It is positive. And certainly easier than last year! Then I had a lot more grey hairs trying to work out how to bring the car more into my driving style and direction. But this year the car suits me much better, and now we have to wait and see.
Q. How different does it feel to a 2008-style car?
TG: I would say the biggest difference is the tyres. The tyres are more what I need and more what I like. The grooved tyres are every time difficult in terms of feedback. Last year I was struggling more with the tyres than anything else, but in the second half of the season it was much better, but you have to get used to it first. This year we are returning to slick tyres so that makes like a little bit easier.
Q. Bridgestone has said that the grip ratio has changed because of the relative size of the front tyres compared to the rears. Has that changed your driving style?
TG: No. I know from GP2 that is was a similar situation, and you just have to go a little bit in a special direction with the setup to make it more driveable. The front is quite strong but you have to find a way to make the rear work.
Q. Is there more onus on the driver to keep the tyres in a good condition on longer runs?
TG: Definitely. When you overshoot the tyres it is quite difficult to get it back, and it is the same that we had in GP2. In GP2 the only way was to try and make the rear tyres survive, and it will be quite similar in F1 this year too.
Q. So you think those of you who have driven recently in GP2 are starting from a higher baseline than those who have not?
TG: Well, when I look at last year, Jarno had driven with grooved tyres for 10 years or whatever. For me, it was like the first year ago. Now, it is a bit more equal. He knows what he has to do with slick tyres, so at the end it is not an advantage for me or any GP2 driver.
Q. You did some long runs with the car, and although early to say, what is your feeling on the relative performance?
TG: I would say that the lap time was okay. I never hit it in the first lap with new tyres because I made too many mistakes, but in the long runs the car felt pretty good. It was pretty strong and consistent, and I would say it was competitive for the long runs.
Q. Things seem very close in Bahrain but not so in Jerez. Do you know why that could be?
TG: It is a good question. You never know what the other guys are doing, but here for us it looks quite tight. But you have to have all the cars together on the same track on the same day to see the real result. I think the real result you will see the first time in Melbourne. Everyone at the moment is playing around trying to find some direction. I would say it is still a quite open window.
Q. With grooves last year you had to treat them carefully - especially on out laps. Are the slicks sensitive in the same way as the grooves?
TG: You have to prepare them a bit different. At the end it is not the same like the grooves that you have to be careful - it is a bit easier on the out lap. For me strangely I locked up the front tyres more on the first lap, which is why I made some mistakes. I tried some different driving styles as well, and some different directions. At the end I would say it is a little bit easier than with the grooved tyres but to get 100 percent out of the tyres is not easy.
Q. Have you got a superlicence yet?
TG: So far, no.
Q. Reports this week suggest that three drivers have...
TG: For me, not. I am here in Bahrain so the information is quite difficult. But I will sort it out in the next couple of days. In the end to race in F1 we have to have one, so let's wait and see.
Q. What is your view of the superlicence situation? Some people are sympathetic for the drivers, and others are critical that while thousands of people around the world are losing their jobs it seems millionaires are worried about a small percentage of their earnings.
TG: Maybe not everyone is a millionaire in F1. It is my first year, and it is expensive. It is an expensive licence, and you see in all other motorsport categories that there is not even anything close to that amount of money. But it is for everyone the same.
We have to wait and see, but in the end I don't know why we have to pay so much money. For me it is too extreme the increase from last year to this year, and from 2007 to 2008. The point is that there is no real explanation for that amount of increase. At the end, we have to pay for it. That is how it is.
Q. So you don't expect things to change?
TG: There is no change at the moment I think.
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