Romain Grosjean will try to get his act together in Korea

First, what happened at Suzuka?
Since Singapore, I tried to be very careful at the start. Entering the first corner, I was carefully watching Sergio [Perez] on my left to be sure to avoid contact with him. But I didn't expect the big difference in speed between me and Mark [Webber] who was braking coming into the second corner and we collided. It was a stupid mistake. Mark [Webber] came to see me after the race and obviously he wasn't happy. But I apologized to him and now we have to move on. The team and I sat down and took another good look at what happened. Of course, this is an area that we need to improve and we will focus on it for the next races.

You gave up at the end of the race. Did you have a problem?
I tried to do one last long stint, but the performance of my tires dropped dramatically. I was far from the points and making a last stop so late did not make sense, both in strategy and from a safety point of view. So abandonment was the only coherent option.

What positive things do you remember from this weekend?
The highlight was certainly qualifying and the way we all worked as a team to find the solution to our car set-up concerns since the start of the weekend. In qualifying, we reached Q3 very easily and the car had the performance to be a little higher on the grid. I took great satisfaction from the way my engineers and I worked together over the weekend to extract more performance from the car.

How did you learn about Yeongam Circuit?
I shot the version on Xbox. It's not the easiest circuit to learn with a computer because the turns are all similar in approach. I can't wait to experience the circuit behind the wheel of the E20. I hope the car will be fast and that our developments will give us more performance. I really want to get back on the trail and find out…

The circuit has three long straights and more winding sections. Does this make tuning the car difficult?
It's the same on many circuits. There will be turns where we will be comfortable and others less so. We know our strengths and weaknesses. So I hope we can improve in Korea and for the end of the season.

How do you adapt when you have to make these kinds of compromises?
A compromise is not always the best solution. Everyone on the grid has their own meadowféreferences. Some people like a very light car at high speeds for example, so you should try to find the best solution to suit your style. In principle, we adapt quite well and this new challenge will be interesting.

What do you think of Korea as a country?
I really liked Seoul when I visited it last year. It?s a fascinating mix of Asian culture and a certain European flavor. The circuit is in a somewhat remote area and this part of Korea is very different from Seoul. This experience is certainly very different from most other Grands Prix. The circuit looks to present a great challenge and it will be great to race in front of new fans of F1.

Do you like visiting new countries and meeting new fans?
Yes, I really like traveling and seeing new fans. We have just left Japan where the public is really very enthusiastic. People even gave me a flag signed by many of them and that made me very happy. Formula 1 is still new in Korea, so it's fascinating to see the sport grow and meet new audiences.