What did your teammate do before landing a GP2 drive?
Giedo: F3000
Diego: You did what?
Giedo: No, you did.
Diego: I did what?
Giedo: F3000… before GP2 you know.
Diego: Ah! I didn’t listen to the question!
Giedo: It’s started you know.
Diego: Sorry (Laughs). You were in World Series by Renault.

What are his greatest strengths?
Giedo: High Speed corners.
Diego: Slow speed corners… (Laughs) If we put everything together we win everything!

What are his weaknesses?
Giedo: That’s a good one… (He thinks) I think sometimes he forgets some stuffs.
Diego: Like what?
Giedo: Like the question you know! (Laughs)
Diego: I don’t know… I have no idea. I haven’t seen a weakness yet.

Who gets the latest to the track?
Diego: We always come together.
Giedo: So we are never later or earlier. Sometimes, we even hold hands.
Diego: (Laughs) I arrived nine minutes late to the signing session this morning, but I followed the GPS. It’s sh*t! “In one hundred meters, turn right”. I turn you know. I think it knows better than me. Then I get stuck in traffic. Boom! I’m late.

Who is the wildest on track // off track?
Giedo: Diego…
Diego: On track?
Giedo: No, on track, there’s not a lot of difference between the two of us. But off track, you are the wildest.
Diego: No! You are much crazier than me. Maybe because you are Dutch… I think we talk too much. It’s true, but it’s ok.
Giedo: We are not so wild on track.
Diego: Yeah, not like… I’m not gonna say! (Laughs)

Who is the most successful with the ladies?
Diego: We are both almost married you know.
Giedo: So we are not looking for girls.
Diego: We are still both successful. My girlfriend is nice so we are both lucky.
Giedo: I got together with my girlfriend six years ago and you have been with yours for five… So… When I finished Go Kart I had some time off and I met her and we are together still.

Who will have the nicest car in ten years?
Diego: The best car? Hmm…
Giedo: You never know.
Diego: Giedo wants an airplane!
Giedo: I would like to be in a F1 in ten years and in one of the top teams of course!
Diego: Same.

Who will have the most beautiful wife in ten years?
Giedo: Me!
Diego: I hope me! But I already know that mine will be the loudest though! I swear! Put two Brazilian girls together and it’s like you are in a chicken coop! When my girlfriend’s sister is here with my sister and my girlfriend come to the races, they never shut up! (Laughs) And then you get Valerio sitting there, laughing his loud laugh!
Giedo: d’Ambrosio is also bad when it comes to laugh you know.
(Both iSport men start imitating Valerio and d’Ambrosio’s laughs)

How best would you describe your teammate?
Giedo: A good friend
Diego: Same. We are similar: we are not shy, we talk a lot.
Giedo: For me, it has not been an easy year although it’s going better now. But as a teammate I couldn’t have had a better one.

Who has the best fashion sense?
Giedo: Me.
Diego: No! No way! I’m sorry, but I have to reveal that you wear pink underwear all the time! And you like to show them! It hurts the eyes!
Giedo: Whenever I change and you walk in on me, it’s true you do get a little bit scared of my choice of underwear.
Diego: I took pictures. You want them for the blog? I mean it’s pink! You have to take a picture or no one will believe you! I mean, he was checking the data in his underwear! I have at least five pictures.
Giedo: Hey! It’s good fashion to wear pink underwear. In Holland, we have good and big brands like McGreggor.
Diego: In Brazil, we have the sun. We don’t need clothes…

Who is the shyest?
Diego: Nobody!
Giedo: I think I am less than you.
Diego: No. I’m worse than you?
Giedo: You have to know people first. You are always shy in front of the camera.
Diego: No, I’m only pretending to be serious! Or else people will ask “Who is this crazy person?”

Who is your favourite sportsman? Sportswoman?
Diego: Can I say Senna?
Giedo: For me Lance Armstrong.
Diego: Bolt! And woman? The Brazilian girl married to Pizzonia: Maureen Maggi. She’s very good. She won the Olympics.
Giedo: I don’t watch women’s sports.

Who tells the most jokes?
Giedo: I think it’s 50/50. I tell bad jokes all the time!
Diego: You like to joke with me. Our first test in Barcelona, I was having a yogurt and he told me: “Did you smell that? It smells really bad; I think it’s not good anymore”. So I smelled it and he spread it all over my face. He did the same to my girlfriend with some ice cream!
Giedo: Yeah… It’s a bad joke.
Diego: But we are working on how to get him back.

Diego, if you were to invite Giedo to dinner, what would you cook? Same for Giedo?
Diego: Ah! I was expecting this question!
Giedo: I think I would not cook Italian because that’s what we eat at the track… Probably some Dutch food. My girlfriend can cook also Japanese or Chinese. I know how to cook eggs!
Diego: Popcorn, eggs… I
Giedo: Or a Panini.
Diego: I would cook feijoada. It’s like black beans with some pork in the middle and caipirinha!
Giedo: That’s not food.
Diego: But to us it’s typical food! And rice… And Brazilian stuff.
Giedo: I’ll have a beer.

Who has the most contacts in their phone?
Giedo: Diego has two phones so he wins.
Diego: I think I have 18… Wait… I have two phones.
(Diego takes out both phones out of his pocket)
Diego: I have the same contacts in both phones.
(Giedo also checks his phone)
Giedo: I’m sure we will lose to Karun Chandhok no matter what. I have 333.
Diego: How can you see?
(Giedo helps him out)
Diego: I have… 58!
(Both laugh. Diego checks his other phone)
Diego: No, look I have more than that in this phone. (As he scrolls down) A, B, C, D, E… It has to be more than 50… Ah! 170. That’s better!
Giedo: It says you have 900 voice mails.
Diego: No! It’s the number to call the voice mail stupid!
Giedo: “This is Vodaphone. You have 900 voice mails”
(Both laugh)
Giedo: I like to make fun of you.
Diego: Yeah, that’s painful!
(Checks again his phone)
Diego: I have 170. That’s good now… So how many did you say Chandhok has?
Giedo: Over a thousand.
Diego: What? How is that possible? No, seriously. I need to give him my phone. Or maybe he already has it! I’m gonna go around the paddock and go “Hi! I’m Diego. Can I have your phone number?” to everyone. I hope this will help me beat him.
Giedo: I don’t care. As long as I beat him on the track!
Diego: Ok, but I have twitter and maybe I have more followers than him!

What did your teammate do before landing a GP2 drive?
Alvaro: I think he did World Series, but maybe not all of it. And Formula 3 in England for sure.
Karun: I did two weekends in World Series… Alvaro raced in F3 in 2003. I sat on the grid next to him. And he did World Series in 06 and then he won in 07. I should get more points because I know more… I totally kicked his arse on that one
Alvaro: No! I was only getting started…

What are his greatest strengths?
Alvaro: He is earlier on track, for sure (Laughs). And during the races, he is very consistent.
Karun: I think, Alvaro’s greatest strength is how he can just wake up and five minutes later be on the track and be super fast! Can you tell us the story of your pole position in 07 in Monaco?
Alvaro: (Laughs) I got confused with the schedule… I got in quite a bit late and everyone was already lined up and putting their helmets on. I had to change in the pitlane. My boots were in the pitlane, but some things were missing. It was a bit of a mess. But at the end, we did a great job so… (Laughs)

What are his weaknesses?
Karun: Probably, maybe in the races more than in qualifying, he is very quick on one lap… He is mega. Maybe he is not as quick during the races, maybe.
Alvaro: Well… This year, maybe in qualifying, Karun wasn’t as strong as last year in some places… But even though, most qualifying sessions, we managed to be in the top so…

Karun: Unless we have a problem, we are always between one or two tenths from the pace. We haven’t been the luckiest pair.

Who gets the latest to the track?
Karun: (Laughs)
Alvaro: Well, excuse me, but in Valencia, I arrived before Karun…
Karun: I couldn’t believe it! He called me. It was the first time ever! I got to the track and saw him there already. I really thought that he’d slept there at night: it was impossible otherwise! I’m sure he didn’t change the time zone on his alarm.
Alvaro: I thought we were going to have more traffic on the way over, but no (Laughs)

Who is the wildest on track // off track?
Karun: I don’t know. It depends… If you look at the end of season party last year? It was probably me. If you look at the rest of the year, probably him.
Alvaro: He enjoys the occasional glass of wine more than me… That’s all I’m going to say on the subject (Laughs)
Karun: The last time I was in Portugal, we went out for dinner. Some of us went to bed after dinner. Some of us went to Portimao after dinner… and came back at five in the morning. I will not say who was who, but I will say this: I was in bed! (Laughs) On track, I would say we are even in terms of wilderness.
Alvaro: This year, for me, it’s been a bit crazy. I think I made only one big mistake and another small one in Monaco. But the rest has been people hitting me. I haven’t had a great year so far. We should be more in front. Anyway, that doesn’t change anything… The year has been difficult and we lost a lot of points through no fault of our own.
Karun: People crash into you and I have mechanical gremlins… We should have had three more points, that’s for sure. And there were stupid incidents as well. But, there you go. We are definitely the unluckiest pair of the grid.
Alvaro: We should be a lot more in front.

Who is the most successful with the ladies?
Karun: Alvaro
Alvaro: I have no idea…
Karun: You are a smooth talker.
Alvaro: Oh and you are not? (Laughs) I’m a low profile person. I’ve heard some stories regarding Karun… But I will not tell!

Who will have the nicest car in ten years?
Karun: I don’t know… I want the world’s fastest Fiat 500. That’s what I want. When I make money, that’s the first thing I’m going to buy. The world’s fastest Fiat 500… It will be mega. I could drive from Brackley to Spa in less than five hours.
Alvaro: And you will also have a lot of tickets.
Karun: Yes.
Alvaro: For me, right now, if I could buy a car, I would buy a sporty diesel – something like a BMW. I really like them. That’s what I would do right now. I had a non-diesel car. I loved it, but I was constantly at the petrol station, filling it up.
Karun: I’m driving a diesel Volvo at the moment for the same reason! 450 miles with one tank. Happy day!

Who will have the most beautiful wife in ten years?
Karun: We should let Alvaro’s girlfriend answer that one (Laughs)
Alvaro: I was going to say that (Laughs)!
Karun: I don’t even know if I’m going to be alive in ten years…!

How best would you describe your teammate?
Karun: Chilled out! I have never met a racing driver that chilled out in my life…
Alvaro: Hard worker. True professional. That’s the best way to describe Karun. And very popular with everyone. He is always happy and talking to everyone. He is very nice. I’m not (Laughs)

Who has the best fashion sense?
Karun: We are always wearing team shirt and shoes! I think your question should be “Who has the best fashion sense: Alexa or Dave?”
Alvaro: Yeah! (Laughs)
Karun: Outside the track, it’s tee-shirt, shorts and flip-flops for me.
Alvaro: Same here…

Who is the shyest?
Karun: It’s not me! (Laughs)
Alvaro: You think I’m shy?
Karun: Compared to me…
Alvaro: Oh then yes. Compared to you, anybody is shy!

Who is your favourite sportsman? Sportswoman?
Karun: Lance Armstrong and Alain Prost. As a kid I was a Prost fan which became a bit of an issue last year when I had the conversation with Bruno (Laughs)
Alvaro: I really like to watch Cristiano Ronaldo play. And in motor racing, I don’t have a big idol, but I always loved watching Senna race, and Patrese too. Federer in tennis is also very impressive. He is not as fit as Nadal, but he uses the power differently
Karun: True. To stay at the top year after year… He is a real hero.

Who tells the most jokes?
Karun: Alvaro.
Alvaro: No, no. It’s Karun.
Karun: Alvaro is quite funny, really. Yesterday, I was changing my visor. I got the dark visor and he comes up to me and says: “It’s raining again”. So, I spend another ten minutes getting the rain visor ready. And of course, it was bright and sunny outside.
Alvaro: Sorry… (Laughs) But Karun has an English humour. It’s quite entertaining.

Karun, if you were to invite Alvaro to dinner, what would you cook? Same for Alvaro?
Karun: Portuguese are not very good with curry.
Alvaro: Yes, please, no curry. Nothing spicy…
Karun: My chicken curry is very good. I cook all the time. I make fajitas too.
Alvaro: Oh! Fajitas!
Karun: Ok, I will make you fajitas… To be honest, it’s not difficult to cook curry. I make everything from scratch. I love cooking curries. My dad always brings me some spices to England every time I run out.
Alvaro: I’ll pretend to cook Karun a meal, but actually I would have gotten it from somewhere! Some codfish… I’ll order a good Portuguese meal (Laughs)

Who has the most contacts in their phone?
Karun: Should we check?
Alvaro: Yeah!
(Both run to their phones and check)
Alvaro: Where can you see that?
Karun: I’ve got 1558.
Alvaro: Jesus! One thousand how many?
Karun: 558
Alvaro: Ok, well then, there is no need to check mine!
(Karun helps Alvaro find the number in the Portuguese’s phone)
Karun: 687…
Alvaro: I lose… Big time!

What did your teammate do before landing a GP2 drive? Jérôme: He sold sushi in Japan! (Laughs) No, seriously, he was in Formula 3 Euro Series with ART.
Kamui: He was selling French Fries… He won Formula Master.

What are his greatest strengths?
Kamui: Strengths? (He thinks hard… or falls asleep. We’re not sure at this point)
Jérôme: I hope you will think as hard when we have the questions regarding my weaknesses! (Laughs)
Kamui: I think his strong point is that he talks a lot with his engineers. I don’t.
Jérôme: I think he is very good at adjusting to the car.

What are his weaknesses?
Jérôme: He doesn’t speak a lot with the engineers! (Laughs)
Kamui: It’s true! … (He thinks again long and hard before coming up with an answer regarding Jérôme’s weaknesses)
Jérôme: Thank you!
Kamui: … (He thinks some more)… I don’t know. Normally, I don’t think about that kind of stuff. I usually just think about how I can improve myself.
Jérôme: Just say something so I can prove you wrong.
Kamui: I really don’t know.
Jérôme: So basically, I have none. Moving on to the next question!

Who gets the latest to the track?
Jérôme: It’s 50-50… It depends.
Kamui: What he says!
Jérôme: But we are on time. So that’s what counts really.

Who is the wildest on track // off track?
Jérôme: Do we really have to answer that question? It’s Kamui of course!
Kamui: Not off track! I’m very shy and very serious.
Jérôme: Yeah. Right! Come on! Don’t lie! Remember how wild you were when we celebrated our title in Bahrain?
Kamui: (Does not answer, but does smile widely)

Who is the most successful with the ladies?
Kamui: Jérôme!
Jérôme: No, Kamui!
Kamui: No, no. You never know.
Jérôme: You are quite good at chatting up with girls.
Kamui: I’m not so good.
Jérôme: Well, you try a lot.
Kamui: You do too.
Jérôme: Yeah, but it works less… Well, except from when Jean-Paul Driot helps me and tells me what to say. By the way, it works! Although he did embarrass me a couple of times (Laughs)

Who will have the nicest car in ten years?
Kamui: Oh! But I have to say a Toyota!
Jérôme: (Laughs)
Kamui: Are you trying to get me in trouble?!
Jérôme: Come on! What is your dream car?
Kamui: A Lexus.
Jérôme: What? No Porsche or Ferrari?
Kamui: Hey! Last time, you took my car to drive to Dams and you told me that it was a very good car!
Jérôme: It’s true, but you are putting me in trouble now! (Laughs)

Who will have the most beautiful wife in ten years?
Jérôme: You think you are going to have a wife in ten years? I don’t think so (Laughs)… It’s a difficult question. Time will tell.
Kamui: It’s not easy! Come on! What if my girlfriend reads this?!
Jérôme: (Laughs)
Kamui: This goes on the website! Maybe she will go to the blog and read this! I cannot answer that question!
Jérôme: Oh! Good point!

How best would you describe your teammate?
Kamui: I think it depends on the week: some weeks, Jérôme is a rabbit, other weeks, I don’t know…
Jérôme: Kamui is a wild cat.
Kamui: No, I’m like Alfred, my dog!

Who has the best fashion sense?
Jérôme: Kamui!
Kamui: No.
Jérôme: No. Shut up. You do!
Kamui: I have a Japanese style you know?
Jérôme: I like it.
Kamui: It’s different for every country. Who decides which one is the best? As long as I like it, it’s good.
Jérôme: Yeah, but me, with a tee-shirt and a pair of jeans, I’m good to go. I don’t really care.

Who is the shyest?
Kamui: Me.
Jérôme: Come on! It’s me. On the track, no. But outside, I’m the shyest! (Laughs) I’ve just realised that Kamui answers “me” to every question!
Kamui: No, but I am shy. When I have to speak, I do it. But I don’t like it because I don’t always know the people.

Who is your favourite sportsman? Sportswoman?
Jérôme: Today, it’s Usain Bolt. He is amazing. I like Lance Armstrong. I really like him too. Oh! And Valentino Rossi. He’s number one!
Kamui: I don’t know. I don’t really care…

Who tells the most jokes?
Kamui: Jérôme.
Jérôme: I tell bad jokes (Laughs)

Kamui, if you were to invite Jérôme to dinner, what would you cook? Same for Jérôme?
Kamui: Cook? Japanese food. I’m a very good cook. My girlfriend is not interested in food! It’s so frustrating. She doesn’t care about food. I cannot have a sandwich for dinner, but she can. So I cook for myself. So, Jérôme, I would be happy to cook for you!
Jérôme: I’ll make French fries and waffles. You love them right? But I don’t know how to cook, so I’ll ask my mom to cook for you (Laughs)!

Who has the most contacts in their phone?
Jérôme: I don’t know. I never checked. Probably Kamui.
Kamui: I always lose my phone. So I always lose my contacts. Last December, I lost my Japanese phone because I put it in the bag with everything else and then checked it in on the plane. And someone stole it at the airport in Paris. I didn’t finish the contract with the phone company. I received the invoice last month: it was of 2000 Euros!
Jérôme: You did not finish the contact? You are crazy!!
Kamui: I know! Now I’m trying to tell the company “I lost my phone! It was stolen!”
Jérôme: So how do we get in touch with you?
Kamui: I don’t know! I lose my phone every two months… I lose all the contacts every time!
Jérôme: I’ll introduce you to Outlook Express (Laughs)
Kamui: I always put my phone in my luggage and then they steal my bag at the airport. I’m sure in Paris there is a place where they sell stolen items. I’m sure I could find eighteen of my bags there!
Jérôme: And maybe your phones too!

What did your teammate do before landing a GP2 drive?
Dani: We did the same. F3 Euro Series. We know each other well.
Lucas: We spent one year in the RDD Programme together before being teammates for Fat Burner Racing Engineering. Dani was in F3 Euro Series last season.

What are his greatest strengths?
Dani: His experience.
Lucas: He is fast.
Dani: I’m lovely.
Lucas: I don’t know about that… You are professional, that’s for sure.

What are his weaknesses?
Lucas: At this stage, his lack of experience in GP2. Most of the guys, even rookies like Hülkenberg, it’s not the same because they raced in GP2 Asia. Dani, when he arrived in Barcelona for the opening of the championship, it was the first GP2 weekend ever for him.
Dani: For now, I’ve seen no weaknesses in Lucas. He is really strong both mentally and with the car. He’s the man! See? I’m lovely.

Who gets the latest to the track?
Lucas: We come together.
Dani: We are like a couple Laughs
Lucas: We share the same car.
Dani: Actually, I’m the first one to wake up.
Lucas: You are the first one at breakfast!

Who is the wildest on track // off track?
Lucas: Well, on track, that’s proportional to the amount of experience you have, I think. When you are not that experienced, it’s normal to make more mistakes and to push more.
Dani: I agree.
Lucas: Off track, … hmm…
Dani: I will also pass…

Who is the most successful with the ladies?
Lucas: Definitely me, but I have a girlfriend. Actually, I would have been more successful if I didn’t have a girlfriend!
Dani: No, no! We are equally successful, but we are both in a relationship so…

Who will have the nicest car in ten years?
Lucas: Actually, Dani will. He will spend all his money in the car.
Dani: I don’t care about the car. I drive a Smart now…

Who will have the most beautiful wife in ten years?
Lucas: My girlfriend is younger so she is more beautiful!
Dani: I have the nicest girlfriend now, so, you know, my wife will look nicer than yours!

How best would you describe your teammate?
Lucas: Definitely an animal! A lama! The one that spits!
Dani: No, you say that because of my hair… You could be Timon from the Lion King
Lucas: Laughs Mufasa yes, but not Timon! Come on!

Who has the best fashion sense?
Lucas: If you think that Spaniards have a good fashion sense, then definitely Dani. But if you don’t…
Dani: Spanish people have great fashion sense! Better than Brazilians
Lucas: If you say so…

Who is the shyest?
Dani: Me
Lucas: Yeah, right! Laughs

Who is your favourite sportsman? Sportswoman?
Lucas: At the moment… He thinks Actually, I’ve picked up golf recently, and it is quite difficult. So, I might have to say Tiger Woods.

Who tells the most jokes?
Dani: Lucas. You are laughing all the time.
Lucas: Are you kidding? I am the most serious person in the paddock!
Dani: Sure… And Brazilians have great fashion sense! Laughs

Dani, if you were to invite Lucas to dinner, what would you cook? Same question for Lucas.
Lucas: What can I cook? I will make some pot noodles in the microwave. It’ll be ready in two minutes. If you want to eat, you eat. If you don’t, just go away Laughs. Dani knows how to make pan con tomate that is really good.
Dani: You remember?
Lucas: You did when we were at the RDD once.
Dani: I would cook that again then. Anything to make you happy! And by the way, I would be very happy with your pot noodles!
Lucas: Laughs

Who has the most contacts in their phone?
Lucas: I don’t know… But one day, I will be the President of Brazil. It will be very nice.
Dani: Laughs “Who has the most imagination of this room” should be the question!
Lucas: Laughs But regarding the contacts in our phones, I think it’s Dani who has the most because I delete quite a few in my phone…
Dani: Girls’ phone numbers?
Lucas: Of course!

Telmex Arden's Sergio Perez and Edoardo Mortara discuss Telmex Arden's Sergio Perez and Edoardo Mortara discuss

What did your teammate do before landing a GP2 drive?

Sergio: I know! F3 Euroseries. He finished second in the championship.
Edoardo: You finish fourth in British F3 after leading a big part of the season.

What are his greatest strengths?

Sergio: Well, he comes to a circuit without knowing it, but he can still be fast straight away. He makes it look easy.
Edoardo: I think Sergio is a great teammate. We have the same driving style. We can improve the set up of the car together. He is constant and never makes big mistakes. It allows him to qualify well.

What are his weaknesses?

Sergio: For sure, he doesn’t like it when you overtake him, but no one likes that! What else? I don’t know him that much I guess. I’m always in front of him Laughs
Edoardo: Off track? laughs We are both living in different places. We only meet on the track or the workshop. It’s difficult to find his weaknesses. But on the track, he is a complete driver. Maybe, he lacks of experience, but we both need it. We are both making mistakes. In qualy, he is more efficient than me I guess. Wasn’t I supposed to talk about Sergio’s weaknesses? I’m too nice!
Sergio: It’s because I have none! Laughs

Who gets the latest to the track?

Sergio: We both want to arrive on time and as early as possible. We are competing. In the morning, I arrive earlier and sometimes he gets lost!
Edoardo: We are both Latin! Getting up early is not our thing!
Sergio: We are always on time. That’s what matters, right? Latin, but on time!
Edoardo: We are serious…

Who is the wildest on track // off track?

Sergio: Laughs… Hmm… I don’t know: I think we are both very wild. I don’t know: it depends on the moment. If you are on a quick lap, you want to finish the lap. Off track, I’m pretty wild to tell you the truth! I don’t know Edoardo that well off the track. But I know I’m wild!
Edoardo: On track, I think we are wild, but in the good sense of the word. You have to ask the other drivers to see if I’m wild or not. Probably they will tell you that I am, but I try to avoid contacts and to get the best results. And off track, I’m a pretty simple guy: sometimes I go out with some friends, but I’m not going crazy.

Who is the most successful with the ladies?

Sergio: Hmm… At the moment, I’m very focused on my career, so I don’t really have the time to be with a girl or for a relationship. My priority is racing. And I heard some stories about Edoardo regarding the ladies laughs
Edoardo: Really? Laughs I don’t think I’m really… successful. I’m trying to be normal. I had ladies, I’m still… uh…
Sergio: Laughs
Edoardo: My job is to be a racing driver. I put it in front of everything else. And I found someone nine months ago. Maybe I was wilder before, now I’m tamed Laughs.

Are you superstitious?

Sergio: Oh yeah. Big time! Starts showing some bracelets This is from my grandmother. This is something that a friend gave me. I always wear them.
Edoardo: And I have stripes in my hair. I started wearing them last year and I won. So, yes, I am superstitious too. Plus, that way, I don’t look like the others!

Who will have the nicest car in ten years?

Sergio: I will be richer, so I will have the nicest car! Laughs
Edoardo: And what will it be?
Sergio: I would like to have a Lamborghini. A yellow one! So that people see that I have one!
Edoardo: Laughs of course! If you have to buy a Lamborghini, you have to buy it yellow! Laughs. A dream car for me is a good SUV like a Cayenne or a Tuareg because I live near the mountains. You know, being a racing driver, you already have the big sensations at the wheel of the best and most powerful cars in the world. On the road, for me, it doesn’t really matter if the car is powerful. I want it to be comfortable. Right now, I’m driving a Golf and I’m fine with it Laughs.

Who will have the most beautiful wife in ten years?

Sergio: I’ll try to find her, but it’s difficult. I don’t even know if I’ll be married in ten years. I will still be too young I think! You cannot plan your life.
Edoardo: When you are married, you’re like stuck Laughs. It’s not about being with someone beautiful it’s more about being with someone interesting. If they are nice looking, it will be a nice plus!

How best would you describe your teammate?

Sergio: I think Edoardo would be a tiger Laughs or a snake Laughs Kind of!
Edoardo: We are both fighters.

Who has the best fashion sense?

Sergio: He’s Italian! I thought I had cool sunglasses when we were doing GP2 Asia, but everyone was making fun of them. Actually, Karun Chandhok was wearing them as well…
Edoardo: I think Sergio has a better fashion sense than me. I am always wearing the same clothes. I don’t like shopping: it’s pretty boring! I steal clothes from my brother. I’m not really into fashion.

Who is the shyest?

Sergio: Everybody says I am very shy. I am shy to some people when they are strangers. It takes time for me to get comfortable around new people.
Edoardo: I’m pretty shy as well. Growing up, when you are a racing driver, you are alone and you are getting used to it. For me, it’s pretty difficult to socialise although it’s part of our job as well.
Sergio: Sometimes, my family thinks I don’t socialise enough, but I like to be on my own and I enjoy it.

Who is your favourite sportsman? Sportswoman?

Sergio: Ayrton Senna. And Lorena Ochoa because she’s from my hometown. Plus, she’s really hot!
Edoardo: I don’t know… Because I really like football: Cristiano Ronaldo. He is a natural and talented. But he is working so hard.

Who tells the most jokes?

Sergio: I think Edoardo does. When I’m with my friends, I make a lot of jokes, but not around the team.
Edoardo: I’m joking pretty often or at least I’m trying! I like to create a nice atmosphere. It’s a good way to build a team.

Sergio, if you were to invite Edoardo to dinner, what would you cook? Same question for Edoardo.

Sergio: I actually cook quite often at home. I normally do microwave rice! Laughs It’s not difficult to make Laughs. If Edoardo comes to my house, I will cook something more difficult of course.
Edoardo: I’m always cooking pasta because it’s pretty easy, not because I’m Italian. I would make some really nice pasta for Sergio with a special sauce Laughs.

Who has the most contacts in their phone?

Sergio: Edoardo!
Edoardo: No! I’m sure that it is Sergio because I’m always deleting contacts! If you don’t call me for a long time, I just delete your phone number because it’s just taking memory space for nothing! Laughs

Part of the fun of turning up in the paddock for the new year is to see what has changed since you were last there. It's still motor racing, so change tends to happen glacially, but there is always new stuff if you look closely enough.

- Beards: Apparently 2009 is the year of facial hair. It seems to be an Italian led trend, with Davide Valsecchi and Luca Filippi arriving in the paddock with full (for them) beards (the latter has already chopped his down to a surprising mutton chops / goatee combination), while Andi Zuber is sporting an Amish-style beard (and was less than thrilled at that description), and Jérôme d’Ambrosio has a “lucky beard” he started growing in GP2 Asia.

“Well they obviously don't want to go to F1,” was Karun Chandhok's swift judgement. “They don't like beards up there.” “What about Nick Heidfeld?” “He's been there for ages, so it's okay.” “And he probably only grew it so that people would actually notice him.” “It's his USP: he is the beardy one...”

- Paint schemes: The teams have been busy coming up with new colour schemes for the season. Trident's striking new colours have been particularly well received, along with their classic style outfits, while iSport have resolved their blue / red clash in fine style. Arden now look like the GP2 test car, Piquet look surprisingly like a large Formula BMW, while most of the others tweaked their existing schemes. Apart from one obvious change...

- Fat Burner Racing Engineering: They're bright, they're brash, and they're very, very red. Team boss Alfonso de Orleans-Borbon, probably aware of what was to come when he stepped foot into the paddock, was busy over the off-season pre-empting the punchlines. “I've lost 22 kilos since we got this new sponsor,” he told approximately every living being in the paddock (“Is that guy over there Alfonso?” asked a newbie in the paddock yesterday. “I've never spoken to him before, but he came over and told me he lost 22 kilos...”).

He certainly looks pleased with his weekend so far (and also quite slimmed down from last season). Those in the paddock with a grounding in the Latin languages can't help but feel that Lucas di Grassi is less enamoured with the new sponsor, given his surname...

- Hospitality: We've got a proper door out front now, and a new, lower roof that stops the glare on the TV screens and keeps the whole area cooler. Those of us who live upstairs in the central bus are less sure about the latter change: it seems even hotter up here now, and we now can't look down and see who is sitting downstairs (no more antics involving a wireless microphone and fake calls to the stewards' office, sadly). But it does look as though we're above the clouds when we look out the window now.

- ORT: Ocean Racing Scene, as the paddock's aficionado's of early 90's retro rock are already calling our newest team, have hit the ground running: their matt black and shiny blue paint scheme has had numerous people scratching their heads as they try to work out whether they think it is genius or the opposite (current split: 60/40 for genius), while the shirts have all the females in the office smiling because the silver lines are glittery. It's the small touches that make all the difference.

Racing drivers are always late: it's just a fact of life for anyone who has to deal with them on a regular basis. But even by their standards Alvaro Parente is famous for being late: like every other driver Alvaro would rather sleep than do just about anything else, but he struggles more than any of the others to get out of bed and into the track. Which is why, when we need him early for any reason, we tell him to arrive earlier than we actually need him, just so he is there around the right time.

(Alvaro, if you're reading this I am lying now, honestly: please turn up when we ask you to...)

But fresh from his championship win in Asia, it seems that Kamui Kobayashi is determined to take another new title, even if it's one that no one else really wants. We waited and waited for him to arrive in the paddock, with Dams' media liaison Claire calling him frantically to get here in time for the signing session, but when even Alvaro started complaining about how late Kamui was it was clearly time to go.

Finally turning up after running all the way from the carpark to our paddock, to the pitlane, and eventually to the Bridgestone fan area, he set about signing every card on the table in record time, went off for some water, and even had time to come back and take photos for some of the fans with the Spanish driver contingent, all with his usual cheeky smirk across his face. So there's always photography to fall back on if the driving doesn't work out. Although I assume that they have to get out of bed, too...

One guy who wished he hadn't made the effort to get up in the morning was Lucas di Grassi, who had a bit of a torrid time during the race: after pointing out to everyone in yesterday's press conference that preserving the tyres would be the vital component of today's race his team went the wrong way with their set up, and he had shot tyres after six laps or so and a mountain to climb to protect his position.

But how is it possible to get the set up wrong in Barcelona, where the team's have spent so much time testing? “Unfortunately it's pretty easy to go the wrong way on that,” Gavin Bickerton-Jones told me later that night in the paddock, ironically as he was setting up Diego Nunes' car for race two. “We've all been there, so I can sympathise.
“You can top the times in testing and think right, got everything sorted there, and then turn up for the race and be nowhere. The problem is that the data doesn't always relate: testing is in winter and it's much colder than now, and even that makes a bigger difference than you'd think. Everyone has a slightly different approach over the weekend, and sometimes you can go the wrong way and get lost: unfortunately, that's just part of racing.”

Although one look at what was left of Lucas' head rest after the collision with Alvaro told me that a wrong choice on set up being his biggest problem today was probably a blessing...

The final word should probably go to our first race winner of the year, Romain Grosjean. Sitting on the pitwall I had a spectacularly ugly hat sitting next to my computer for the whole race: when I asked Alexa why it was there she was uncustomarily coy, saying only that she was minding it for a friend. And after the race the Frenchman seemed to be in a bigger hurry than usual to get his helmet off.

It was only then that I noticed the hat: suddenly it was on his head, and he was pulling Superman poses.

“Ah, Superman!” he laughed when I asked him about it later. “It was a bet I made over the winter, because I had nothing better to do! Every time I win I will have to wear a special hat: this time it is Superman, next time I don't know. I will look stupid, but I don't mind: I hope I will look stupid more than once!”

I tracked down the French radio journalist who made the bet after the race, and he was delighted to show me the next potential design. I can only say that if Romain does get another win this year, he will certainly live up to his hopes...

The off season is a mixed bag for those of us who don't do the Asia series: at the end of the main season you're completely exhausted and looking forward to a break and being away from race tracks for a while, but as time goes by you start to itch. Then the craving just builds and builds as you watch the races and read the reports, and you get the texts and emails from your friends on the other side of the planet to tell you about all the fun they're having in sun while you sit at home in the cold, looking out the window at the gloom, and sigh.

By the time the first race comes around you're climbing the walls: when I finally got to Barcelona I couldn't wipe the smile off my face as I walked through the paddock, shaking hands and swapping stories with everyone, catching up with all the old faces as we stroll up and down and taking in all the new changes.

But there's almost no time for small talk with the launch to be organised. As always Alexa has done an amazing job putting everything together: she is a blur of frenetic energy as she runs around the hospitality area putting the finishing touches on everything, talking to 5 people at once as she goes. I take my instructions and get out of her way, fast.

One of my jobs is to organise the drivers for the photoshoot: getting 26 drivers into one room at once is like herding cats. “I need you in hospitality at 5.50 ... yes, you too, it's for all the drivers ... no, just drivers ... yes, but in your race suit ... no, not your helmet ... stop being awkward, you've done this how many times now? ... yes, 5.50 ... no, in your race suit ... hey, I saw that ... no, hospitality is the opposite direction ... yes, it is on right now ... no, it won't wait! ...”

Somehow it all works: it always does, and we're never quite sure how we got away with it again, but we're always glad that we do.

Standing at the back of the room when the Asia Series prizes were being handed out I could relax at last, while Chandhok and Zuber picked up their comedy routines from where they left them the last time we were in a room together (if they don't make it to F1, they should seriously consider putting together a double act to take onto the road).

There was no such luck for Lee McKenzie, who was hosting the show up on stage: “...and this year's champion is Kamui Kobayashi, who is a very cosmopolitan champion: a Japanese driver who lives in Paris with a Yorkshire terrier who is for some reason called Alfred! But that's another story: how much does this championship change your life, Kamui?”
“Alfred? Well, I called him that because...”
“No, no Kamui: the championship, not your dog...”

Finally it was time to relax, or at least it was until we realised we hadn't yet put the press conference area together. Which is when we discovered that the truckies had forgotten to bring the sound system.

Another problem to solve, but it can wait until tomorrow. It's good to be back.