Exclusive Q&A: Felipe Nasr on his impressive start to life in F1

Felipe Nasr has made an impressive start to life in F1 and spoke to Sky Sports Digital about how he has found Sauber and why he is keen to dispel the 'pay driver' tag.

Your F1 career couldn’t have started much better with fifth in Australia – the best-ever result for a Brazilian on his debut…

“Looking back, it was a fantastic weekend, I just couldn’t have asked for more. It was my first ever race in F1 and that fifth place was something special. Although we had too many problems before the weekend started in the background, I wasn’t sure if I was going to race or not, I lost FP1 so I had to adapt quickly when I got on the track when I knew I was going to get to race. It was a weekend that everything came perfectly together.

"I knew the opportunity was going to come in the early races, the car looked competitive in the winter and we just had to take those chances at the right time which I think I did. It was not an easy race, I had to hold off Ricciardo at the time, the strategy was really well done by the team, they stopped at the right time and you could see the car had such a better development than it was last year. It was one to remember."

You spent 2014 with Williams, how useful was that in preparing you for the step up to F1?

"I think it was really important to have done this step. This experience I accumulated at Williams, it was another level on my career I would say in so many areas – like the technical side, the simulator work - I have done more than 40 hours with them - I was following each weekend with the team as well and was listening to what the drivers were saying in the meetings, the briefings, how the team approaches every weekend and the changes they made.

"So all this experience made me feel what to expect when I came to a proper race weekend. Together with the Sauber experience over the winter, it gave me enough confidence to face the early races and I think this is what happened. In Australia, China, Monaco, all these tracks I knew what to do and I was comfortable with the car, so looking back I wouldn’t have done anything different. It was a super important step to have done.”

You had the Mercedes engine at Williams last year, how are you finding the Ferrari by comparison?

“I haven’t tried the Ferrari from last year so I don’t know how they compare last year, but everything that the team says from our side at Sauber you can definitely see a big step on the engine side, the recovery, the whole system got better.”

Ferrari upgraded their engine in Canada – when will Sauber get the new unit?

“We have it planned for Spa to get them so we have to wait a little bit.”

In our head-to-head records you’ve dominated the intra-team fight with Marcus Ericsson – does that give you confidence or, looking at your respective GP2 careers, did you always expect to be quicker?

“I think Marcus had one extra year of experience of Formula 1 so it is always good to have someone in the team who can bring something and I think he did it. We get along well and it is always important to be facing a strong driver. I think this year has been good to have this comparison and, Marcus, he also tries to do his best and it gets to the point that we are both fighting for the same thing.

"But I want more than that, it is not just about finishing in front of him, it is about succeeding in every race. The points, of course, are the goals this season, but we know it gets difficult, every time it feels more difficult.”

Of course their financial struggles are also regularly discussed and you’ve got your yellow Banco do Brasil hat here. How do you feel about the pay driver tag? Is it something you even listen to or do you just let the results on track do the talking?

“I think it is quite stupid that people think that way. It is really a short way of thinking because I think more countries follow this example of supporting their own drivers. I have been together with Banco do Brasil for the last four or five years, we had a project on my career and we went through every step and I am glad to say I have never had to pay to race.

"When I was 16 I had offers from Red Bull, from Gravity, from other junior programmes, but I chose to go with Steve Robertson and I am still working with him nowadays. By the age of 16 I had my own car, my own salary, my own house, I didn’t have to pay for any championship I participated in. I think more people should follow this example and have these kinds of companies supporting their own drivers. I think people are just interpreting it in the wrong way.”

Sauber were point-less in 2014 - what do you attribute the turnaround in fortunes to?

“Sauber knew the things they struggled with and it is nice that I am involved in this development. We pushed the car forward in all areas, but as the year is going on in 2015 it is getting more and more difficult to compete with our main competitors because everyone is doing a step forward at every race, updates, and it is not the case for us.

"We are still very limited on our package but we have to face that in the right way. I think we have been extracting the most, even having a smaller budget compared to other teams I still think we do a great job.”

Looking at the rest of the season what are your aims and what would be a good first season for you?

“I would love to finish in the top 10 of the championship, but I don’t see it happening right now because, as I said, the other teams are starting to score more frequently now. But to be a positive season is to keep doing what I am doing, finishing more races if I can and grabbing this experience facing different situations. I think I have to live it in every kind of way and I have to say I am already a different driver than I was last year or even January – I feel already that there is so much that I have learnt, that I’ve picked up and that is only increasing. That is always a plus for any driver, the more experienced you get, the more you learn and that is going to be a good thing in the future.”