It hasn’t been the ideal start to the season for Simona de Silvestro with reliability problems hampering the team’s progress in pre-season testing at Donington Park. But the newly-signed Andretti driver, sponsored by Amlin, believes the issues will be resolved in time…
First of all congratulations on joining Andretti for the second season of Formula E. However, it’s been a frustrating start to pre-season testing so far. What has prevented you from running on track?
It’s mostly software issues and things like that. It’s definitely a little bit frustrating for all of us but that’s motorsport and sometimes you face these situations but you have to work hard to get out of it. It’s fixable for sure but it just takes time.
Will it be difficult to adjust to the conditions you will find in Beijing?
It’s not ideal but I’ve got experience in single-seaters and street tracks but any time you are out of a race car it’s not so good. You learn every time you step in the car but this is the situation we find ourselves in and we’ll try our best to get out of it.
Do you think the experience you gained in London will help despite the lack of running?
It’s hard to say right now because we haven’t been able to do what we planned. We have a lot of work ahead of us but you know I enjoyed the event in London. The cars are tricky to drive and the series is really competitive and that’s something I’m looking forward to this season. Where we are right now we’re not in the perfect situation but the team is working really hard to find the problems.
What does the car feel like compared to last year with the change in regulations?
It’s hard to tell from the lack of running but I think it’s a clear step improvement. I think any series with developments is supposed to be better year-on-year and sometimes you have to iron out the kinks to get there. Once we get where we want to be I think it will be better than before.
What does it mean to you to be part of this series?
It’s really special to be part of Formula E especially because it’s a new championship and the talent is really high throughout the grid. I’m looking forward to this season and being part of this new technology, it’s fantastic to be a part of the journey.