I definitely wasn't anything special when I first started but I think I adapted quite quickly into racing and it became a bit better slowly. All of cadets, the first four years of karting, I only won one proper race, one! Which was the British Open Championship at PFI and I started 21st and I won.
I was always fascinated by speed... My father was always an enthusiast and once I found a passion in racing, I had something in common with him, so from my childhood onwards we spent a lot of time going to karting tracks and racing in the various categories.
After karting in Venezuela, I came to Europe in 1998 to compete in international kart races, which was great for me to get experience racing outside my country. After consistently being at the top, I decided to move to Italian Formula Renault.
I love racing, I love racing everything really - karts, anything - so I do need to keep doing that. But the focus is on Formula One.
You always have to believe in yourself, and I had that from karting.
In karting, you turn up and drive, look at the data and go home. But I like doing more, learning about the engines and how to make them go even better.
I've done this in karting, to do one track in one way and then do it the other way.
I didn't go to school that much! I was racing go karts and testing nearly every day, so school wasn't the first priority.
I started racing at club level, then the Scottish championship, then the British championship, then the European, then the Worlds. I went through all the various ranks. I spent a good ten years doing karting.
