At the end of a race in which his team scored its fifth 1-2 of the season, following the disqualification of both WilliamsF1s and both Toyotas, Jean Todt sat down to answer some questions.
First off, how does the Frenchman go about maintaining the level of motivation within the team? "It's the right people at the right place," he replies, "to have stability and just involvement, being focused, never leaving something for granted, being humble, cautious, trying to achieve what we want to achieve."
And how much of a hand does he have in the day-to-day operations at Ferrari? Is he involved in every single aspect? "Yes," responds, "sure".
That can't leave much free time: "Enough to sleep," he laughs. "What else do you do? You don't have the choice. If you want to do things, you have to be committed and you have to do them well, so it takes time."
Ferrari's grid positions in Canada were its worst of the season. Did you have any concerns with Michael and Rubens starting where they were? "No," he says, "we knew that on this circuit we would probably have been more competitive with the package we had on two pit stops so that's what we went for.
So did the race unfold exactly as you thought it would? "Honestly, we knew it was going to be very tough," admits the Frenchman, "but we were expecting to be fighting for a good result but we were not predicting that we would win. We knew we had a chance, but of course, it makes things more unpredictable if you start in sixth and seventh position.
"It was a wonderful victory," he continues, "because it's the seventh win for Michael on the Montreal track, it's the seventh win for Ferrari and for Michael out of eight Grands Prix and it's true that we took the start of the race in a situation where you wouldn't normally win a Grand Prix, because to have Michael in sixth on the grid and Rubens seventh could lead one to think that others would fight for victory but since the start of the weekend, we thought that a two stop strategy could be a winning one and it turned out to be the case.
Max Mosley recently remarked that you would be a very good deputy to him, indeed he hinted at aspirations to do things at a higher level within the FIA. Do you ever think beyond Ferrari? "At the moment you are talking about my input at Ferrari," says Todt. "Now I am managing director of the whole company it's probably the best job and the most demanding job for somebody who loves cars, who loves competition, so that's what I'm responsible for at the moment and probably I can understand that my name would be taken as a candidate for the future but first of all, Max Mosley is doing an outstanding job, he is focused on his problems, he's very involved, very much dedicated to what he does and I am not sure I would like to do what he does."
As you leave Montreal, are there any things that you know you have to improve upon for Indianapolis? "Everything," he says, smiling. "For Indianapolis it will be a bit tough because it's a short time, but otherwise we have to work on every single parameter of the car and with our partners."
Do you ever leave satisfied when you leave a race? "Oh yes," he laughs. "Until tomorrow morning.
"In Europe, they are sleeping thanks to the time difference," he continues, "so we can have a good party with the team.
Going back, were you worried at the end of practice, did you wonder if you should go ahead with this strategy? "Strategy is a choice," he says, "and there are several teams with several different choices, so it's not obvious but whatever, it is the one that we considered to be the best for the car with the tyres available.
So far in 2004, the only team you've regularly beaten is Renault, but although they retired, they were the only team to have adopted the same strategy as yours. "We thought there would be a battle between Ferrari and Renault, " he admits, "and finally that was not the case. We didn't know that Williams BMW would be as strong as they were today. They were very strong."
So is Indianapolis a foregone conclusion? "For who?" he asks, the smile fading. "For the start of the race? At midday? Yes, that's a foregone conclusion. That's the only thing, I think that is a foregone conclusion."
It must be an extraordinary feeling to know that you can win from sixth on the grid. "Of course," he replies, "it's rewarding for all the team but on the other hand, you know Ferrari's position at the moment is not sixth and seventh on the grid so if we are sixth and seventh on the grid, we know that with actual qualifying things maybe more unpredictable and they were more unpredictable, but at the end of the day the strategy which was worked out was the right one."
Finally, a quick question on football. You're French and you regularly beat the English, but we have just seen the French just beat the English 2-1. Is the Ferrari patron, who regularly beats the English, happy because the French won and beat the English? "I am sincerely happy when France wins," he replies, "but I admit to be egoist when it comes to the objectives which I concentrate on and I am more than anything happy when Ferrari wins.
