JR Hildebrand won the 2009 Indy Lights Championship. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

Q: How did you feel when you found out you would get to drive in Jerez?

“I was elated. I obviously had no real expectation of what was going on, and I certainly didn’t ask any questions about it when I went into it. I figured I’d go over and do as best as I could, and if there was some chance that I would be able to stay involved, that’s obviously what I was hoping for. I was more than thrilled to find out that I would get a chance to drive the car. Hopefully I’ve done what I can to prepare and I can make the most of it.”

Q: How are you going to approach it? Obviously the natural thing is to not want to screw up or make any mistakes, but on the other hand it could be your one chance to make an impression – some guys have built careers on the strength of being quick in their first F1 test. It’s difficult to judge it, isn’t it?

“I’ve had quite a successful year back in the States, winning the Indy Lights championship. Titles always give you a bit of momentum to move up and make the best of the next opportunity. I guess at this stage I look at my career as still being in a bit of a developmental state, and so I guess I don’t have much to lose by really putting a lot of effort into making the most out of the situation. I’m just going to do my best and see what I can make of it.”

Q: There’s obviously an opening for a third driver at Force India, but there’s not much testing, so you’ll have to race something else. What are your plans at the moment?

“At this stage it’s a bit of a tough question to answer. This business of racing, you can’t really plan too far ahead. It’s quite unfortunate that A1 GP turned into a bit of a mess, because that was my planned off-season agenda. I think right now the biggest thing is to do the test and see what happens, and then weigh up my options moving forward. I would say I’ve built the first part of my career racing in the States, and if you’d asked me a couple of months ago what my plan would be, it would be to try and get myself into an IndyCar and see what I can do Stateside. I think I’m quite confident that I could get quite competitive at that level at this stage. But to get the chance to race in Europe, that’s something that I’d look forward to and heavily consider if the option was there.”

Q: I guess in the next few weeks you could end up with a choice between GP2 and IRL. It’s like choosing between NASCAR and open wheelers – it could define your whole career...

“Definitely in terms of your commitment level, a lot is required either way. If those were the options I certainly wouldn’t rule out either one straightaway. I’ll just have to see what the future holds, I suppose.”

Q: Obviously there has been a lot of talk with American drivers and US F1, but you don’t seem to have had much too contact with them. Is that right?

“I’ve spoken with the team, but I think at this stage they are really focused on just getting everything together there. I figure they’ve got more to worry about right now than sorting out their driver line-up for the next few years. I would expect that down the road they’ll start exploring their possibilities with drivers a little bit more.”

Q: With you and Alexander Rossi driving at Jerez things are looking more hopeful than a year or two ago.

“There’s been a bit of a resurgence. Obviously Alexander has been doing a good job, and back Stateside Summerton and Edwards were battling it out for the Atlantic title. There are quite a few guys who have come up through the ranks in the last few years who have maybe put open wheelers back on the map to some extent. We just have to see how that fares over the next few years.”

Q: How was your week at Force India, meeting the engineers and seeing the facilities?

“It was really impressive, just being able to learn a little bit more about the car and the team and everything they do. The nature of F1 being more open in terms of specifications and so on, and with for me having a bit of an engineering background, it’s been extremely interesting to be able to look around the shop and cruise over to the wind tunnel and see what’s going on. It’s interesting just to see all the bits and pieces that come together, because there’s so much more technology in it and so much more for the team to be responsible for. I was just trying to absorb as much as I can. Hopefully I’ll be able to put that to good use next week!”

Q: Finally, did you sample Jerez on the simulator?

“We did get on it for a bit in the afternoon. Obviously never having been there, any experience is quite good, and to get it on arguably one of the best simulators in the world is not a bad secondary option. I think that in terms of track knowledge I’ll be as prepared as someone who hasn’t been there can possibly be.”

Adam Cooper notched up his 25th season as a racing journalist 2009. Born in London, England, he saw his first F1 race at age 10 in 1976. He began freelancing for Autosport magazine in 1985 and was on the fulltime staff from 1987-92. He then went freelance again, initially spending two years in Japan before following the 1994 Champcar series from a base in Indianapolis. He has not missed a Grand Prix since Suzuka ‘94, a run that has extended to Abu Dhabi ’09. Adam has written books about Eddie Irvine, Piers Courage and Michael Schumacher and hosts a race preview show on Sirius XM. He has written about F1 for SPEEDtv.com since 2005.