1. Ever since you have entered Formula One I was intrigued about the visible scar in the middle of your forehead. How did it happen?I抦 like Harrry potter! I was 6 years old and I loved to answer at the phone, and while running down to a phone call I fell off straight into a glass door and I did it perfectly in the middle.2. If you were stuck in an elevator, who would you like to be stuck with?An astonishing girl, think Angelina Jolie could be fine.3. Describe your perfect night out?A cool night with my friends, karting race before, than meet some chicks and go clubbing flat out, than after party in the hotel room.4. Who is your favorite MotoGP rider?Marco Melandri.5. Describe yourself in three words?Funny, Chaotic, Crazy.6. If you were granted one wish what would it be?I keep my wishes if not they don抰 come true.7. Who was your first kiss?A horny school mate.8. What is your favorite holiday destination?Miami.9. Do you think you could be in F1 were it not for Red Bull?In F1 you can never know, for sure Red Bull gave me a big support to get to here, but I think my CV was good enough to get some offers.10. What is in your fridge at the moment?Red Bull, yogurt and salami.11. Imagine if you could be someone else for one day, who would you be and what would you do?I抎 like to swap for one day with Usher and roll like he does.12. I'd like to ask of you, do you usually make a bet within the team? If yes, which was your most interesting bet?My hardest one was a bungee jumping bet, I had to be top 2 in qualy and the boss was jumping, but cause I did 7th I had to jump.13. What is the connection like between you and your engineer, Riccardo Adami?He is cool, great engineer and good guy to work with, I think we have a good flow together, and that makes the difference.14. What's the best and the worse thing about being a F1 driver?I love everything about it.15. Dear Tonio, having now raced as a CRG factory kart pilot, and now racing F1, do you still drive any karts and do you think the two can be compared in regards to skill?I always keep driving with CRG when I can and I think that for feelings and skill the kart is the closest thing to F1.16. Which driver while karting did you most enjoy battling against?Every year there was a different one, but I think Fore' in my last year was a tough fighter.17. Would you like to race motorbikes?What a question! I抎 love to.18. Which was your most memorable race/pass ever?Toccacelo and Pantano last lap same corner in Hungary 2003 in F300019. Your always wearing hats. How many different hats do you own?I think around 60, I love them.20. Are you selling your KTM SM by any chance?Not really, every bike I get I keep.21. What does NASCAR mean to you? wicked racing?, truck driving?, rock'n'roll?, Nothing?Wicked racing.22. When will your website be updated with your race diaries of this season?Still working on it. The guy who does my web site is on holiday the whole year.23. As a fellow karting driver I was wondering what steps you had to take to get yourself into Formula One?It s part of the game, you need the whole package.

Toro Rosso’s Vitantanio Liuzzi has always been among the most colourful drivers on the grid, but over the past season he has also developed into one of the most consistent and reliable. With both his style and his driving skill ingratiating him to Red Bull’s management, it looks like a bright future for the young Italian. We caught up with him in Barcelona this week…Q: Five weeks after you got out of the car in Brazil, how keen were you to get back in? VL: I could not wait to be back, even if it’s just for testing. I’m always hungry for racing and I like the adrenalin that driving a Formula One car gives me every time. I always want to improve and every kilometre on the track is a challenge with myself - and I love challenges. Q: Watching you in the paddock over the past season you always gave the impression that Formula One racing is funky and sexy. Now you’re heading into your second year, will we see a more worldly-wise Tonio Liuzzi? VL: I am what I am independently from Formula One. What you see in the paddock is Tonio in civil clothes, who is just a young guy living, being himself in a Formula One environment. Funky and sexy? I can’t tell you. But when I wear my race overall, that’s the moment in which the committed driver comes out and I’m fully focused on my job. It’s so nice when a passion becomes a job. You will always see the same Tonio in the paddock but I hope you will also see an always more expert driver on track. Q: There has been big internal competition for the cockpits at the two Red Bull teams. How self-centred do you have to be to secure your position? VL: I don’t think there’s ever been competition for cockpits in Toro Rosso. Scott (Speed) and I have started and finished the first season together. Don’t take your seat for granted... you have to never make this mistake! I don’t think you have to be egoist because there’s no way to secure your position. You just have to give out your best, for yourself and for the team you represent, for all the people that work with you and around you and for all the fans and spectators that love this amazing sport. This way you’ve done your job...what can you do more?Q: You have tried the Bridgestone Potenza tyres now for the first time, obviously a very different type of tyre to those used last season - what were your first impressions? VL: I have had now only two days in this car (the 2006-spec STR1) with the new Bridgestone tyres and it’s not enough obviously. They are really different and we are still struggling to find the right balance to achieve the best result from the actual package. We have just started to understand how the Bridgestone Potenza tyres affect the car and we still have got a lot of work to do. We will also attend the next two sessions in Jerez and maybe we will have a clearer idea then. The potential is undeniable and it’s up to us to make them work as they can do. Q: What effect does that have on your style of driving? VL: For sure your driving has to be very precise and clean and if distractions are always not permitted, now this is true even more. I have to learn optimizing a car which has got different reactions to the ones I was used to before. 

Q: And what about the car set-up? The adjustment process seems to be a difficult one for Toro Rosso? VL: If you are referring to our performance here in Barcelona, the aim for this test, and the next to come, is not to find the best lap time. We are working to understand the behaviour of the old car in the actual different conditions, acquiring all the data which can be useful to set-up next year’s car. Our task here is merely technical, to find a good starting point for the new STR2 for next season. Q: Last season you paid your dues by scoring Toro Rosso’s only point. What are your personal goals for 2007?VL: I can’t deny that I’m very happy having given the first point to the team. It was great to see all the people in the team repaid, even if not in the same measure, for all their work and effort. We knew 2006 could not be easy and also 2007 will be quite tough, but the expectations are higher for next season. My personal goals? First of all I want to make good use of the experience I gained in 2006 and harvest the fruits of my labour. I want to give back what the team has given me this past season together. Scoring a point has to become something less ‘special’ and ‘rare’, a sort of pleasant habit. I’m really confident we can score consistent points - and have a great season!Q: It’s goodbye Cosworth and hello Ferrari for Toro Rosso in 2007. When will the Ferrari-powered car hit the track for the first time - and what expectations go with the change of engine?VL: It is not possible at the moment to confirm a precise date but we expect the new car and the new engine to be ready at the end of January. The expectations are high. The name Ferrari is a guarantee of success and it would be a huge satisfaction to see an Italian team, with an Italian car powered by an Italian engine, making a big step forward together. The marriage of Toro Rosso-Ferrari revitalizes our competitive spirit. Q: Toro Rosso have performed better than expected over the past season. Do you sense any jealousy from the Red Bull Racing guys, given that you are supposed to be the company’s ‘junior’ team?VL: No jealousy, but competitiveness. Toro Rosso is not a number-two team and it was never supposed to always be behind Red Bull Racing. We both want to do the best and to be the best, and we fight each other as we do with any other team on the track. Sport is not the right place for jealousy, but rather for a sound competitiveness.

Bahrain testing looked promising for Toro Rosso and, with team boss Gerhard Berger adamant the STR2 is legal, the Italian squad’s results seem set to improve still further in 2007. We caught up with Vitantonio Liuzzi in Sakhir to find out his predictions for the season ahead...Q: You have now been confirmed at Toro Rosso - what took so long? Vitantonio Liuzzi: There were a few issues we had to discuss about and it took a bit of time. Q: Even though Gerhard Berger had said last year’s drivers were in pole position for the seats, there is always a certain amount of suspense in Formula One racing? How big of a relief was it? VL: Obviously I was very happy when my name was confirmed, but I have to say I have always been confident I would drive for Scuderia Toro Rosso this year because last year I did a good job.Q: There is still some uncertainty about the car you will drive this season. Is that something a driver worries about?VL: I’m not worried because I know which car I’m driving, the one I’m testing during these days in Bahrain. There is still much work to do but I’m positive we will do a good job this year.Q: Toro Rosso were quite strong in 2006, despite the fact that the car was a modified Minardi. What do you expect this year?VL: Even if we will struggle at the beginning of the season I expect to score points and make a big step forward on the grid in the middle of the season…we will be competitive…you will see!Q: Last season, Toro Rosso often challenged their ‘senior team’, Red Bull Racing, in the times. How likely is a repeat of this in the 2007 season?VL: We are just a younger team, but we have got the same will to do well and get good results. Our goal is to fight against all our rivals and beat them… Red Bull Racing is one of those… like all the others. The Red Bull teams have both got good engines, Ferrari and Renault… a nice battle!Q: From the tests you have done so far, how much of a difference has the switch from Cosworth engine and Michelin tyres to Ferrari power and Bridgestone rubber made? VL: There is a big difference. Last year the V10 was limited, we could not develop our STR1, while all the other teams have had the possibility to improve their cars. This year we can compete on the same level as the other teams, with a competitive V8 and a brand new car. Bridgestone will assist all the teams in getting the best out of our cars.Q: There is barely a couple of weeks to go until the season-opener in Melbourne - what impact will the late start to the team’s testing have during the first couple of races? Gerhard Berger hinted that there may be a lack of performance…VL: As I said before, this is the reason why we will certainly struggle at the beginning of the season, as we try to find all the best solutions for the car that we should have searched for during the pre-season tests. Starting so late we will have to do it at the races…I’m not scared anyway and I’m really positive.Q: This year it looks like it will be two veterans - David Coulthard and Mark Webber - and two youngsters - yourself and Scott Speed - under the one roof at Red Bull. Do you expect to learn from or compete with your sister team?VL: Formula One is competition on track and family in the paddock. This concept is reflected very clearly in the Red Bull ‘circus’.