Which is hardest? Winning the 24 Hours or winning it for a second time?
The second time! I’ve been trying for quite a while now, but I’ve not managed it so far. When I won in 2010 [with Mike Rockenfeller and Timo Bernhard] the Peugeot team was faster and we shouldn’t really have been at the top of the podium. And then there were other races where we had all the cards in hand but victory eluded us.

What does it take to win at Le Mans?
Good preparation and a dose of good luck! If your front skid block gets damaged on the first corner, then you’ve lost your race from the start. Luck is part of the deal. It can be maddening at times but that’s how it is. I’ve won races that I shouldn’t have won. I’ve lost races I shouldn’t have lost but at the end of the day, it all balances out. Last year, it was quite tough for Timo Bernhard and I to see the three guys win [Nico Hülkenberg, Earl Bamber and Nick Tandy] as they hadn’t contributed to the car’s development. We were happy for them and the team, but it was still a bit hard! When it’s like that, you just have to think about the races you have won when others might have deserved the victory more. You need to stay humble.

Do you have to be close to your teammates away from the track if you want to be effective as a crew?
Yes, absolutely. It’s the same in football – a team can have the best players around but if they don’t play together, they’ll be beaten by a weaker but more cohesive team. Teamwork is the last link in the chain and it has to be solid.

Apart from speed, reliability and luck, what else does it take to win?
You have to be able to adapt to the circumstances. That’s increasingly important. The cars are so sophisticated now that they are highly sensitive to the slightest change in wind, temperature and the like. This is something that the engineers – ours and those at Audi and Toyota – have trouble taking on-board. In the past, everyone achieved their best times very early in the morning, but that’s not true these days. It’s not as predictable now. This is all the more true when the car has very advanced aerodynamics. We all know that every car sees its performance drop at some point in the race. It happens to everyone, so you have to be ready to adapt.

Would a victory with Porsche feel the same as your win with Audi in 2010?
No. All my endurance career has been with Porsche and when I won the 24 Hours in 2010, I was still a Porsche driver on loan to Audi. After that win, during Harmut Kristen’s congratulatory hug, I told him that I was delighted to win but that I’d have been even happier if it had been at the wheel of a Porsche. Unfortunately, that comment was misconstrued.

What are your chances of winning this year?
Very serious, of course! It’s true that, despite the victory at Silverstone after Audi’s disqualification, the season got off to a difficult start but our greatest asset is still our knowledge of the 919 Hybrid. It is now three years old and we are perhaps coming up against its limits but the latest tests in Spain show that reliability is our strength.

PHOTO: STAVELOT (LIEGE, BELGIUM), SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS CIRCUIT, FIA WEC, WEC 6 HOURS OF SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS. The Frenchman is dreaming of a Le Mans win with his beloved Porsche!