Interview With Formula One Star Dino Zamparelli

Many people are unaware at the amount of work that's needed to become a F1 driver. I caught up with GP3 driver Dino Zamparelli who currently lies 17th in the GP3 Championship and discussed his progression and his thoughts on the F1 2013 season so far.

JH: Hi Dino, thanks for taking part in this exclusive interview for WhatCulture. DZ: No problem, it's a pleasure. JH: There are many aspiring racing drivers out there; do you have any advice to those who want to get into racing? DZ: Well being a racing driver is not something that I chose to do last minute. I was very fortunate that my Dad was a powerboat racer and so the speed was in the family. My Dad encouraged me to start Karting at the age of 6, and I took it up from there. The best place to start to see whether you enjoy speed is Karting €“ it's where most learn the trade! JH: 2013 has been a pretty crazy year for you so far, with your first season in GP3 going well. What's it like to drive around circuits that you've seen on TV for many years? DZ: It's a bit surreal really. I'm so caught up in the moment in trying to achieve the maximum and do my very best, that it's hard to take it all in now. I'm sure at the end of the season I will have a different answer for you! But I'm really enjoying it as a whole and loving the experience. I'm learning a lot and improving all the time. I'm slowly but surely getting to where I want to be with the GP3 car. My team Marussia Manor have given me a great car all year, and have been working hard all year with me. JH: You really became the front of everyone's attention, with that spectacular reaction video at Spa. Amazing stuff, what was going through your head at that point in the race? DZ: Well, mainly I was thinking about how hard it was to actually see! There was so much standing water that I couldn't see anything more than 5/10 metres ahead of me. Many people believed that I suspected a crash ahead, or that I knew it was coming because of the tyre tread on the road. But that wasn't the case! I could literally see nothing and was just acting on pure reaction and instinct. It was part luck and part skill. Something that I look back now and realise just how lucky it was. JH: What's a typical day for you as a racing driver? DZ: Well training in the gym plays a massive role in my day to day activities. I need to maintain a high level of fitness to be able to control the racing car and to be physically fit is also beneficial for my mental game. I make sure that I'm physically and mentally as strong as I can be. I also do a lot of promotional work on the racing front. When I'm not training, I'm finding new ways to promote me and my racing whilst trying to chase down more sponsorship to continue racing. It's a never ending cycle! JH: You currently have a blog on Sky Sports F1, which is brilliant by the way, but as well as your season taking place, what are your thoughts on this F1 2013 season? DZ: Well I don't really get too much time to think about it! We don't watch the F1 races on Sundays because after our race, it's a long journey back to Bristol! So whilst I watch it, I haven't really been too involved in what's been going on! It looks like Vettel may be on for a fourth though... JH: Your next race is just under 2 weeks away. Does the preparation start now? How do you rest inbetween races? DZ: Well the racing seems to never stop! Which is a good thing! Even when I finish one race, I'm always immediately starting to focus on the next race. So for me, I have a little rest a day or two after, and then I'm straight back into training and discussing with my team about how we can improve and so on. JH: Your social media following is growing day by day. How can people from WhatCulture follow you throughout the rest of this season and in the future? DZ: I use Twitter, Facebook and YouTube a lot! So feel free to follow and interact with me on these platforms. DinoZamparelli.com is currently under reconstruction to make it more interactive. I love the support I get on the social media platforms; it's good to get nice messages of support when things go well and when things are going tough. JH: You currently sit 17th in the table out of 27 drivers, which is remarkable for your first season. Out of the remaining drivers, who would you say has the best potential to do well in this industry? DZ: This championship is one of the toughest championships in the world, of that there is no doubt. I think my performances have been better than my results, if that makes sense. At times when I've driven well and got myself into points paying positions, I've only ever picked up 2 or 3 points. So this is why I'm quite low down in the championship standings. My aim for the remaining rounds is to pick up some decent points paying positions and get myself into that top 10 before the season end. JH: Thanks for your time Dino, and we wish you all the best for the rest of this season and beyond! DZ: Thank you! You can reach Dino on Twitter at www.twitter.com/dinozamparelli