27/02/2004

Cristiano da Matta looks ahead to Melbourne

It feels different to be going to Melbourne as an experienced F1 driver. This time last year I still had a lot of unanswered questions. I will probably still have a few question marks in my head but having a year's experience helps a lot so there is much less uncertainty. Hopefully everything will be easier to handle this time.

People will expect more from me this year but I feel I already improved a lot during the course of the season and in the off-season period. Motor racing is a team sport and there are always areas in which to improve.

What really helps me this season is that having been through certain situations I know what to expect out of each situation rather than having them all completely new. That applies both on and off the track - like the experience of trying out different set-ups and knowing how to get the most out of the tyres.

I didn't have time to feel any emotions on the Melbourne grid last year because no one knew if it would be a wet or a dry race and there was a bit of panic about deciding what tyres we'd be starting on. Although we ultimately did a good job and made the correct decision the main thing I remember is making a mistake and going out of the race on lap nine.

I raced in Australia many times during my time in Champ Cars and the atmosphere of racing in Surfer's Paradise was unique. I still have good memories from the Australian GP in Melbourne last year - I like the city and I like the area and it was my F1 debut so it was an experience I will never forget.

As every year the Australian Grand Prix is a very big reliability race. Many cars have reliability problems and historically not many cars finish so it's not a perfect race to compare performance for the rest of the season. You need to wait at least five races so you have a good picture of lots of different types of circuit. Everyone gives a lot of importance to the first race but it's an 18-race championship and it's just one event out of many. Of course if you start well it's much better but if you don't it's not the end of the world.

For this year it is hard to know how we will perform at Albert Park. We never know exactly what people have been running at the pre-season tests so until we have a direct confrontation with everyone else we don't know exactly where we stand in comparison. Our car has proved to be quite good in terms of reliability which will be important in Melbourne so points are a realistic target.

There are also new rules for 2004 the most important of which is the new engine regulation which says that if you have to change engine during the weekend you lose ten places on the grid. This means that you can't have any engine failures now otherwise you're in trouble. I don't know about the other teams but at Toyota we haven't had many problems with reliability on engine mileage so hopefully we won't have any restrictions to the amount of running we can do on Fridays. We will be much more limited on the amount of tyres we can use than by engine reliability.

As for the new two-run qualifying on Saturdays it doesn't make any difference. You just have to qualify the same way as last year. Between the runs I guess I'll just have to sit and wait...

Whatever the outcome this first race of the 2004 season will be an exciting one for fans drivers and teams alike and we will do all we can to start Toyota's third season in F1 on a high note.