Guest Questioner: Eric Silberman.
Q: Mark, we are coming to the penultimate race in a not very long and not very glorious career for the Jaguar team but it must be very difficult to keep the motivation going for these last two races. What's the mood like in the camp?
Mark Webber: China was very impressive, actually. The guys were in a good frame of mind. We did a good job there, I think it was as good as we could have done with that track layout and the whole situation with tyres and things, it was a good result for us, nice and reliable. Yeah, but even if everything is going well, this time of the year is hard for most teams. It's a long season, any job you have, as a journalist or a photographer or whatever in Formula One, it is a long season, but I think there are a few offers floating around so the team are still in a pretty good frame of mind and looking forward to finishing with a high. These guys don't know how to work any other way, you know, you have to work as hard as you can and hope we can have a good finish to the season.
Q: Now, I gather you have the new chassis here this weekend. What's it like, and how come Christian ran it in the last race rather than you?
MW: I tested it in Monza and we made a decision that I would stick with what I knew for China and Christian decided he would take it, so I have got it here. It's not a chassis that is, you know, two or three tenths of a lap quicker, there's probably not much in it at all. It's probably more looking for next year for the team, so it's an interim chassis, if you like, it's not a big step over this year's car.
Q: Of course, it will be an interim to nothing now…
MW: Not necessarily, not if the team is bought by someone who is passionate about going forward with the whole team next year. So, it's not interim at all.
Q: You are all done and dusted, you are moving over to Williams. They say the secret to getting on there is having a good relationship with Frank and Patrick, so have you taken any advice from your fellow countryman Alan Jones, who always got on famously with them?
MW: Well, I saw Alan in China and he was full of advice on how to deal with Frank and Patrick and its nothing that really surprised me, of course. They are racers, they're straight up and down, good people I believe, and that is why I am so motivated to go and drive there for the future. It's a dream for me, to drive for Williams, an absolute dream. The team has had a tough season this year, for lots of different reasons, and next year we have to go forward together. It's a great opportunity for me and getting on with Frank and Patrick, I am sure the lap times will help, that's one of the easiest ways to get on with them if you are performing in the car.
Q: Does it bother you that at the moment you are not quite sure who your team-mate is going to be there next year?
MW: Not really. I am not really worried about who will be in the other car, that's how it is. I think it would be good if we had Jenson, for Williams, but yeah, I just hope it is settled sooner rather than later.
Q: Takuma, everyone assumes you do well here, which you did last year and the previous time, because you are Japanese but I gather you have hardly ever raced here. Is that the case?
Takuma Sato: Well, Suzuka is very special, but as you said I don't have as much experience as anybody has because although I drove in the Suzuka Racing School when I started motor racing when I was 20, the next time I raced here really was when I raced in Formula One in 2002 and surprisingly, or accidentally, I had a big opportunity to race again here last year as a third driver, but really that's all. This is going to be special again, because this is the only circuit I have been to and raced three times so it is probably better than the other circuits.
Q: I gather earlier this week in Tokyo the team confirmed you will be driving for them in 2005, which must make you feel very good, but at the moment it looks like you are the team leader. Have you got any thoughts about who you would like as your team-mate next year?
TS: Not really. At the moment we are just concentrating on this Grand Prix and then Brazil, obviously, this season. It is not surprising they confirmed me for next year because obviously I had a three-year contract already at the beginning of 2003, one year of testing and obviously second and third as a race driver option and automatically it should be confirmed, so to me it is not a surprise. But it is good to have it confirmed now because the team really needs stability through the development programme, so I am looking forward to the winter testing and to next year.
Q: Now the big problem you have had this year has been your engines, and it's a mystery to all of us because I think you have had six failures including one in China and Jenson has had hardly any. Nobody seems to come up with a good reason for why this is happening to you, is it something to do with your driving style or the way you use traction control or are they trying different things in your engine to Jenson's?
TS: No, I mean, everything is the same. At the very beginning of this year our approach of traction control and engine management was different as every driver has a different driving style. But because I kept having failures we decided to try exactly the same traction control and the way to shift down the engine and everything. We tried it but still had it (problems) and that is why we call it a mystery because I didn't know that and Honda obviously couldn't prove what was the problem and also we had to move forward. So as we developed going forward we fixed some problems. By the middle of the season I think we were confident with reliability, but unfortunately I had another engine failure at the last race in Shanghai, which was nothing to do with specification probably just something unfortunate. But no, Honda is now confident they are reliable and also we had very successful testing at Jerez last week so we should be able to be very strong again here.
