1. The racing season is slowly coming towards the deciding end and the run for the championship title is heating up. After the retirement from Spa you are now 21 points behind the leader. Can you still make this up?
“Of course, it is still possible to close the gap. 21 points sounds like a lot, but taking into consideration you get 25 points for one victory everything is still possible. A lot can happen in the races to come. But we cannot allow another retirement or a race without scoring points now.”
2. Your season has been a permanent up and down, what positives are you taking into the next races?
“Apart from a few exceptions, we were always competitive. Of course, there were situations in which we were not rewarded with points despite a great performance, like Le Castellet for example, but those set-backs are part of the game.”
3. Which upcoming race are you most looking forward to and why?
“I am very much looking forward to the remaining races of the Blancpain GT Series Asia. There are a few race tracks I have not been to, like Fuji Speedway coming up this weekend and I am really excited about that.”
4. Looking back: Can you still remember your very first race in the Mercedes-AMG GT3? How can you compare this to today? Which developments have gone into the car?
“I remember the beginning with the new Mercedes very well. There have not been that many changes since the cars are homologated. But in terms of setting up the car, we have done a great step forward during the time and the new Mercedes-AMG GT3 is a really great race car.”
5. In your own words, what needs to change in order to secure the title for you as a driver in the Blancpain GT Championship?
“We have to minimise our error rate. From both the drivers and the team side, we allowed too many small mistakes to happen, which cost us important points and positions in the end. This needs to improve in the last races of the year for us to take the title home.”
6. Looking ahead to 2018: If you could choose, where would you prefer to race in 2018?
“I would welcome the opportunity to race in America. The races are very interesting to me and I have been following them intensively all year.“
