INTERVIEW: Why de Silvestro chose Supercars

Tuesday, 13 September 2016


Mark Glendenning / Images by IMS Photo, LAT
Being a professional race driver requires a degree of open-mindedness. Aside from the well-connected or fortunate few, it's a life frequently punctuated by instability. Watertight opportunities can fall apart at a moment's notice; every expired contract can spin into an unexpected career shift.


Nevertheless, there are surprises. In the past three years, Simona de Silvestro has gone from IndyCar, to a flirtation with F1, to Formula E, to an appearance at the Bathurst 1000, to a three-year, full-time deal in Australia's Supercar championship, starting from 2017. Even by today's standards, it's a weird career trajectory.

"I definitely would agree with that," she tells RACER.com. "When I was racing in IndyCar, Supercars certainly wasn't on my mind. But last year's Bathurst was the first time I got to drive the car, and I really enjoyed myself; I enjoyed the style of racing. And it was a new challenge for me, because I'd never driven in closed cars, and as a driver you're always wanting to evolve and learn."
That ability to adapt to unfamiliar cars and styles of racing isn't a bad skill to have when you're struggling to find a place to drop anchor. Her four-year spell as an IndyCar full-timer ended in the pursuit of the glimmer of a chance to become a Formula 1 driver with Sauber. Sponsorship problems forced that window closed after just two tests in a two-year-old car, and left her looking for something else to do: a question that was answered with an unsatisfying year in Formula E with Andretti, and a one-off Indy 500 comeback in 2015. In that context, it's easy to see why knowing what she'll be doing for the next three years might be appealing to someone in de Silvestro's situation.
"I'd say that since 2013 it has been frustrating," she admits. "There was the dream of Formula 1 that didn't quite happen. And then to be honest, it was quite a struggle to find a way back. I tried to get back into IndyCar, but a lot there depends on sponsorship, and I didn't succeed in finding the money to get myself a full-time ride. Then I got the chance to drive in Formula E, which was quite different. It's an interesting category, but I think I struggled to get used to the car and how to drive it.
"Then this opportunity came up. In my career there have definitely been a lot of ups and downs, but I think where I'm at right now ... it's really special to get such an opportunity to go into a series and know that I can race there for three years, and really work on that and develop that."
De Silvestro's decision to pursue F1 in 2014 might stand as one of racing's great 'what-ifs' on both sides of the Atlantic. Many in F1 have spoken of the value that a quick female driver would bring to the world championship, and when one finally came along, she couldn't find the budget needed to get over the line. And the move also came at a time when her IndyCar career was finally starting to gain some momentum: she finished 2013 with a five-race streak of top 10s, which was a first in a career that had largely been spent battling with unfancied equipment.
"That's the really frustrating part," she says. "My KV season was pretty good; I think it could have been a little better because some races didn't quite go our way. I'd have loved to have been in one of the top cars so I could see what might have happened. But sometimes that chance comes quickly, and sometimes it doesn't. It is what it is.
"Leaving IndyCar was quite a hard decision to make. I'd always had this dream of F1, and this chance came up, and in IndyCar at that time all of the big teams were already full. The people [that had an opening] wanted quite a lot of sponsorship. So I don't know. It's hard to say whether I would have found a GOOD place [for 2014], and I really wanted to be in a team where I could be competitive. That window didn't quite happen at the end of 2013, unfortunately.
"I would have liked to come back to IndyCar. I am really passionate about it, and it's a car that really suits me. I think I could have done really well there, so it's definitely something that still feels unfinished. But it's not in the stars right now. That's the one point in my career where I really feel things could have been a little bit better.
"But you never know. Now, the Supercar opportunity ... I think it's going to make me better. I want to be in a series where I can be successful. At the end of the day you want to be competitive, you want to be with the right team, and I believe that's going to happen in Supercars. That's really special."