HOCKENHEIM – Interview realised in Spanish on Thursday July 28th.
Q : How are you doing today ?
Tatiana : Very good thank you.
Q : We are at a track that you know quite well as you have raced here multiple times in the past. Do you like the Hockenheim track ?
T : With F3 we came here almost twice a year so it is a track I know very well, technical with some fast corners but also slow ones. I like this circuit because we have opportunities to overtake here and I think we can get our first points here this week-end.
(Q : You’ve raced here a lot of times especially in F3, will it help you this week-end against rivals who might not have raced there yet ?)
T : Of course I think that knowing the track is a great advantage especially in GP3 as we don’t run a lot with just one free-practice session and not a lot of laps. So I hope the experienced I gained those last few years will help me this week-end.
Q : You are racing with Arden International, why did you chose this team for your first year in GP3 Series ?
T : I think Arden had very good years in GP3, even last year with Emil Bernstorff and there was also one of my engineers in 2014 in F3 who was there so this caught my attention as we got on very well with each other that year. I think the most difficult is to find a good communication with your engineer and I already had it so I am very happy with Arden as the won the championship a couple of years ago and I think we will get better and better and closer to the points.
Q : You have had a quite tough start of the season, did you expect it to be so difficult ?
T : Winter testing went very well for me and I thought I would be ahead more often. But I think this championship has a very high level with almost the whole field within one second so the very little differences are the one which makes the difference during the race. That’s why I accept a hard start. The week-end when everything will turn out right, we should be ahead.
Q : Last year you were one of the most experienced driver in F3 and you were set to race for a fourth season before the regulation changed and forbid you to do so. How do you feel about it ?
T : I think Formula 3 is one of these championships of reference where you learn a lot thanks to the time spent on track. Of course the new regulation about the maximum time in F3 prevented us to continue, but I think I also needed some change with a car with more power such as the GP3 car. It is also a new challenge for me and that is why we decided to change to GP3.
Q : You are the only woman racing in the series this year but some others like Carmen Jorda or Alice Powell already raced in GP3. Does it give you more pressure in a way that you want to be the best woman in GP3 history or do you just want to beat the men surrounding you ?
T : I really think it is about me. I am quick enough to be on top and I do not pay attention to what the others do. Also, the level of the category changes at every season, which makes it difficult to compare different seasons. I think we are there, at the gates of the points, and when we will have it all working together, we will do great. That is what I am focusing on, just doing it right.
Q : You are a part of Suzie Wolff’s Dare to be different movement, how important is it for you to be a part of this movement ?
T : I think this is a great opportunity for all the women in motorsports. It is a good way to have us mutually supporting each other and ask for help. I am happy to be part of this community, I met great women thanks to this and we are all here to help each other, trying to get more girls into motorsports because I don’t think there is any reason for them not to be as good as the others.
Q : What can we wish you for the future ?
T : My goal and dream is to get to Formula 1, that’s why I will give the maximum to be on the grid one day. I also know it is very difficult as that’s why we have to take it step by step and why I want finish this year with points and afterwards we will see the doors which would open.