Q. Are you expecting this to be massive news in Brazil?
RB: I think so. We put it out as a press conference that, “Rubens is going to define his future,” so it could either be that Rubens is racing in the Indy 500 or that Rubens isn't racing anymore. And because of the Internet and because of the speed at which you guys work at getting news all over the world, it's very difficult to keep a secret. So, they've been talking about it for the last month pretty much.
I don't think they know I'm going to be racing on the ovals. I think they're expecting me to say I maybe am going to probably be racing at Indy, but that's it. So, I think it will be big, big news and I hope with my followers on Twitter and the good feeling I have all over the world with my public, I hope that I can contribute to the league.
Q. Are you expecting a sellout crowd in Sao Paulo?
RB: I hope so. Last year Sao Paulo was good for me in Formula 1, and this year I've only changed the address on the invitation…
Q. Are you happy with the idea that IndyCar is a lot more relaxed in terms of letting the fans have access to the drivers? Is that something that appeals to you?
RB: Yeah, I quite like that and it's a good time to have everybody around. Of course, it will be a difference for me in other respects and I will have to learn and go through them. But I have been in the public eye for such a long time. I had a great reception in Sonoma with the crowd there. I look forward to working with the league.
Q. Talking about Sonoma, what do you think of tracks like that? Was it an appealing track for you?
RB: Well, I had no idea of the track as such. I played games in the past, but I had never actually been there. It was a really good experience and a difficult track with blind corners. It was good for me to have some testing before I actually race there. This year will be fun seeing all the different tracks, I'm pretty sure I will enjoy them all.
Q. What are your ambitions for the season ahead? Obviously no one knows the state of play with the engines – is Honda better than Chevy, is Lotus better, etc. But, if Chevy, for example, does turn out to be the best engine, are you expecting to be able to compete for wins and pole positions, or are you thinking more podiums?
RB: I'm thinking it's too early to say! I think Tony brought the KV team to a different level when he came in and the team felt more competitive with his driving and the way he helped the team to set up the cars and so on. I hope my contribution is to put the team one level up again. Whether or not I'm going to be able to do really well, it's a question mark because everything is very new to me. I will keep my feet on the ground and work as hard as I can. It doesn't matter that I had 19 years in Formula 1, I'm starting from zero here. I am very competitive so, of course, I want to do well. But how well I'm going to do, I guess we are going to see sometime soon.
Q. You're perfectly happy that there are fewer gadgets to play with in the cockpit, a lot fewer parameters for you to alter in IndyCar compared to F1?
RB: I think you are not going to see me comparing things to Formula 1. I think they are different. They each have their enjoyment, and I can tell you I'm only doing IndyCar because I had a lot of enjoyment when I was driving the car. So, for sure, I think this is going to be a fun year. I have to get used to different sorts of yellow flags and different strategies and things like this that I'm not at all used to, but I think it's going to be great.
Q. Can you say whether it's just a one-year deal?
RB: It is a one-year deal for now.
Q. With the proviso that if you enjoy it, you'll want to come back for more, right?
RB: Absolutely!