An interview with Marco
Marco, how do you feel about your season so far? MW: Quite good. I’ve had quite a lot of podiums already. It’s going well compared to 2009, which was really bad. This year started with two podiums at Le Castellet, then afterwards at Hockenheim I had my first pole and my first victory, and I was just one point behind Edoardo Mortara. Unfortunately, I had a bad weekend in Valencia. An aero part broke in the race and it was a weekend without points, which I’m missing compared to my team-mate. But there’s nothing you can do about it, and it wasn’t my fault. Then we had the Zandvoort Masters, which was outside the championship and with Macao it’s the most important event on the calendar. I finished third so it was quite a good result. Then I had a good weekend at the Norisring with two second places.
Is it difficult having your team-mate as your main rival? MW: No, I don’t think so, as in the end you have to beat everybody, all your team-mates and all the drivers from the other teams.
Do you think that Mortara’s previous Euro Series experience is an advantage? MW: For sure he has more experience than us and he drove in GP2 series, but that’s not the reason why he’s faster. If you compare Edo and I, we’re really on the same level. At Le Castellet he gained two points more than me, and then at Hockenheim I gained two more points than him. It’s been almost always like that, except for my bad weekend in Valencia, which gave him an advantage, but the season is long and nothing’s lost.
Have you got similar setups? MW: When we go to the track we always have the same basic setups, but then everybody works on his own with his engineer. Of course, you can compare the data with the others guys in your team, but on the setup I always work on my own with my engineer to find the best compromise for my driving style. After each session and race, we share the data. I think it’s important to grow as a team, to improve the car and to be in front of the other drivers. In the end, it’s just a question of who has the better setup on the car, who likes the track more and who has the better performance that weekend.
Is the VW engine quicker than the Mercedes-Benz? MW: Really difficult to say. Last year I drove with the Mercedes engine and this year I’ve got a Volkswagen. In the end I would say they’re very similar. One engine’s a bit better on acceleration and the other’s better on top speed. The problem is we cannot compare; we cannot get the data from Mercedes and they can’t get the data from us so you’ll never really know which engine’s better. They’re about on the same level.”
You’re fifteen points behind Edoardo with three rounds to come on German circuits. Do you think this will give you a slight advantage? MW: I don’t think so, as he drove on these tracks in the 2008 Euro Series. I feel comfortable on these tracks and I’ll try my best as always.
The season’s got quite a long way to go, so do you reckon that the title is still on? MW: We still have a lot of races to go. Okay, I had one bad weekend in Valencia, but this kind of weekend can happen to the other drivers too. I concentrate on myself and try to achieve the best results in each race, and of course try to close the points gap to Edo. We’ll see what happens at the end of the championship. As I’ve said, nothing’s lost.
