Simona De Silvestro of Thun, Switzerland, carries her trophy-laden Atlantics resume into the IndyCar series this year where she's connected with HVM Racing.
In 2008 Simona won one race in Atlantics. In 2009 she won four times, had four poles and finished on the podium a total of nine times.
The 21-year-old IndyCar rookie speaks five languages (English, Swiss-German, German, French and Italian), has a Brazilian-sounding accent when she speaks her fast-paced English and was en fuego to be at Kansas Speedway. I quizzed her up the morning before her first oval race ever.
pressdog: So, what do you think of the oval so far?
Simona: It’s OK. It's really different from what I am used to, especially when I went out there yesterday (during practice) with all he people out there because you have to do so many things there are actually different lines on an oval, and on a road course you don’t really have that.
I had to get confident from the car. I still haven’t tested the limit of the car. I’m still kind of exploring that and I think during the race that’s pretty much what’s going to happen the most. Just me kind of finding where I have to be behind people and how to drive in traffic, so that’s kind of the learning curve I want to have in this race.
pressdog: Do you think that will help you at Indy?
Simona: Yeah. For sure. I think that this race is really important because the only race before Indy on an oval, so finishing the race is going to be really important. But I heard that Indy is really different than any other track. So I can’t really tell you for sure. It’s going to prepare me a little bit for the track and all that. I’ll tell you at Indy how it will be.
pressdog: What do your racing friends, who probably have never been on ovals, what do they think of this?
Simona: Coming from Europe everybody says oval racing is crazy. And even for me, at the beginning, I was "oh I don’t know I’m not too sure about that." But actually it’s pretty fun. You think about, it because it’s so fast and there’s the wall right there, so that’s why you kind of (freak out). But it’s actually a lot of fun. It’s really different from anything else.
You can’t really do much by yourself in qualifying you are pretty much flat on these ovals, and if the car works, cool, if it doesn’t work that well it’s a little annoying because you can’t really do anything different (as a driver on the track to improve the speed). But I’m sure in the race it is going to be way different, and that I’m going to have a lot of input in traffic and all that, that’s for sure.
pressdog: When you went into the corner did you have to put one foot on top of the other on the accelerator to keep from lifting?
Simona: In the beginning, yeah. When you come into the banking and it feels like the wall is coming to you and you’re like "there is no way we can go flat through it" but then everyone is flat so you just kind of do it once and it’s actually OK. But it’s a little weird. The first time I went out I did two laps and then I came in and I said "OK I think I can do it" but then I went out again and I was "Ohhh I’m not so sure" but I picked it up very quickly.
pressdog: Sounds like you are sort of excited about the learning process involved.
Simona: I am. I came here and I told all my team that it feels like my first go-kart race ever. Because I don’t really know what I have to do. I’m excited about it. I thought it would be a little bit different but this morning in traffic it was fun and driving with people. I really looking forward to the race here. It’s going to be fun.
pressdog: There are a lot of people in Indy Lights and who used to be in Atlantics who want to be where you are. How did you make it here?
Simona: I think I’m really lucky that I’ve had people behind me who have supported my career since day one. I don’t know, I never thought I would be in the top series in open wheel in North America, and here I am so it’s really great that I am here. I am really pushing really hard to keep it here and to improve every time we go out. But I’m really lucky to be here; I’ve worked really hard also like in the minor series (Atlantics) last year when I was leading the whole championship until the last race. It’s a great opportunity we have and I’m going to keep working really hard to keep it going.
pressdog: So is it a combination of doing well on the track and winning and then some luck?
Simona: I think for me it has always been really important for the results on the track. I think that’s what people saw. Also I am really lucky to have some backing behind me like even in my younger career my parents have always been behind me and try to help me and now I have (HVM boss) Keith (Wiggins) and (Team Stargate Worlds Principal) Imran (Safiulla) really behind me also. I think things kind of have to happen your way, but I think if you have the results on the track you are going to get the chance to go up in the IndyCar series.
pressdog: You have live in Phoenix for a few years now?
Simona: Right now I’m more in Indy because the team is there and I am spending a lot of time with the team to learn about the car and so forth. But, yeah, I have a place in Phoenix. It’s a little warm, but I really like it.
pressdog: Is it quite an adjustment from Switzerland to Phoenix?
Simona: Yeah, it is. Actually Phoenix is very nice. It’s really warm but the heat is pretty dry but it’s really good for training. It’s always nice there. In Switzerland usually you have rain and it’s a little different and in the winter it’s really cold, so Phoenix having warm temp the whole year around is very different.
pressdog: What is summer like in Switzerland?
It can be OK. Summer it is not bad. It can go up to 30 degree Celsius (about 90 Fahrenheit) so it’s pretty warm, but the winters are pretty cold. We really have the seasons in Switzerland compared to Phoenix where it’s pretty much always warm and always like summer.
pressdog: Some of us have made some hay with this whole Danica vs. Simona thing ...
Simona: Yeah .. (chuckle).
pressdog: I talked to Danica about it yesterday and she was like, meh. Do you get asked about Danica a lot?
Simona: Yeah, pretty much every interview I get (laughter). I think it's great to be racing against her because she's really the most known female race car driver out there. To me it's not the focus to beat her, it's the focus to beat everybody, but it’s nice to race against her. We have talked a few times and I think we get along pretty well.
pressdog: Do the drivers interact a lot or are you pretty much with your own team most of the time?
Simona: Yeah. We pretty much .. I think being a rookie (in Simona's accent "rookie" comes out "rue-key") there are a lot of people who have been around a while and they are pretty much in their group, but, yeah I have talked to a few drivers and they are pretty nice. It’s great to be racing against them. I was watching them on TV last year and to be racing against them is pretty cool.
pressdog: In Long Beach when Danica passed you at late, did you say a bad word in one of your five languages?
Simona: Noooo. Because I messed up coming out of the hairpin. I had a lot of wheel spin and she got a pretty good run out of it. It happens in racing and if would have been anybody else, my reaction would have been the same. It was kind of my fault that I came out so bad from the hairpin. Now I know for next time that I'm not going to do that (laughter).
pressdog: Who were some of your driver idols when you were young(er)?
Simona: When I was young, I really looked up to Michael Schumacher. I always go with people who are winning, I don’t know why. (Laughter) Maybe it’s easy. I think it’s great what he has done with his team and bringing his team behind him and building the team around him and I think that’s really important in racing and I think that’s why he had so much success too.
pressdog: Are you sort of Schumacherish in the cockpit? Very quiet and calm?
Simona: Yeah I am pretty quiet I think. I don’t know. You ask to my team how I am. I can’t really tell you.
pressdog: Do you watch F1? Is that the ultimate for you?
Simona: Well it’s always been my dream since I was little and it still is. I think coming from Europe, maybe every race car driver is shooting for Formula 1 pretty much. But right now, it’s great to be in the IndyCar series and it’s great to be at this level. We’ll see what the future has, but right now I am focused here and we’ll see what happens.
pressdog: Do you have a favorite F1 team? Is Schumacher still you guy?
Simona: No, I really like Ferrari. This season there’s a lot of really good drivers out there. I hope that Alonso is doing great, and Michael, they are all kind of battling it out out there. It’s really cool right now, the championship, because everyone is really battling it out.
pressdog: What’s been the biggest surprise .. pleasant or unpleasant ... that you’ve run into now that you’re up in the IndyCar Series?
Simona: The most unpleasant thing is that I don’t think the results are showing where I was running in the first four races. And that’s something that’s kind of annoying me a little bit because you know the team did a great job and we were running quite well everywhere and something happened. I made a mistake or something didn’t go our way. So that’s the biggest disappointment.
The biggest (positive) surprise I had was when I led my first few laps in Brazil which was pretty cool. That was running up there for my first race was pretty special.
pressdog: Seems like a road race one mistake can screw you a lot more than in an oval race.
Simona: Yeah. Exactly. I was kind of watching videos of an oval and you know Helio has come from behind and won races. I think more things can happen on an oval (and not ruin your race). On a road course this year everyone is so competitive and so talented that not many people make a mistake, so when you make a mistake it kind of hurts you pretty bad.
pressdog: So when you shifted in to first at Barber ...
Simona: Yeah. I know. That was true. It was the first time I was really saving fuel and getting used to that and we were running pretty well. When you save fuel and you lower the RPMs sometimes you will downshift. I did a mistake and I felt really bad because we had a really strong car. We learn with mistakes but I know I’m not going to do that any more, that’s for sure.
pressdog: So after you do something like that as a driver do you like bang the steering wheel literally or mentally yell at yourself or what?
Simona: Yeah. You get pretty upset at yourself because it is all you. It’s not anybody else. And you are in control of it. It’s pretty bad, especially when you run pretty well. It’s pretty annoying, but it is what it is. You can’t change it when it happens. You just take it from there and try not to do it again.
pressdog: But you didn’t swear in any of your five languages?
Simona: A little bit, maybe. A little bit (laughter).
pressdog: In what language?
Simona: It usually comes out in French. It's a mix.
pressdog: What’s your preferred language? Swiss-German?
Simona: I speak a lot of German with my parents. But now that I live in the US, English has become almost my first language because when I talk to my friends and haven't talked French for a while, it’s a little hard so I think that I’m really getting into English a lot. A lot of my friends speak French.
pressdog: Are your parents still in Switzerland?
Simona: Yeah.
pressdog: Do they come to see you race here?
Simona: Actually my mom here (at Kansas Speedway). She’s coming to see me on my first oval. My dad, yeah, when they get some breaks they come out here.
pressdog: Is your mom going to be all freaked out about the oval?
Simona: It's funny, she was actually at the rookie test and she was looking and she thought “Oh, it’s OK” but yesterday with everybody around it was “OK, I’m a little more nervous.” I think she’s getting used to it with all the racing that I’ve been doing. I’m sure she’ll feel kind of nervous, but she’s a pretty good mom at the race track.
pressdog: Does all the attention weird you out? The fans and the autographs and people like me who ask you all these questions?
Simona: It changed a lot coming into the IndyCar series. It’s not weird. It’s nice to know that people appreciate what you are doing on the race track and I really like it. I’m here for my fans and I really appreciate it that so many people are starting to follow me because it’s really cool.
pressdog: What about back home and Switzerland? Are you getting attention back there?
Simona: Yeah, a lot of newspapers are writing about what I am doing over here and it’s pretty cool. A little bit of attention. I think here it kind of grew when I got to the IndyCar Series.
pressdog: Who do you hang out with drivers?
Simona: I don’t really hang out with any drivers. I'm just kind of doing my job. I’m talking to a few people, but it’s not that I’m, you know, buddy-buddy with many yet. I’m working on that.
pressdog: Do you like Twitter? (@simdesilvestro)
Simona: Yes. I should use it more, I think. But yeah, I like it. It’s pretty good because it makes people feel close to what you are doing and I can share how I feel in the car and how it went, so I think there's something pretty cool about it.
pressdog: Tell me something about Simona that not that many people know (and you don’t mind them knowing). Like what you do off the track ...
Simona: I’m a pretty quiet person. I kind of do what every young person does. I like to hang out with my friends. But maybe I’m a little different. I’m pretty dedicated to what I am doing here so sometimes I have to kind of put my friends on the side and focus on my race car. So maybe I did too little bit too much of that. But I have this great opportunity and I really want to concentrate on making the most of it.
pressdog: Do they seem to understand that ..
Simona: Yeah in the beginning they were a little bit annoyed with that, but now I think they see that maybe things are going my way and they are really supporting it.
After the race, I shot over to Simona's hauler after the race and caught up to her ...
pressdog: Well, what did you think?
Simona: It was good. In the beginning, I was really lost out there because there are so many cars around you and all that but after a few laps I started to picking it up and started battling with Justin (Wilson) a bit and I think we were pretty clean there. I learned a lot kind of behind him and we were running pretty well. At the end I made a mistake in pit stops.
I came a little bit long and we lost a bit of time there because we really didn't get close to enough to the wall (to allow the fuel to go in quickly) and we lost four positions there. That's kind of my bad. I've learned a lot this weekend and now I can go back and think about it and what I can do better for next time.
Simona's engineer Mike Cannon on her performance at Kansas:
We talked about it before the race you spend 50 laps or even 100 laps like a fish out of water than you start actually learning what you should be doing and that's what she did.
The first stint she wasn't sure of the car and wasn't sure what to expect, and soon as we put on new tires (for the second stint) she came alive and started reeling off good laps.
She worked herself up to actually to do her first pass on track and then first on a restart and she just learned a ton. It's so much much different than road racing, isn't it? You can work on your line to help your car, you've got a weight jacker, you've got a front bar, you got a rear bar, you can get in people's draft and it's learning how to use all those tools which she did a really good job of in the race.
Thanks SO MUCH for interviewing Simona twice. Thanks. Good job. Simona speaks English better than I speak German! I hope that she enjoys much success in open-wheel racing here or in Europe.
I was surprised to read, "there are actually different lines on an oval, and on a road course you don’t really have that." I observed racers driving different lines at Saint Petersburg and Alabama. A particular driver will try differing lines. And racers said so after the Alabama race.
I was also surprised to read that Mike Cannon was her engineer, though I'd read late last year or early this year that he'd gone to HVM.
Simona could have a bright future. She's one to watch.
Posted by: Brian McKay | May 03, 2010 at 02:13 PM
Really nice interview, your definitly are much better than your average blogger. Good questions also, We gotta get you to Long Beach next year.
Posted by: Tim Hartigan | May 03, 2010 at 04:05 PM
It would be great to hear what the whole Indy experience is like thru Silvester Di Simona's--um--I mean thru Simona's eyes if you happen to catch up with her there, P-Dog.
Posted by: redd | May 03, 2010 at 05:50 PM
Just FYI, PressDog, there is no language called "Swiss". There are four official languages in Switzerland: German; French; Italian; and Romansh -- which is a Latin derivative related to French, Lombard Italian, and Occitan (a group of dialects spoken in southern France, Monaco, and parts of Italy and Spain). Most of the German spoken in Switzerland is a particular dialect of its own, so it is maybe that to which you were referring.
Good interview. I hope Simona is a quick learner and begins to show Danica her "rear view" on a regular basis (of course I mean the car). Keep up your crusade to create a rivalry. It would be fun to watch.
Posted by: delta3 | May 03, 2010 at 05:54 PM
Hey P-Dog: Simona gave you some THANKS props on her Facebook page! Congrats on a solid interview.
Posted by: AZZO45 | May 03, 2010 at 09:42 PM
Do we have any drivers in the series that would say Indy Car was their "ultimate goal" when they were growing up?
I know we have more then a few in Cup.
I don't blame Sim or the countless others that are here but don't truthfully aspire to be here long-term (if they can help it). Its not their fault, that we have lost one generation of American and Canadian kids and are currently working on another one.
The current group of full-timers are just going where their money and talent take them. And that is Indy Car.
Posted by: Jim Bob | May 03, 2010 at 11:52 PM