwind or headwind when we start braking, and find it is too late or too early - so you sometimes need to be able to adjust very quickly!