• Q & A - Tonio Liuzzi

'We need to understand more about this new wheelbase'

Tonio Liuzzi is looking forward to his first full season with Force India © Sutton Images

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Tonio Liuzzi gave the new Force India VJM03 its first proper test run with 71 laps at Jerez. Despite the rain, he was pleased with the car and the progress of the team. He talked to ESPNF1's Dan Knutson after the session.

What were your first impressions of the Force India?
Tonio Liuzzi: It definitely was a good beginning. Unfortunately we did just a few laps, one run, in dry conditions in the morning. But in a full day of wet running we got good results. We did more than 70 laps. The car felt really reliable. No big issues. We went ahead with a few developments around the car, the cooling and things like this.

The last two years you started the year as a test driver. Now you have a full season as a race driver ahead of you. How does it feel?
For sure I suffered when I was in the third seat because previously I had done two years of racing. So it was difficult but it made me more mature for this comeback. I did five races last year, and now I feel that I am ready for a strong 2010 together with Force India. We are all looking forward to this season.

What will you be working on over the next few tests?
Definitely to get as much mileage as we can on this new VJM03, to understand more about this new wheelbase, and the weight of the car with a lot of fuel. We will have a pretty interesting programme coming for tomorrow and for the next days of testing. It will be an intense three weeks before Bahrain. But we are pushing, as we did for the last 12 months.

What are your goals for the season?
We are aiming to have a competitive car that can finish in the points at every race. That is our target. If we can get more, like it happened in a couple of occasions last year [at Spa and Monza] that would be more than welcome. But we want to get consistent results with all the team throughout the championship. And have a good development [on the car] like we did in the past. We have a strong combination for 2010, and I think we have all the right cards to do it.

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