Great Britain cannot complain for the lack of racing drivers because in every decade it was somebody who made a great history for the Kingdom. It is Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button and Jolyon Palmer who is taking a part in Formula 1 championship with a British flag at their cars, but there is also Oliver Rowland, who we talked to a while ago, and Jordan King, with whom Wojtek Paprota managed to exchange some words recently, who tries to achieve the pinnacle of motorsport. Jordan has been racing in GP2 series since last year as well as working as Manor F1 team development driver. He seems to have enough because he clearly pointed that he hopes to be racing in F1 next year.
Jordan, what target did you set for yourself for this season and how is it going? Are you happy with your results so far?
The overall target was to win the championship, at the moment this is still possible but with fewer rounds left it is starting to get harder. I am happy with my results as I have won races but i am not so happy with the consistency there has been a lot of points dropped through silly mistakes.
After last race at Spa you and 6 other drivers have been penalized for using DRS at the first lap. What was all about? We have never seen such a situation before…
There was a system error which meant 7 drivers, including myself, were able to use DRS and obviously all 7 people pull the paddle and used it. It is very annoying when it comes down to the system error but at the end of the day we weren’t suppose to use it.
Last year you had Alex Rossi as a team-mate in Racing Engineering, who managed to make it to Formula 1 for a while. This year he has been replaced by Norman Nato. Has anything changed in the team? Do you see any difference between them?
There are always a few changes when a different team mate comes on board but overall the team is the same as it was. As for Norman there are obviously some culture differences as Alex was American speaking English and Norman is French but to be honest you are just focusing on driving and doing the best job you can do.
This year the gaps between the top drivers and much smaller, and even though the season is slowly coming to the end, many of you still have a chance to fight for the title. Can you explain why the series has became more competitive?
I think it has always been competitive but we are currently looking at a very good crop of young drivers with a serious amount of talent, that coupled with now a lot of second year drivers in GP2 makes it a great championship.
What is the thing you have improved the most after your rookie season in GP2?
I would say it is the understanding of how the tires work.
What is your target for next season?
For next year i hope to be racing in Formula 1.
Do you have any plans to tighten your partnership with Manor in near future?
My goal is and always has been to reach formula 1 and I still want to make this a reality. If that means with Manor then great but there are also 10 other teams on the grid.
Was it an option for you to replace Rio in Manor?
All I can say is that Estaban Ocon is in the race seat until the end of the year and that’s it.
You joined Manor last year, when the team was restructuring itself and almost struggling to survive. After 18 months of hard work team’s condition is way better and securing points from time to time became a feasible target. How did this team change?
It has been a long process for the team and a lot of hard work. All I can say really they have set themselves real targets and put everything in place to be able to achieve that.
You continue being a development driver in Manor, but we haven’t seen you behind the wheel so many times, why?
Yes I have been doing in season testing with Manor I was with them at Barcelona and Silverstone and these were the only 2 test Formula 1 teams are allowed to do.
Does the fact that your dad has close relationship with Manor have any influence on your future decisions?
At the end of the day it is my career and i need to do my best to further that in the sport, the decision also comes down to myself. Obviously my parents will encourage me on what ever that may be.
