Interview
INSIDE STORY: Bättig debriefs her historic Wild Card weekend at Silverstone
As far as first impressions go, few drivers have made as big of an impact on the F1 ACADEMY grid as Chiara Bättig.
Competing in her first full season in single-seaters, the Swiss racer made history across the Silverstone weekend. The first Wild Card polesitter and the youngest to do so, Bättig brought home points in the Reverse Grid Race and followed it up with a P2 finish in the Feature Race — making her the first-ever Wild Card podium finisher alongside securing Hitech’s first piece of silverware.
Catching up with Bättig throughout the weekend, the 16-year-old reflected on her memorable debut…
NO SIGN OF PRE-WEEKEND NERVES
“It feels great to be the Wild Card, I'm really excited. It's the British Grand Prix, so I think it's one of the most exciting races on the calendar. I was in Monaco this year, but this is my first time driving at a Grand Prix. There are a few more people here, so it's nice to have a few fans around and it's a different experience to what I'm used to.
“It’s quite hard going from karts to cars. I actually did my first race with just a few test days in the Red Bull Driver Search and then I immediately went to F4 Saudi. Then I did the Formula Winter Series with Campos and British F4 with Hitech. I've been enjoying it. It's quite a difficult step to do, but I think we're getting on quite well.
“The biggest challenge is you don't get as much track time. You really need to improve every lap you have. In karting, you'd have like five sessions a day where you can improve and now you get a few laps in the day.
“The British F4 round helped me a lot. Silverstone has a lot of straights and there will be a lot of fighting. We’re fast on this track, so I hope I can also be fast this weekend. It's a great opportunity, especially the atmosphere racing alongside F2 and F3. Going into F3, you're going to get used to the schedule as well as the grip changes.
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“A successful weekend starts with Free Practice, I’ve never driven this car before. I think it will all have to be in a flow. We should be looking fast, so might end up on the podium or something.”
STARTING OFF STRONG IN PRACTICE
“I'm happy to get a good start. There are still a lot of things that I have to improve. It was my first time driving in this car, so it's very different to what I'm used to. It's heavier braking, the steering is heavier and there’s overall more grip in the tyre. I think it is a good step for a strong weekend.
“It's just maximising all the track. Maximising all the corner speed, especially through Maggotts and Becketts. There's a lot of straights, you just need to prep everything very well and prepared early. There’s going to be a huge step in grip probably because the track is really dirty.
“I can't really tell you because I've never really driven with F2 or F3, but I surely expect that there's going to be a higher grip. There's going to be higher speeds overall and later braking. I did a lot of sim with grip changes to really get into it.
“We had a good Free Practice. If we improve on the things we have to improve, I think we'll be looking strong.”
UNTOUCHABLE IN QUALIFYING
“For sure, I’m really satisfied. It’s good to know that despite not getting into the car before arriving here, I was still able to show good speed.
“To be honest, I made a mistake at Copse where I ran off and had fully dirty tyres, so I just had one push. I didn’t maximise what I had. I went purple, purple on my in-lap and four tenths up my fastest lap.
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“So I think if I would have put the lap on the board, we would have been there. I just maximised everything in the end when we swapped tyres. I can be quite happy that it happened to me as I have slightly better tyres, but the tyre drop is quite huge, so I don't think I could have improved anymore.
“Overall, I have to have a really smart approach in the Reverse Grid Race and overtake as much as I can. Tomorrow is not the race that matters for me because I don't have to fight for a title.”
LEARNING LESSONS IN THE REVERSE GRID RACE
“We had a tricky first three laps and then got stuck behind Alba (Larsen). We tried to analyse how we should set it up for today and I think we've done a good job on that.
“I'll just take everything I've learnt in the Reverse Grid Race, all the mistakes I've done, and not do them again in the Feature Race. I'll be looking to fight with Alisha at the front, but staying calm will be the goal.”
A TASTE OF THE FEATURE RACE PODIUM
“I'm happy to get a podium starting from P1. You always want to win, which was the goal today, but I didn't manage to get a good launch, which probably cost us the win. Then I stayed at the same pace as Alisha. I'm incredibly happy for the team to get this result as well.
“It's really difficult to really even catch the person ahead. We saw it also in yesterday's race, when you're behind the car, you can't really overtake. The tow is not big enough and through Maggotts and Becketts, you lose so much time because you can't carry speed. I would have wished for a bit more of a fight but it's really hard around here.
“It was an amazing experience. I'm racing with Hitech in British F4 next week in Zandvoort. It has been a great experience with the fans and the surroundings, it was fun!”