Sakon Yamamoto joined the Spyker F1 team for the Hungarian GP, and soon
impressed everybody both with his approach and his on track speed. In
seven races he showed he was true potential, although luck was rarely on
his side. Meanwhile he kept his fellow Grand Prix drivers entertained by
displaying his skills as a DJ at a few Sunday night parties! The team website
asked him for his thoughts on the 2007 season.
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Sakon Yamamoto, Spyker F1 Team. Photo by xpb.cc.
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Q: It's been quite an unusual season for you, not least because you
switched from GP2 to F1 in the middle of it. How would you sum up the
year?
Sakon Yamamoto: This year was quite a variable season for me! At the beginning of the
season I was a test driver for Aguri, and I raced in GP2 as a way to
come back to F1. And I got a chance. The team was different, but it was
a good opportunity to join with Spyker, and I really appreciated that
they give me a good chance to drive in F1. I joined from Hungary, so in
total I did seven races. In the first one in Hungary and the last one
in Brazil I retired, but the other five races I finished. I tried as
hard as I could and I really appreciate everybody who supported me, the
team members and sponsors. So I really want to say thank you for a great
season.
Q: How difficult was it to come back to F1 with a different team and no
testing?
SY: At the first race in Hungary everything was really new, but at least I
had experience from last year, so therefore for me it wasn't as tough
as 2006. Last year I joined F1 during the season, and I didn't know
anything. But this year I at least had that experience of seven races,
and I knew how I should work with an F1 team, and that experience helped
me a lot.
Q: How much did the situation improve when you got the B-spec car?
SY: The B-spec car was better than the A-spec, it was a big improvement.
For me driving was much easier than before, and I also I could try to
really push to get good results for the team.
Q: You didn't have much luck in qualifying. Was that frustrating?
SY: During the season I can say I had really bad luck to try to get good
lap times, things like traffic, some accidents. But that's motor racing,
and I believe that if something bad happens, next day it can be good
again, so I didn't worry about it so much. I just tried to concentrate
on my job.
Q: Which race were you most happy with?
SY: I was really happy with the Japanese GP, because it was my home race,
and it was the toughest conditions. I had a good result. But my target
was always to get nearer the front, and I had hoped to do that in the
final race in Brazil!
Q: It must have been frustrating to end your season with that
spectacular collision! What happened with Giancarlo Fisichella?
SY: Fisi went off at Turn One on the second lap. I was driving through
the part from Turn One to Turn Two and I had already accelerated, and
suddenly he was coming back onto the track. He just came onto the
racing line, and I couldn't do anything to avoid the accident. I was
very unlucky, and it was very dangerous, when you think about the
speed difference. He went off, he slowed down, and I was just going to
accelerate. I didn't have time to react. So I was really disappointed,
because I felt that with the car set-up and the track conditions I could
get my best result at the end of the season.
-credit: super aguri
