EXCLUSIVENEW YORK, NY (November 21, 2002) - The 2002 CART season marked the peak of Cristiano da Matta's career so far as the Newman/Haas driver dominated the season by winning seven races [Monterrey, Laguna Seca, Portland, Chicago, Toronto, Elkhart Lake and Miami] and took the championship in grand fashion in front of his hometown at Downtown Miami. This season also marked the end of da Matta's CART chapter in which he will join Toyota F-1 in 2003 and 2004. In his last stop during his Champion's Media Tour in New York City, I sat down with da Matta at 57th Street Norma's before he returned to Miami for the upcoming CART banquet.
KEVIN MA: Cristiano, what a season it has been. How do you feel about winning the CART championship and how does it change your career?
CRISTIANO DA MATTA: The championship is something I always wanted, and it is something I always worked for since my go-kart days back in Brazil. Of course auto racing is big in Brazil, and I always looked up to two series while I was growing up - Formula One and CART -- I have a lot of respects for the drivers in those two series. Just to compete against those guys and winning races, it means a lot to me. By winning the CART championship, it really changed my life - not in day-to-day basis, but I feel like I am a happier person today because this is something I could achieve.
KM: Two years ago [see Da Matta's 7/00 interview] I talked to you few weeks before your first career victory in Chicago. Looking back, how do you feel about all the changes after that victory?
CdM: I was starting my CART career and it was my second year with PPI, it wasn't a top team even though it had a lot of potential and I learned a lot there. I have a lot of respect for Carl Wells and all the people in the team, but now Newman/Haas is the team that gave me opportunities to fight for race wins week-in and week-out, and be consistent throughout the season which enabled me to fight for the championship.
KM: How important to have an experienced Christian Fittipaldi as your teammate when you joined the team?
CdM: Christian was my friend before I joined Newman/Haas, which made it a lot easier for me when I came aboard. We helped each other a lot not only on the driving standpoint, but also the setups on the cars. I think it is always important to have a good teammate to help out each other. We get along really well.
KM: What about having Carl Haas and Paul Newman as your bosses? How did they help you to be a champion driver?
CdM: The team owners, they are big part of the team because they make decision on doing things. If you have a problem in the team, you need to report to the team owners. I think Carl has a lot merit on that because he is able to make changes really quick - you see how we were last year and how we were this year, we made big improvements, Carl reacted really quick for the changes and for the better. Same goes to Paul Newman. His his involvement isn't as much as Carl's within the team, but he helps out so much with the sponsors and media relations, together they form a really strong partnership.
KM: What about having a manufacturer like Toyota, which basically looks after you from your Indy Lights days, and will look after you in the future as you move to the Formula One team?
CdM: This is for me, which is definitely as good as it gets. Toyota is one of the biggest car manufactures in the world, and we have a very good relationship - they trust me for driving, and I trust them for making the engines and the cars. We've been working together for four years, we improve ourselves together and we understand each other very well. We are looking forward to a new challenge now.
KM: On paper, Formula One is not as family-based as CART, how do you feel about that?
CdM: I think you need to have good relationships within the team. For sure Formula One team is so big, but within the department, I think everybody needs to trust each other. I disagree with you. The relationships might be different, but the mindset and the way to work are the same and this is the only way to make up a successful team.
KM: Toyota F-1 is still a new team, and you are going to having a new teammate Oliver Panis next year. What kind of program are you going to do this winter and how are you going to get in sync with your new team?
CdM: I'll be testing during in winter just to get adept with the team. We are going to get a lot of miles. I am going to start testing next Tuesday and I am going to test two more times this year. Of course I am going to do a lot of testing in January and February before Melbourne. Hopefully it's enough so we can be in good shape in Melbourne. Knowing the whole team, my new teammate is going to be important because now I don't know anything. I only spent one day with the team.
KM: You were kind of emotional in Mexico after the race, are you going to miss your team and your friends in the series?
CdM: It's just that I have so many friends in the team and in the CART series, and it was my last race with them at least for two years. If my plan goes right it is going to be more than two years. I was upset because my car wasn't performing the way I wanted. Even though the result was very good, it wasn't the way I wanted to leave the series.
KM: Going back to Mid-Ohio, you spun out during the race. Did that spin make you a more conservative driver because championship was at stake?
CdM: I think in a 19-race championship, you only made one mistake in the whole season I think it was pretty good. I wasn't trying to pass Carpentier, I was just caught in the bad air, lost the downforce in the rear and spun. It happened, I didn't crash which means I wasn't really pushing. Having couple of crashes this year, no big ones, which is good. The more you learn about the car, the more you under control, the less likely you are going to crash. I think there are two ways to put this - if you don't crash, you either know you car well or you are not pushing hard enough. Of course I was pushing hard all the time and to make one mistake in 19 races, to be a little more aggressive, I think it worth it.
KM: I was in Miami where you won the race and clinched the championship. Did it mean extra special in front of your hometown fans?
CdM: It meant a little bit more, but the championship meant so much to me. I don't really mind where I clinch the championship, I am pretty sure it is going to be the same feeling. Of course doing it in front of the hometown fans and lapping in front of them are good, but I don't think it is that special.
KM: Next season we are going to see big changes within the CART series, as well as your friends. Bruno [Junqueira] is taking your seat, Christian [Fittipaldi] is leaving for NASCAR, Tony [Kanaan] is going to IRL, and you are going to F-1. Does it affect you to see all the friends going different ways after racing with them in the past two years?
CdM: It doesn't affect me at all because it happens in racing. For some guys in CART, some guys in NASCAR, some guys in the IRL, and for me I will be in Formula One, everybody is going to take the opportunities presented to them. When you look at our careers, we only raced together for few years, and in racing you have various stages in your career, and I wasn't racing with all the guys all my life. I see CART as one stage of career for all of us, and now everybody is moving on to different challenges. It is hard to predict whether we are going to be back together in CART after two years, nobody knows.
KM: Does it feel like in school, all of you are graduating and all of you are going different directions to pursue different careers?
CDM: Well, every series you go to, you leave friends behind. I had many friends in Indy Lights, F-3000 and British F-3, everywhere I raced I had many friends, and we ended up meeting someone in some places. When I went to Rockingham, I met a lot of friends from the past; it is going to be the same when I come back to Indianapolis or Montreal next year. You go to the race not to make friends, that's very important. You go to the race to try to beat everybody. Having friends in the series is good, but if not, it is not going to make a big difference.
Da Matta later added that it is better not to race against your friends, but he did leave his friends behind on the tracks seven times in 2002 and for the ultimate goal - the CART title.
