Live from Silverstone with Valtteri Bottas

Will you be driving in Free Practice 1 tomorrow? Which driver will you be replacing?

Yes. (I will replace) Bruno (Senna). I think it will always be the case this season, I will drive Bruno’s car.

Are you eager to test the new parts brought by Williams?

Yes, we are going to test a new aerodynamic package. These will be interesting tests. […] There are many, many new features.

Have you already tested them in the simulator or during a straight-line test?

No, it will be the first time.

The tests for young drivers are this week, will you be participating?

Maybe, I don’t know. I think it isn’t 100% certain (that Williams will drive at the end of next week). Maybe we’ll know tomorrow, I hope so. But yes, if Williams participates, I will drive (both days).

In 2012, you decided not to compete in another championship, why?

This is actually the first year that I have the opportunity to drive on Fridays, and I travel to attend all the race weekends, to see how things go and to learn and see what is important for a driver during a race weekend, how a driver prepares for the Sunday race, the qualifying sessions, and the free practice sessions.

We thought it would be nice to race in another championship, but in the end, it’s all about money, it costs money, and it would be difficult to focus on another championship, to be 100% committed because you are so tied to F1. If you want to focus on Friday in F1 and drive in another championship concurrently, it’s quite complicated. We decided to focus entirely on our F1 program to learn as much as possible.

So, have you learned a lot since you started?

Yes, I learn more every weekend.

Do you already have any contacts with Williams or other teams for 2013?

Not yet. It’s still too early in the season. But I feel ready, that’s for sure.

Kimi Räikkönen is the last Finn to have been crowned Formula 1 World Champion, would you like to succeed him?

Yes, that’s why I am here, to become a world champion one day. It would be a very good thing for Finland and for me.

When do you think that will be possible?

For me, I hope it will be as soon as possible. But it’s not that simple because there are a lot of very good drivers. And I’m just a test driver for now, I need to be in a single-seater first and that takes years to learn.

Would you like to become a champion with Williams-Renault or another team?

Yes, it would really be great to do it with Williams-Renault, it would be a nice thing to be in the same team for my entire career. I’ve been with Williams for three years now and I’ve seen the progress, and where they’re going and the direction is good, so I hope the future will be good with Williams, so I would love to do it with them. I never really dreamed of being in a specific team; when I was younger, I was simply looking for the drivers and cars that were the fastest, but that changes often. I never really had a favorite team. For now, I am really grateful to Williams for this opportunity to be their test driver and the team has such a history and a bright future as well, so I would be delighted to stay with them.

Do you have an ideal teammate in mind?

I think you want a strong teammate, someone who is good, to be able to push each other’s limits. If I could race alongside an experienced driver, that would be great, so I could learn from him. But clearly, I want a good driver by my side. It’s a bit like in GP3 last year, with James Calado and me. We were both really quick, and we consistently pushed our limits, and in the end, we finished first and second in the championship, so it was enjoyable.

What do you usually do on Fridays during Free Practice 1?

It depends, I prepare the car for Bruno, mainly, the goal is to gather data and assess the car’s balance or, like tomorrow, test new parts. And also to give Bruno (Senna) a direction to work towards for the rest of the weekend. I always try to improve the car during the session for him, so it’s important to start working in the right direction because if we make the car worse, it doesn’t help him, so I have to do my best to drive the car to the limit and see what Bruno needs.

Are you confident enough now to give good feedback to the engineers?

Yes, I believe I am constantly improving. I am confident, and they said my feedback has been good, so I am convinced that I can work towards going in the right direction.

Do you frequently driver in the simulator to continue your learning?

Yes, usually one or two days between races. I drove in the simulator on Monday to prepare for this weekend. This year, I mainly use the simulator to prepare for race weekends and to learn new circuits, like Malaysia, Bahrain, China. Barcelona was the first one I knew. In fact, almost all the races outside Europe, India, South Korea, Brazil, Japan, all these circuits will be new.

Have you already or will you conduct straight-line tests for Williams this year?

Yes, last week we spent a day at Idiada (in Spain), and we worked really well. Most of our work involved aerodynamic testing to gather data.

From our special correspondent in Silverstone