The Colombian driver Tatiana Calderón is continuing her march to the top of the open wheel racing ladder. At Hungaroring, she scored her best qualifying result in GP3 and is hopeful of scoring first points this year and recovering after a disastrous start of the year for the whole DAMS team.
After P9 in free practice and P10 in qualifying, what do you think is possible this weekend?
Qualifying used to be our weak spot, but here we have finally found a good setup for new tyre runs. I am usually quite quick and competitive in races, so the aim is to be in the top 10, but obviously, it would be best to get into top 8, to benefit from the reverse grid.
Hungaroring was not kind to you last year when you were P21 in both races. What is it about this track that was so difficult for you?
It is a very tricky and technical track. The middle sector is especially difficult, with a lot of corners coming one after another. If you do not get a good rhythm, a single mistake can destroy your whole run, so to piece together a good middle sector is a difficult task. The track has been resurfaced before this year, which makes it less demanding to the tyres, meaning we could push for the whole race.
During the qualifying, you had a small incident with your team mate. What was that about?
The qualifying in GP3 is difficult in the way that everyone is running to a slightly different strategy and you could find people on their slow-down laps when you want to do your fast one. It was unfortunate because I was on new tyres and my delta was better than on my fastest lap. He just did not see me in the mirrors and apologised for it. It is all behind us and now the focus is on the races.
You are doing better with each round, but the safety car and penalty in one of the races kept you out of points. What did you feel at that moment?
Obviously, I was not happy with the stewards’ decision, but I had to accept it. This is racing and I was still happy with my performance. I presented myself in a good way, had a strong pace and made some good overtaking manoeuvres. Unfortunately, it was not rewarded with a good result.
How is it to change teams during the off-season. Are Adren and DAMS similar to each other, or did you had to learn everything from scratch?
There are two completely different cultures with English and French and they are different in how they are approaching the same task. It was hard to adapt and even understand each other at first, but with time we started to learn each other and get used to working together. It gets better with every weekend.
With so many young drivers being in F1, do you think it will make going into F1 more difficult?
No, I think those feeder series are a great preparation for F1 – for example, we are running with DRS and on Pirelli tyres – that if someone can get a chance to test an F1 car, he would do a good job.
You were recently present at the F1 LIVE event in London. What was it about?
I was representing the Dare to be Different initiative, which I am the ambassador of. I think it was an amazing event which allowed fans to get closer to the sport and get a better understanding of it. I hope it was just a beginning and we will get more people interested in motorsport, and that through D2BD women will become aware of the opportunities that are waiting for them here.
You are a part of Sauber’s driver development programme, but since the recent Ferrari deal was signed, it is suggested that the team will field drivers of the Ferrari’s Academy. Do you feel undermined by that?
My aim is to become an F1 driver and that is why Sauber got me into their programme. At the moment I am focused on GP3 and on getting the best out of myself and proving to everyone that I deserve a chance to test an F1 car, but those opportunities do not come overnight.
There is an opinion that GP3 is an aggressive series. Would you agree with it?
It comes down to preparation. In GP3 there is only one practice session, so you get a limited chance to understand the limits of the car and the tyres. It happens that people overdrive and only find out about those limits in races, but overall the level is very high and it is shown by how well last year’s top GP3 drivers are doing in F2 right now.
The GP3 is limiting the amount of DRS usage this year. What do you think of this change?
I would like if the usage was unlimited, like in F2, because that would probably create even more exciting racing, as the DRS allows to make some overtaking manoeuvres that would otherwise be impossible.
At the beginning of your career, you raced in the US, where there are a lot of small tracks with no run-offs. Was it difficult to adapt to the different style of European circuits?
I was more surprised by the level of competition and professionalism than the tracks themselves, so it was not an issue for me. I liked, however, racing at the street circuits, and unfortunately, GP3 does not visit Monaco or Baku.
