It is 11am on an overcast Sunday at Silverstone and my early arrival at the Carlin motorhome has surprised a certain Robert Wickens.
The qualifying session for Race Two of Formula Renault 3.5 has only just concluded and there is a sizeable relief amongst the Carlin ranks.
Yes, they scored another dominant one-two in qualifying but it was a tense session as Wickens, the championship leader, found himself stuck in the chaotic Silverstone traffic.
The Canadian finally arrived at the circuit ten minutes behind schedule, yet despite what can only be described as a frenetic and unwelcome start to the day, he still secured pole position ahead of team mate and title rival Jean-Eric Vergne.
Not wanting to continue the hurried nature of the morning, our meeting has been brought forward slightly.
Remarkably, the morning’s events have unaffected the 22 year old.
“On track everything was great. The car was fantastic and everything just went well. Once I got into the car everything just calmed down and I was able just to work on my driving.
"Obviously I am really pleased with the pole, but I am more pleased for the team that we have a one-two and hopefully we can do well in the team’s championship today.”
Wickens later went on to secure victory in the feature race some two hours later to complete a dominating weekend, having taken pole and a comprehensive win in the sprint race a day earlier.
Having entered the weekend four points behind Vergne, the Canadian now has a commanding lead at the top of the standings with 198 points, 36 clear of the Frenchman.
His performances amidst the day’s furore have only added to Wickens’ ever growing reputation.
A Red Bull-backed driver from the age of 16 until just last year, Wickens has climbed the motor racing ladder considerably since his move to Europe in 2008.
As he acknowledges, prospering in motorsport as a young driver is the ultimate challenge.
He said: “It is tough. At the end of the day you need money to get there. Motorsport is an expensive sport and unfortunately it is extremely addictive because once you do it and you get that bug you can’t get rid of it. It is not impossible, as I did not come from a family of wealth.
“I just performed well in the right situations and I was able to get Red Bull when I was 16. That really got me to where I am now because until the start of 2010 I was with them. I’ve still been able to get a name for myself and they definitely helped me progress through those ranks which I could not have done without them.”
Wickens finished runner up in Formula Two in 2009 and replicated this by finishing second overall in GP3 last season.
Now currently under the backing of Marussia, where Wickens is the reserve driver for the Marussia Virgin F1 team, the Canadian appreciates success is vital if he is to progress even further.
“In any performance or development programme there are always result pending determinations,” says Wickens.
“At the end of the day, you are in a development programme and if you are not getting the results they are wasting their money because they want to breed a F1 driver. They don’t want someone that will run 20th in a Le Mans championship. They want someone to win and so obviously there is a pressure with results but if you are a driver that is hungry, you put the most pressure on yourself.
“Even when I was with Red Bull, arguably the strictest and most intense driver development programme, I always put way more pressure on myself than what Dr Helmut Marko or any of the others would. At the end of the day I knew I was putting the pressure on myself and even if they said something I’d be like ‘yeah I know I’m already saying that to myself.’ So from that side yeah there is pressure, more so than if it was Daddy just forking out the money and saying ‘have fun, son,’ but it is something that you have got to do.”
The last to race in F1 following a distinguished career in American single-seaters was Sébastien Bourdais.
The Frenchman, who won four consecutive championships in ChampCar made his F1 bow in 2008 for Toro Rosso but could not replicate his previous successes.
Bourdais’ results highlighted the disparity between F1 and American open wheel racing, something Wickens was all too aware of.
Although it was Red Bull, not him, who opened the doors for his move to Europe, the Canadian admits it was a move he was all going to make if he had any chance of progressing into F1.
He said: “My decision to go to Europe wasn’t my own, it was Red Bull saying ‘you are going to Europe’ and I said ‘okay great’. That was basically it. I did 2005 and 2006 in Formula BMW USA and in 2006 I was part of Red Bull. In 2007, Red Bull put me in Champ Car Atlantics and then the following year they said you are going to go and do World Series and that was that.
“Although it wasn’t my decision, I obviously wanted to be in Europe but it wasn’t like I was begging them to take me there. They just said you are doing it and I did it, so there wasn’t much influence on my part.
“I think (European) motorsport is fantastic. It is where you have got to be to be in Formula One. Unfortunately, North American open wheel is not like it was in the late 1990s when people like Jacques Villeneuve, (Juan Pablo) Montoya and Cristiano Da Matta were coming from there into Formula One. For whatever reasons another championship, IRL, started and they were trying to separate Champ Car and things like that, so it did hurt North American motorsport because half of the teams went one way and the other half went the other way.
“However, I definitely think that it is on the climb again as it is now just IndyCar and it is getting stronger and stronger every year. I think they have had over 24 cars on the grid for every race this year.
“I think the next step for Northern American open wheels is to get an improved car. It is a bit out-dated to be honest and not that new, but they are definitely making steps forward. They are getting manufacturers back in like Chevrolet, so it should be exciting but as it stands right now you have to be in Europe. More so because Formula One is a European based season really as all the teams are there. It is much easier to get noticed if you are racing in Europe than opposed to racing in North America."
We are briefly interrupted by Vergne’s presence in the motorhome as he heads out to the pit lane to greet the supporters.
Like Wickens, Vergne also has one eye on F1 given his Red Bull backing and it seems inevitable that our conversation should now shift onto racing in the highest level of motorsport.
Despite his role as Virgin’s reserve driver, Wickens has yet to get behind the wheel of the team’s F1 car.
That responsibility rests on the shoulders of the team’s two drivers Timo Glock and Jerome D’Ambrosio.
Yet with two North American races scheduled on the calendar for next year, Wickens knows F1 is an ambition he is close to realising.
“It is your dream so you are always thinking about it. Becoming the Marussia Virgin reserve driver was a big step forward for me, but unfortunately I am still pretty far away as well. At the end of the day I think with modern F1, everyone needs to bring some sort of sponsorship to it or any form of money. I’d like to think I am close, but definitely if I can get some financial help it will make my fight that much easier.
“As a reserve driver you are basically just on standby. It is a great learning experience for me and I’ve learnt so much just from speaking to the drivers and teams, along with sitting in the debriefs.
“I feel now that even though I haven’t driven the Marussia Virgin car yet, when I do get my chance I’ll have a lot more knowledge about what the car will act like. There are the same tendencies everywhere they go, so I know the car is very understeery or oversteery or whatever the case may be. I’m glad that I was able to get the reserve driver role and I think I’ll be a better Formula One driver for it when my time comes.”
Josh.
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