Adrian R. Huber |
Madrid (EFE) throughout a career that reaches its thirteenth season in the premier class, endorse this statement.
In an interview with EFE that took place in Madrid, where he starred in the ‘Red Bull Showrun Comunidad de Madrid’, an exhibition with the RB7 -the car with which the German Sebastian Vettel achieved the second of his four world titles-, ‘Checo ‘, born 33 years ago in Guadalajara (Jalisco), comments on how he sees the championship; and explains what his relationship is like with the two Spaniards, Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) from Madrid and the Asturian double world champion Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin).
Two “great pilots” with whom he would be “delighted” to share a podium in the honorary division of motorsport.
Question: In Hungary, if Red Bull wins next Sunday’s race, it would achieve the team’s 11th consecutive victory in the first 11 races this year (the 12th in a row, counting Max Verstappen’s victory in the last round last year). It would be a record, since they would equal the best start in history of McLaren 1988. Do you see it feasible?
Answer: Yes. I see it feasible. I think the team is going through a great moment. Although every time the victories are more complicated. We have to be perfect and have an excellent qualification so that we can do that again.
Q: You, even with a bad streak, not without bad luck, are second in the World Cup (99 points behind your partner, Verstappen). Do you see yourself winning more races this year?
A: Yes. I think so. We’ve had a bit of a downturn in the last few races, but overall we’re still competitive on Sundays. You have to solve a bit on Saturdays, in which many different factors have occurred, in each one; but at the end of the day we are in a good position in the World Cup. And that’s what matters.
Q: Your team is brutally domineering. In the first ten tests, they have two victories for him and eight for Verstappen. Do you see it feasible for Red Bull to win all the races of the season?
A: It’s too early to say something like that. We have seen the steps that all the teams have taken, from behind. And they are getting closer. There is a lot of season left, still.
There are still twelve races of the championship
Q: There are still twelve races left until the close of the championship, at the end of November and in Abu Dhabi. How many more wins do you think you can get this year?
A: I hope a few. But it’s hard to put a number on it.
Q: Of your six F1 victories, which one did you enjoy the most? Which of them excited you the most?
A: They have all been very special. But winning Monaco surely the most.
Q: What was the hardest to get?
A: I think the most difficult was the first one, in Bahrain (when he was still driving for Racing Point: he did the other five with Red Bull).
The first one was very difficult. With a blow and going to the last place. I think that was the most difficult.
Q: Obviously, I imagine that, given the choice, you would like to win in Mexico. At what other track that you haven’t done yet would you be excited to win?
A: In Madrid (laughs).
Q: We don’t know how much yet, but we’ll have to wait a bit for that. Of those that are on the calendar, which would you be most excited to win?
A: I would be excited to win anywhere. I don’t know, I don’t have a particular race in mind. I would like to win in Spain.
Q: If Red Bull fails, something that right now seems the only chance for success for the others, who do you see with a chance to win a race this year?
A: I don’t know. It seems that it changes race by race. If you tell me the last race, McLaren or Mercedes would be the ones I would think about the most.
Alonso and Sainz, two great pilots
Q: Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz. How would he define them, in a couple of words, both of them?
A: They are both great drivers and great people. I think that sometimes the moment that Spain is experiencing is not valued enough, having two ‘pilots’ worldwide.
It is very difficult to have a pilot from your country; but having two and at that level… I think that sometimes they should be valued more, instead of comparing them so much.
Q: How do you get along with them? How is your relationship?
A: It is very good. I get along very well with both. We have a very good relationship off the track.
Q: At the Miami Grand Prix (USA) you signed with them the 1-2-3 in qualifying. Can you imagine a podium with them? Do you see it possible?
A: I would love to. I would love for us to get it and for us to be able to speak in Spanish.
Q: In Spain, Fernando’s ’33’ is a ‘trending topic’, alluding to what would be the next victory for the Asturian double world champion. Do you think he can get it?
A: I think Fernando has been close, already, this season. In some races he has been the fastest driver. He is near. And there is still a lot of season left.
Q: Are you surprised that Alonso, a few days after his 42nd birthday, is still so competitive?
A: No. I believe that Formula One, more than a matter of age, is a matter of motivation. And if you have one hundred percent motivation and you prepare day by day… in the end, we have seen it. I think that is what impresses me the most about Fernando: that at almost 42 years of age he continues to have that motivation.
Q: You are already, by your own merits, the best pilot in the entire history of your country. Will it be necessary to change the name of the Autodromo de Ciudad de México?
A: No (laughs). In the end, I feel very proud of what the Rodríguez brothers (Pedro and Ricardo, both died in separate accidents) have achieved. They have opened a very important era and an important history for my country.
Thanks to Spain
Q: You spend a lot of the year in Madrid. Obviously, it’s not the same as shooting in Mexico City, but what does it feel like doing it here?
A: People in Spain always receive me very well. He gives me a lot of love. In the end. there is always a lot of Mexican, a lot of Latino. It’s like being at home, but without being home. It’s a good feeling.
Q: In a few days they will compete again. Next weekend the Hungarian Grand Prix will take place at the Hungaroring. What do you expect from that test?
A: It will be a complicated Grand Prix, with a lot of corners, a lot of slow corner. It may not be our best circuit, but we have everything to fight for the victory.