Liuzzi: Spa had a different story every lap!

Tonio Liuzzi battles with Fernando Alonso during the Belgian GP

Sep.3 (Force India) Tonio Liuzzi had an action packed race in Belgium that ultimately rewarded him with a point for 10th place. He was handicapped in the first half of the race by nose damage after contact with Jaime Alguersuari, and then he lost time – but finally got a new nose – with an extra stop after an incident with Sebastian Vettel. Finally towards the end of the race he was battling for 10th with Alguersuari when the Spaniard jumped the chicane. The penalty he subsequently received handed the place to Tonio. We asked him about his busy afternoon.

Tonio on the grid before the start at Spa

Spa was something of an eventful race for you, but in the end, you got a point. Did you have fun?
Tonio Liuzzi: It was nice. I really like this kind of race with a lot of confusion and a change of weather, because it’s more challenging, and you have to always make the right decision at the right time. It’s a shame, because without the accident with Sebastian Vettel, we could have finished in eighth position. This is what can happen in a crazy race, but I enjoyed it a lot.

How did things go from the start?
Tonio: At the start I lost one place to Rosberg, as we didn’t have a great take off from the grid. But the first couple of laps were a bit damp, and I was quite strong in those conditions, so I gained three or four places, because I was in P9 before the safety car.”

Tonio had more pitstops than most at Spa

And then you damaged your nose for the first time?
Tonio: At the restart on the first lap I had a little contact ahead of me at Les Combes and a part of my nose was broken. So we suffered a lot with understeer and snap oversteer, because all the aero balance was affected. It was costing a lot of downforce, but not enough to stop for a new one.

You made a fairly early stop for new slicks. Why was that?
Tonio: It was because of rear graining on the soft tyres. When I came in the team didn’t change the nose because they didn’t realise how bad the damage was, so I changed it only the second time, after the accident with Sebastian. When he ran over my front wing, it cost me a lot.

Tonio in the cockpit of the VJM03

Towards the end you were chasing Alguersuari when he jumped the Bus Stop chicane, which earned him a penalty. What happened?
Tonio: We could have easily passed him, but he did a mistake in the last corner two laps from the end, he just cut across. He gained around 2 seconds, and I would have easily passed him on the straight because our top speed is always strong. It was disappointing initially because we finished 11th, just outside the points, but we had to wait for the stewards to take a decision about Alguersuari’s move.

Overall were you happy to finally get 10th?
Tonio: It was a tough race, but like I said, I enjoyed it. Unfortunately when the nose was broken at the beginning it cost me a lot in the first part of the race. And I think without the problem with Vettel we could easily have finished higher up. This crazy race had a different story every lap! But we showed we were there, we finished 10th, and we got a point. Now we’re ready for Monza.