Kevin, you had your second highest finish of the season and scored for the team in Singapore, how good did that feel? It was really satisfying for myself and I was very pleased for the team because it was a boost for us all. I know how everybody back in Enstone and in Viry is working hard so a lift is just very welcome. We must now continue to improve and hopefully we can do the same again in Malaysia! How did the result in Singapore come together? It was one of those races where we proved the adage that you should never give up. To be honest, we didn't look great at the beginning of the weekend yet we all kept pushing to maximise every detail over the weekend. In the race itself I made a great start and our strategy worked really well. It was a hard-earned point and a very rewarding one for all! What are your thoughts about Malaysia? It will again be a very hot and humid race weekend so it will be physically demanding just like it was in Singapore. I like Sepang Circuit and besides being a great venue, the track has some great high speed sections and the last section is especially one I like very much. Tyre management will be a key aspect in Sepang. Have you got any particular memories of racing there in the past? My first race in Sepang was in 2014 but it didn’t leave me with any particular good memory but hopefully we can change that next weekend! Do you look forward to some typical Malaysian street food? Unfortunately on a race weekend there's not too much time available to explore and sample the local cuisine and I'll most likely be headed back to the hotel every evening. It's a long day at the track then you have to train, relax and ensure you get enough sleep to be at your best for the race. Sadly sometimes sampling the local culture has to wait until you're on holiday. How thirsty were you at the end of the Singapore Grand Prix? I was very thirsty as I didn’t have any water at all during the race! No water at one of the hottest races of the season is not ideal but I got through it and tried to put it on the back of my mind during the race and concentrate on the task at hand.  Have you been busy since Singapore? I did some work for one of our biggest partners, Infiniti, which was good fun and should be seen soon. After that I spent a few days back in Denmark before heading to Malaysia so I’ll replenish on energy and be ready for the next race!

Jolyon, what are your thoughts about Malaysia? It’s hot and humid just like Singapore! It’s a nice place to visit and Sepang Circuit is modern. It’s nice and flowing with a couple of long straights, some fast corners and there are big braking zones. A strong finish was not possible on the streets of Singapore so I’m pumped up for this coming race and determined to gun for points. You were a bit frustrated after your race in Singapore? Yes! It was a weekend which didn't run the smoothest over my side of the garage yet it was clear there was potential. My race was undone on the first lap when I wasn't able to make a good start with some of the action occurring in front of me and then I got a slow puncture, most likely because of the broken parts from the cars ahead. After that it was damage limitation really as the early pit stop put us out of sequence and meant we had to stretch the tyre performance; there was no way back to a good result basically! I was frustrated as we knew there was scope for more all weekend and we saw that from Kevin. I would have been far happier for myself and the team if we'd both had good results; let's hope for that in Sepang.  What’s your history in Malaysia? I raced in Sepang twice when I was in GP2 but for various reasons at the time I didn’t have any memorable finishes, although one year I came up to ninth from the back of the grid. There’s some good overtaking opportunities at this circuit and hopefully this experience will be useful for me this year! Have you seen much of Malaysia and Kuala Lumpur in the past? I’ve been lucky enough to see a bit of it; we don’t always have time to see the places we visit much because we have busy schedules. Kuala Lumpur is a really nice city to explore and downtown you can visit the very modern areas with the big famous towers and then you have the more traditional areas and the markets. The city’s got a great vibe. What have you been up to since Singapore? I went to Sri Lanka for a few days and then flew back to the UK. Malaysia is another fly away race with a big time difference so I like to get there nice and early to adapt to the time zone and to the climate to be fit and ready for the race weekend.

What type of circuit is Sepang? Sepang is a modern circuit with a mix of high and low speed sections where a reasonable high speed balance is required, but at the same time low speed braking stability and traction are equally important as well. Traditionally, it has been a track that’s very smooth which obviously helps with ride. The circuit has been resurfaced which hopefully will make it even better. We’ll discover the new surface when we get there in a few days’ time. Pirelli have allocated the hard, medium and soft compounds in Malaysia which is probably a bit on the harder side than what we'd prefer but let’s see how they will fare. What type of set up are we anticipating? It tends to be one of those circuits where we will be working on fine tuning the car as it isn’t a track that requires an extreme set-up focusing on any particular challenge. Is the team’s focus solely on 2017 now?  We still continue to work on development in Malaysia, a carry-on from what we’ve done in Singapore and some of that is relevant for next year. Next year, of course, there are big changes coming into force with completely different aero packages, so it's more the direction of the concepts rather than the physical changes we make to this year's car.  How is the development going for next year? Back at the factories, we are meeting milestone deadlines with the practical process of drawing the components, getting them made and bringing them together. This is a very involved and complex process and is largely on-track at the moment. The hunt for performance in those components continues unabated ! Where is the current focus for development for the team? As a team we have progressed well since the beginning of the year. Recruitment has been key these past few months, and still is. Although the aim is to have around 650 employees it is always about quality not quantity. We can see visible signs of change even walking around the sites compared to what it was six months ago. You can see the increased headcount and renewed facilities. The changes are palpable and we feel a sense of achievement which at the moment is not yet visible on track. Beneath the surface wheels are most certainly turning.

The team enjoyed its second highest finish in Singapore – was it a boost for everyone? We scored a point, which meant much more than a single digit to all at Viry and at Enstone and for sure it is a lift for all in the team. The motivation is always there but it’s that much more rewarding when the outcome of a race weekend is positive. This has been a long and hard season so far and we're all at the start of a long journey so a positive result is warmly welcomed.  The team now heads to Malaysia. What’s the challenge for the team for the last six races of the season? We must continue to work on improving all areas, however we have particular focus on those areas of car and team performance which are relevant for next season. So for the car, areas like reliability and improving our systems of understanding tyre performance are applicable. Also, for the team, areas like pit stops are crucial and we saw how well we are performing in this area with some exceptional stops from our crew in Singapore.  Are there particular targets for the drivers? Every single race weekend is important and each venue we visit presents its own challenges. Of course we always expect the best from the drivers and that they deliver the best they can. Together as a team our sole ambition is to make progress at every opportunity. In Singapore we saw Kevin run a great race and Jolyon had quite a challenge through circumstances out of his control. We know how hard both drivers are pushing and we're equally pushing as hard as possible to give them the best opportunity to deliver on track.  From your perspective, how have you seen the evolution of the team this season? What we can witness during a race weekend is only the visible part of the iceberg. There is a huge amount of work going on behind the scenes from recruitment to restructuring and physical infrastructure improvement and expansion. This is a long term project and we have to go through this planning and development phase in order to reap the benefits in the future. What everyone sees on television on a Sunday afternoon is just one aspect of a Formula 1 team. We are happy that there is strong progress being made.