Felipe Nasr is in his debut season racing in F1 for Sauber. He will write exclusively for F1i.com after each round of the 2015 season to provide insight in to the life of an F1 driver
Four or more GPs in one
It seemed that I was doing four different grands prix all at once, so intense was my home grand prix in Brazil that came and went as a whirlwind. A rapidly rotating succession of meetings, dinners, questions, events, sponsor’s duties, pictures, interviews, selfies, more questions, and an ovation from the grandstands that, truth be told, I would have never believed. I still have goosebumps every time I remember it all!
For all of you guys that made this race even more unforgettable than I had imagined in my wildest dreams, I send to you an enormous, sincere and collective thank you with a hug. You are the best!
Besides all that activity, we still had the track to deal with
Interlagos is not an easy track as everybody knows, tricky for the car setup and a different challenge due to its short length. At Sauber we managed to get a good solution for qualifying and it was a pleasure to get a rewarding 11th place - very, very close to Q3. And that achieved with an almost 20kph slower top speed than some of the guys around.
This is a big compliment to the team and the way the car behaved in the corners and under braking, something we have been working hard on throughout the season. At this stage of the year we can see that we are definitely building up a strong challenger for 2016 when all the different parts of the package will be put together.
In the end no points, but a very enjoyable race
The 13th place I achieved in the end does not reflect exactly how much I enjoyed racing around this track in a car for the first time in my life. In a race which saw the majority of cars able to run in position with no problems, it was good to do some very well-timed overtaking and to have run in 3rd place courtesy of our strategy before the first pit stop. To be able to do that in front of the incredible Interlagos crowd was very special.
We might not have ended the race with any points but the signs we showed during the grand prix are proof that, as I already said, we are managing to make some good steps towards the future.
The final chequered flag of 2015 is around the corner
In the final weekend of November 2015 we will all experience that void, knowing that we have to face almost 90 days without driving an F1 car. You never get tired of getting behind the wheel of these incredible machines, so until the pre-season tests in Barcelona on February 22 come round, we will have to make do with a strong diet of speed over the winter!
See you all after the season’s end here on F1i.
Felipe
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