○2004年第16戦中国GP



プレビュー
"I think that this year is a very exciting one for Formula One because we have two new races, Having experienced the new GP in Bahrain, which was very exciting, I know that I will have the same feelings about the race in Shanghai. Being Japanese, China is physically very close to my home, and to be able to participate in another GP in Asia is a great opportunity for everyone. I have visited the city of Shanghai, but have not been to the circuit, so I am very interested to see the track and its facilities. I have heard some extremely positive feedback about the track, that it will be exciting and physically challenging. It is especially important for me personally as it is just before my home GP in Suzuka. I am really looking forward to driving there for the first time next week and hope that we can keep up the momentum from our team result in Monza."

プラクティスレポート
"It has been a very disappointing first day for me because we had an engine failure on the out-lap of the second session, which means I haven't had the opportunity to complete a timed lap and I will have to move back 10 places from my qualifying position tomorrow. On the positive side, the car is working well as far as we can see from the other two cars, which is very positive. Because this is a new track, we have lost crucial running time and we have a lot of work to do to prepare for tomorrow morning. Hopefully we can deliver a good qualifying position despite the penalty. The circuit was very dusty at the beginning of the day but towards the end it seems by the timesheets that everyone benefited as the grip level improved and the track rubbered-in. Our hosts have done a great job to provide this excellent facility and I certainly found the track very interesting."

クォリファイレポート
"It was a difficult day as we lost the whole of the second session yesterday, so I think that the team has done a really good job on all the requests for the set-up of the car. We have done the best that we could today and with a 10-position penalty we have had to work on our strategy to see how the best can be made of these difficult circumstances. Of course I am a little disappointed, but the circuit looks as though there will be some good overtaking opportunities, so overall I believe we should be in a strong position for the race tomorrow."

レースレポート
"This is a great result for the team! I am delighted with our performance today, with one car on the podium and my car starting from the back of the grid still scoring good points. I fought a hard battle having heavy fuel on board, but I was able to enjoy the race and at the end of the day to be able to finish in sixth place is a great team effort. I am happy that we have moved even further ahead of Renault. This first Chinese Grand Prix has been a great success with really exciting racing and I am now really looking forward to the next race at Suzuka."


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