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Liuzzi relaxed for home debut
Italian Vitantonio Liuzzi feels he has plenty to live up to when he makes his F1 debut.
Italian Vitantonio Liuzzi feels he has plenty to live up to when he makes his Formula One debut before his home fans at Imola this weekend.
"I must admit I was hoping for an easier debut," the Red Bull driver told Italy's Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper on Tuesday.
"The great results in the first races by (Jarno) Trulli and (Giancarlo) Fisichella only make the battle with them harder and heighten expectations about me," he added.
"But at the same time their performances have had a good effect for all of us, cancelling at least in part that scepticism that has always accompanied Italian drivers.
"Jarno and Giancarlo have shown that we too, if we are given a winning car, can have our say."
Renault's Fisichella won the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, although he has retired from the last two races, and was the first Italian to lead the championship since Michele Alboreto for Ferrari 20 years ago.
Toyota's Trulli has had two second places in a row and is second in the championship before the San Marino Grand Prix, the first race in Europe this year.
Liuzzi, triumphant at Imola last year on his way to winning the junior F3000 championship, is replacing Austrian Christian Klien for the next three races at Red Bull after starting the season as Friday test driver.
Under the new rules, Liuzzi will have to use the same engine that Klien had in Bahrain although it should have plenty of mileage left in it. The Austrian failed to start that race after stalling on the grid.
The Italian said in a team preview that he was excited but 'quite relaxed' about his race debut and recognised the technical challenges.
"Although I have been driving on Fridays this year, there will be some new challenges this weekend," he said. "I think I will be okay with one lap qualifying as I have practised it during tests and I was good at it in karting," he said.
"I will be the first man out in Friday qualifying which means I will have a dirty track and I will just have to do the best I can.
"The biggest challenge will be the whole weekend, especially the race itself which is much longer than I was used to in F3000. This is Formula One and I'm sure my heart will be beating faster than usual on Sunday afternoon."
Red Bull, the former Jaguar team bought by Austrian energy drinks billionaire Dietrich Mateschitz last November, have scored points in all three races so far this year with Briton David Coulthard.
"I hope Tonio enjoys his F1 debut on home soil and I will enjoy letting him be the centre of attention with the media," said the Scot, who won at Imola with McLaren in 1998.
