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Eurosport expert and Renault star Nelson Piquet Jr looks back on the Singapore Grand Prix and the upcoming race in Japan.

Sum up the Singapore Grand Prix experience for us in five words, Nelson...

Exotic, unique, exciting, challenging and bittersweet.

What goes through a driver's mind when Q2 begins in qualifying and the pressure is on to set a quick fast lap? How do you approach that situation?

Qualifying is always one of the most intense parts of the weekend as it's about finding the limit of the car quickly. I try to remain calm and run through the lap in my mind before I leave the pits. Then it's all about delivering the perfect lap: getting your braking points right and hitting your apexes.

There were sparks flying from the undercarriage of the cars at certain points of the track: was it too bumpy? What did you think of it overall?

It was bumpy, but you expect that on a street course and we get the same thing in Monaco. Obviously you see the sparks more in the dark, but it wasn't too much of a problem and the track was fun to drive. It wasn't easy to overtake, but that's always the case with street racing.

Describe the crash for us.

It was a difficult opening stint because I was suffering with some graining, but I was still pushing hard and lost the rear of the car on exit of turn 17, touched the outside wall and then hit the inside wall.

What was the overall mood among the team as Fernando took advantage of the safety car: was the joy tempered by your unfortunate retirement?

Obviously I was disappointed not to finish, but with Fernando's win it was an amazing day for the team and a nice reward for all their hard work this season.

Ferrari had a nightmare weekend: what do you think went wrong for the Italian team?

Sometimes you can have this sort of weekend in Formula 1, when things just don't go your way. You have to feel sorry for Felipe because he was having a great weekend up until his pitstop.

What aspects of your performance will you look at and focus on ahead of the Japanese GP?

I need to work on my performance in qualifying and so I'm trying to improve my consistency.

What do you expect from the race at Fuji?

It's another new track for me, but it looks interesting and I'm looking forward to it. Last year's race was wet and we know the weather there can by quite unpredictable, but wet or dry I'm really motivated to do well and give the team a strong result.

There have been concerned voices raised by key figures within Formula One about its future in the current financial climate. How do you view the situation?

The costs involved in Formula One have always been high and that's not something the teams can ignore in the current climate. We have seen some teams already have problems this year and it's something that the sport is trying to address in the future.

Should Formula One adopt a single-engine system or take other measures to level the playing field and reduce development costs?

That's not something that I want to get involved in. I know there are lots of discussions about the future of the sport and that's something that Flavio and the team's management are involved with - not the drivers.

Jonathan Symcox / Eurosport