How did you find the traffic conditions today (In Fuji qualifying)?
"On the first lap I had to overtake a car so we lost three tenths, which might have cost us the pole. The rest of the lap was really good. The second wasn't so good. I think with the situation we had today we reached out maximum."
Where do you think it was that you lost those few tenths?
"The thing is with this quali format of two timed laps with averages, it's very difficult. For example my second time someone cut me in turn 15. Neil (Jani) had the same problem in car #14. It's a bit of give and take with this format. It's quite tricky but in the end it's a bit like playing chess."
But surely it's exciting from a fan point of view.
"It's something different to what they're doing in F1 for example. We stay on the same set of tyres so we're not consuming more tyres. You have two drivers which mixes it up a bit as they can get a different feeling from the car. "
I noticed the too that the track as changing a lot even in the short amount of time allotted for qualifying. A lot of different lines into turn 1 especially. Will it take a bit of guesswork in the race to try and figure what tyre to be on and when?
"We have some tyre choices definitely. It depends a lot on the ambient temperature (Ed. Sunday's race was a lot cooler than Saturday’s temperatures) and the asphalt temperature to see if the tyre's happy or not. Then dealing with the slower traffic. Usually they stay on their line and it's up to us to drive around them, that's when we get some pick up on our tyres so it's a hard challenge for us."
Brendon (Hartley) will have been used to that in LMP2 last year whereas Mark (Webber) won't have been so used to it being at the pointy-end of Formula One. How have the three of you been gelling from that perspective?
"In our car crew I am the most experienced (LMP1) driver but I would never think they are pupils and I teach them, I can learn from Mark and I can learn from Brendon. It is interaction, you never stop learning."
You're one of only 11 drivers’ who've won the triple crown of endurance racing (Le Mans, 24 Hrs of Daytona and the 12 Hrs of Sebring). It's an achievement that is largely breezed over by mainstream motor sport, but it must give you an immense sense of satisfaction?
"Actually it's much bigger in the UK and quite a few people in the U.S, know about it. Germany’s very focused on Formula One, whereas in the U.S. and UK I get asked about it a lot. It's a unique and outstanding record to have and only two Germans have claimed it ( including Hans Herrman and Marco Werner). It's special. In the past it was quite important."