Q How did you start?

I started officially in 2003 with Meritus and even two years earlier with Meritus in the UK. So a good decade!

Q What is your job?

I am the race engineer. That means I set up all the four cars.

Q How do you start your race week-end…

I could say …it is like a dream for a kid. I open boxes. And I see what’s inside…

Here the boxes came from the Singapore race. The surprise is that we will have a few long hours refurbishing the car as there was lots of damage, especially because we had a fire on one of the cars in the last race. We knew about the damage and we shipped two brand new cars from Malaysia.

Q what are the challenges you face at the Buddh circuit?

A new track of course. This is the same for all the competitors. So we must be first on track. It will be critical as the surface of the track is not rubbered in and it is very dusty. We have to predict the grid and provide the set-up accordingly.

Q What are the keys to success?

A combination between a good race and a good setup for the race.

I suppose it all starts with good organization and planning. Then the driver must have the right attitude and the team too. The set-up after practice is key. The tyres degrade. You also can’t get the race set up wrong. It is just a fine mixture between all these factors. And also a combination between the talent of the driver and the result of the driver’s coaching. Not just the fitness of the driver counts. Not only the engineering factors. In the end, it is important for a driver to relate back to the engineers properly the reactions of the car. What is important is what the diver is telling me and I have to translate it.

The pre-season testing is the key to the season. The racing background of the drivers is important as well. Despite their young age, these drivers are full-time athletes.

Q And after the race?

We pack as usual…Here we will store the boxes at the track as our next race is again on this track.

Q and A with New Zealand ex driver, Earl Bamber – talented coach of the Meritus.gp team

Q Do you feel like a teacher?

Maybe! There are three types of steps to take for a good approach with a driver.

Firstly driver training means building a relationship with the driver. It is important to listen and organize the trust. Then only you can pass on your knowledge. I could sum up the mission saying that coaching is making a driver understand that it is not so important “Not to be fast” but more important to understand “how to be fast”.

This understanding factor is important to go faster and faster. This is the only way to progress.

Q Can you forget one step as a driver?

Preferably not… A good memory needed! The track walk is important. I did it today. It is key to approach a complete race week-end. Using a simulator is a bit the same. Now simulators are not games any longer. They really reflect the reality and teach reflexes to the drivers.

Q Do you miss driving personally?

Of course, I still drive when I get the opportunity. Back in New Zealand, I compete in the commercial Audi Ice experience. I also compete in Superleague Formula.

Q what is a good driver?

You can tell that a good background helps to build up the environment of a champion. When they arrive the young talents know what a gearbox is and how it works. There is enough to learn that you do not have to teach them the basics. It is harder for a driver who comes from a non-racing background. Then he has to learn everything. Years of racing and experience in racing help more than the age.

Q Can drivers learn from their mistakes?

No one is perfect. You can make mistake. What you cannot do is you should not do the same mistake twice. You can eventually jump-start. Cross the white line, be involved in a racing incident…but repeat the problems. No!

Q How quickly do you learn a new circuit?

My job is easy. You can never be bored. This is fascinating, because you almost never get a perfect lap.

Q What is the safe recipe for progress?

For talented drivers, mileage is key to the training. With enough time you can get a driver as close to perfection as you want

Q What are the secrets to a good preparation?

Ultimately 3-4 laps should be enough because 70% of the race preparation is before the race. Then when you have these 70% behind you, you are ready to win a race. This is the way to prepare well!

Q Is coaching a new discipline necessary to be a good racer?

It is a bit. In every sport coaching is important: In football, golf elsewhere. But motorsport was the only sport in the world where coaching did not exist. It is a big bonus for the Meritus team and its management to have developed this unique aspect. Bruce Jouanny before me and Firhat Mokhzani who is Peter Thompson’s partner have prepared the concept and implemented it. In F1 you need not only a coach but a physio to improve your reaction time by knowing what is happening and how it is happening will make you faster, even if you can always be fast naturally.

Q What are the qualities for a fast driver?

Passionate, hungry and well prepared to push to the absolute limit. He must keep calm and calculated. He needs to have everything put into prospective to have a bigger picture and that comes with experience.

In fact, it is the same effort to be on pole position in GP2 or in JK Series. If you miss your best time by a tenth the consequence are bigger for instance in a European series because there are more drivers in Europe than in Asia.

Q What is the secret for a new tracks like India?

7’0 % lies in the race preparation before you touch the track. The simulator and the latest version and how it is used is as important as ever.

We also give tools to drivers with a booklet which is the program of their week-end and highlights the key moments and what their job and responsibilities are and when it happens. It is easier when it is in writing.

We give them track notes that we prepare with them. This is more about how to drive.

We prepare together a circuit map where drivers write their own notes about gear rations for instance or corners so that they can refer to the situation and see what the other competitors are doing and compare and then it is easier for them to stick to the plan of the team. Drivers are the key players. They must be helped to stick to the overall team plan for a win for instance.

Giving advice, and the goal for the race, changes before the race …all this is part of a drivers training and coaching.

In fact a driver is a complete professional. This is what we need; a fully prepared and dedicated individual who even prepares in the gym on a regular basis. A driver is an athlete. He follows a set of guidelines written with him and for him. This goes as far as participating in “fitness camps” prior to the season.

Q And summing it up?

The drivers must be “at their best” all the time and never be lazy.

Q What comes next?

After success or a problem, the debrief to understand why and build on the event.