22/10/2004
NEWS STORY
Guest questioner: James Allen (ITV)
Q: Obviously today has been dominated by the rule package for '05/'06 - package two confirmed, no great surprise, but confirmation of two race engines for next year, and 2.4 litre V8s from 2006. Just a reaction from each of you to that please, starting with Mike.
Mike Gascoyne: Well, I think first and foremost relief that we've actually got some regulations and from the chassis side, pretty much what we expected obviously, and what we've been working to. So relief on that side. Toyota have always supported the 2.4 litre V8 and the two race engine for next year, so that's not a problem for us. The only thing where our stance is at odds to what's happened is that Toyota wanted freedom in the engine regulations and freedom to put technology in the engines which is one of the reasons that Toyota came into Formula One. So we're disappointed, but overall it's pretty much what we expected and, as I say, just a feeling of relief that we can get on with it and design and finalise the design of the cars.
Pat Symonds: Very similar comments to Mike. The rules are really exactly as we expected, there are no surprises in that. We also have supported, in general, these changes, certainly accept that something needed to be done on the engine side to reduce performance. I think it was a good thing, at the same time, to maybe look at a few cost-saving options and those have been incorporated so all in all, a package that we're quite happy with.
Sam Michael: Same for us, nothing was really a surprise in there because it was all basically formulated in the last three or four TWG (Technical Working Group) meetings anyway. I think everyone's been working to the new bodywork and aero regulations for next year, but as the guys have said, it's very important to make sure it's on a bit paper that says that's what's happening for next year. Same thing with the tyres, there's no surprises there and also the engine, all of that was nothing new to us so it's good for next year.
Ross Brawn: I think in common with the other guys we recognise that periodically you need to slow the cars down. We all work very hard to make them as quick as we can but then you start run out of space on the circuits, so it's necessary, periodically, to slow the cars and I think they are a sensible set of regulations to begin that process. I think we've got 2008 coming up which will be a blank sheet of paper for Formula One. I think we need to really think about what we want in Formula One from 2008 onwards. There's no constraint of a Concorde Agreement at that stage, at least not to the present understanding. I think vis-à-vis the technology of the engine. We were totally supportive, we believe it will reduce costs, and I believe there has been an imbalance in the regulations, I think we have a 40-page technical… the technical regulations consists of 40 pages of which one page was about the engines. The other 39 were about the car. That doesn't seem sensible. The constraints we place on the car, I think we are now starting to place some constraints on the engine, but there will still be plenty of potential for people to create discriminating technology between the cars and engines.
Q: One set of tyres for the weekend, does that mean more testing, because presumably to evaluate a set of tyres that's going to do three or four hundred kilometres you've actually got to do three or four hundred kilometres to understand what they'll do. So does that mean you're going to be out running a lot more often?
RB: I think there will be a lot more predictive techniques developed to avoid that because I don't think it's practical to be out testing every set of tyres for three or four hundred kilometres. I think the teams and tyre suppliers will develop techniques whereby after a short period you can make an initial assessment and then when you're down to the - let's say - a short list of candidates you may well do long runs on them, but I don't think it is necessary for us to do that sort of mileage on every set of test tyres.
Q: So much for Bridgestone, what about the Michelin contingent? Do you share that view?
SM: I think it's the same. It's pretty much difficult to do much more testing than we do at the moment. It will have to involve either testing those compounds, or doing less long runs on those compounds or using predictive techniques which has just been mentioned. So it's a similar (unclear).
Q. This morning in the team principals meeting three car teams were mentioned again, running a third car was mentioned again. Is this becoming closer to becoming a reality and if so how will you approach that?
PS: I believe it is becoming closer to reality but like all things, it's is a binary decision, it either happens or it doesn't and you don't know until the last minute. It shouldn't be underestimate, the difficulty of running a third car. Of course , we have some experience of it from operating under the Heathrow agreement last year. It's surprising how it ramps things up. It is pretty difficult to co-ordinate and control two cars at times, and three cars is that much more difficult. It involves quite a lot of expense for us, the obvious ones of building the extra parts and things but even the number of personnel you need at the circuit, the number of people you need backing up at the factory. Just simple things like modifications to trucks and what have you, it's an expensive exercise and what's perhaps a little bit unfortunate is that the way things look at the moment there's a high possibility of running three cars in 2005 and perhaps a low possibility in 2006, so there's an awful lot of work there for one year.
MG: We obviously ran three cars today. When it is just one day and you are not racing that car you can plan for it. It still involves extra effort and extra expense. We have extra people here to be able to do that and we would have to increase that were we to do it so that we were racing that car. So I don't think it should be underestimated. Like most things in this business, it's do-able, we could do it, but that doesn't necessarily mean to say that we would want to do it under ideal circumstances.
Q: Sam, the CRB (Contract Recognition Board) obviously went in BAR's favour so you're looking for a driver in 2005. Is it a risk, do you think, to put Antonio Pizzonia alongside Webber given their history and antipathy between them?
SM: I don't think there's an issue at all, to be honest. The main thing is, the first thing we consider when we look at a race driver is is he quick enough and Antonio's definitely in that category. He's obviously one of the candidates on the list and someone who we will make a decision on in due course. I don't think that has happened in the past, in past teams between the two of them, is an issue at all, they've both expressed that.
Q: Going back to the engines rules, you were saying that you were in favour of two race engines and none of this is a surprise but BMW…
SM: I didn't say I was in favour of them, I just said it wasn't a surprise.
Q: But you did vote for two race engines in one of the TWG meetings, didn't you?
SM: No.
Q: But BMW are saying that they are going to take some time to consider this. What's your view on how angry they are about it?
SM: It is something that is playing on and something that I'm sure will be going on in the background and in due course we will see what's happens with it. It's not something that I'm really in a position to comment strong on at the moment.
Q: Can you give us a summing up of your 2004 season? Obviously, given where you were last year, you were expected to win the championship or at least challenge for the championship this season. Why were you not able to and where do you go from here?
SM: Well obviously, yeah, you're right. We came off the end of last year and we made a lot of poor decisions on the car, particularly aero and mechanical decisions early on in the design stage, and it took us all year to correct half of those and there's probably two or things on the car that we can't change until next year, but obviously it's been a disappointing year, but at the end of the day it doesn't mean you give up on this year or at least try and correct things for 2005. So we're busy putting as much effort, like everyone else, into next year to try and return to return to fighting at the front but yeah, it has been disappointing but you keep moving on.
Q: And your analysis to today's running? How are you looking?
SM: Still a bit early to tell at the moment because obviously on Friday you don't know what condition tyres people are running and what fuel loads they are running but a fairly normal Friday. We'll see what happens tomorrow.
Q: Mike, two different drivers finishing the season, compared to the two that started. What does that say about Toyota's year?
MG: Obviously we've had a difficult and frustrating year. We haven't had the results that we wanted at the start of the year. I joined last December and I think our level of performance didn't come as a great surprise to me. We knew what we had to do to improve the team and a lot of that has involved work back in Cologne in the factory, in the way that we work there and that's inevitably going to take time. It's a process I've done before and I have to say I'm very comfortable with where we are. But we still have to do the best we could this year and obviously we haven't had results we wanted. In terms of drivers, certainly the last change, with Jarno becoming available, given that he was going to be a driver for us next year, wasn't something that we expected and the ability to have him in the team is something that is very useful to us. Obviously very direct feedback from some of our competitors who are obviously much more competitive than we are and that's obviously very useful feedback. It's been a season of change for us and with the drivers that's reflected that, but we have to make the decisions to make sure we get set up to be in the best position at the start of next year because one thing's for sure, if this season's been disappointing, next year can't be.
Q: You've had a year, as you say to get your feet under the table, you've got two top drivers for next year, when will Toyota start to deliver, do you think?
MG: Well it has to start delivering from the start of next year. There's absolutely no doubt about that and I'm very confident we're in a position to do that. You can't make the step to the top in one step. It's far too difficult to do that, and the teams you are racing against are far too good to allow that to happen but I'm very confident we will make a significant step forward.
Q: What about today's running? Jarno seemed to be pretty consistent on the long runs. Are you reasonably happy with where you are?
MG: Yeah, I think all the drivers did a good job today and Jarno, in particular, has added a lot to the team and he's very happy with the car. Obviously it was a difficult first race for him in Suzuka with no running before raceday but he still did a good job and he's confident and happy with the team and it's definitely lifted the whole team.
Q: Pat, you've moved forward, at least, one place in the World Championship, probably just the one place. You've won a Grand Prix, you've had pole, you've had a few podiums and yet there's a slight feeling of disappointment about Renault's season. Do you look at it that way or are you quite pleased with 2004?
PS: I'll always be disappointed if we haven't won the championship, that's what we do it for. It's right but there seems to be a lot of perception that we haven't had a good year but of course, we have. As you say, we've won a race, been on the podium, we've moved up, not just one place in the championship but actually a lot closer on points. It hasn't been an unsuccessful season. I think within Renault one of the things I like about our team is we are very self critical. We don't try and hide our feelings from the public and the press. A lot of things haven't met our expectations this year but that just makes us try harder. It certainly hasn't been an unsuccessful year and I think any team that finishes third in the championship, and let's remember it's not quite over yet, should be proud of it.
Q: The bit that doesn't quite right is that your car number seven hasn't scored any points since France, seven races ago. For team of your calibre, your level, that can't be allowed to happen. In retrospect is that a big error, allowing that to happen?
PS: We didn't allow it to happen, we certainly didn't intend it to happen. There are several things this year and I certainly would say it is a year of missed opportunities. There were races - Canada, Indianapolis, Spa - races where we could have had an extremely good result. In Canada, I think we were really in with a shout of winning that one and right up there in the other two. Reliability in a couple of cases and an accident in one let us down. Yes, it is true that one of the cars really hasn't had a very great second half to the season. You say why do you let that happen; you don't let that happen. You are trying as hard as you can to get both cars up there all the time.
Q: What's your analysis of Jacques performance in his two races so far. Obviously he was caught out by the extraordinary circumstances in Suzuka, but over the two races, what's your analysis?
PS: Well, I think that… I guess I didn't know Jacques particularly well before he came to driver for us. I'd spoken to him a few times and you may remember a few years ago he was quite high on the list of possible Renault drivers, so that time we were speaking quite a lot. Certainly the perception, I think, largely through the press is that he is very laid back and a little bit undisciplined and I've found that to be completely untrue. The guy works very hard and I always respect people who do work hard. It has been difficult for him and the first tests that we did at Silverstone, he was taking a while to get into things and it sort of woke me up a little bit when he said well, OK, that's not a great time, but it is nearly two seconds quicker than I've ever gone round here before. And when you think that was only a year ago, that's a measure of the progress that's been made. Some of the things I think he's found quite hard. Physically he has found it hard because no matter how much training you do, there's nothing like driving a racing car. He has had to get used to different tyre characteristics which I think he's probably now got used to. We sent him down to Jerez last week to do a bit more work with that and today we have seen a pretty good performance from him. So it's been hard for him but I think he's a guy with quite a lot of ability.
Q: Talking to your drivers throughout the season, the mantra has been 'it's a tricky car to drive.' Is making the '05 car a less tricky car to drive a big priority for you?
PS: No, the big priority is to make it quicker. It is true that our 2004 car is more difficult to drive than the 2003 car, but equally it's quicker and if I went to Fernando and said 'what do you want, an easy car to drive or a quick car?' I think I would know the answer.
Q: Ross, I believe you ran a 2005 car spec car recently, what was the feedback from the drivers and what did you learn from it?
RB: It is not strictly a 2005 car, it's a car which we have modified to achieve the performance levels which we think we will have in 2005. It wouldn't comply to the 2005 regulations but it's a sort of muletto of bits and pieces that put it at the performance level. I think we got exactly what you expect when you reduce the downforce by 15-20 percent: less grip, more tricky to drive initially, so for the first day, the drivers were finding it a little bit of a handful but once they readjusted their reference point, then it was fine. The reason for doing it is to have some meaningful development on tyres and engine management and things like that. It's been very useful in that respect. I think the tyres are at a very early stage. We don't have a tyre yet which can do a complete race. It would be pointless to try and develop a one race tyre with the car we have now. We need to develop a one race tyre with the car we think we will have next year.
Q: You said your car has 15 percent less downforce. What sort of amount lost would you be happy with by the time you get to Melbourne? How much of that do you expect to have clawed back, percentage wise?
RB: Well that's where we would hope to be. When we put a 2005 package on the wind tunnel model we lost nearly 30 percent. We're gradually getting that back. We would be pleased if we get to 15 percent less than where we are now.
Q: Can I just ask you the rest of you if that's the target you've got?
PS: Well I think if Ross' target is 15 percent we will go for 10.
SM: Yeah, we're the same. We lost almost exactly the same. How much we get back is the big question. It's obviously a long way away, but then so is Melbourne, but at the moment, because of the changes to the bodywork, particularly the diffusers, there are fundamental restrictions on how much expansion you can get, so no matter how much you work away with it it will be never be anywhere near what you had before.
MG: If Ross's if 15 and Pat's ten, I've got to go for zero. Obviously we're all doing the work and pushing very hard. It a very key area, it's an area where we have been doing a lot of development because it's where Toyota have been behind and so it's the key area of development on the chassis for next year.
Q: Back to Ross again, you've ticked just about every box there is to be ticked this year. Rubens said yesterday he doesn't expect any presents in going out to try and win his home Grand Prix but it would complete the picture for a totally dominant 2004. How are you going to do it, what's going to happen?
RB: There is obviously a lot of people trying to stop us doing it, so I think it's going to be a challenging weekend. We are very pleased with the car and tyre performance today. We started the session a little bit out of shape, the car was a bit tricky to begin with but the engineers and drivers dialled it in pretty quickly and when track cleaned up a bit the whole thing was working well and we had some very encouraging runs in the second session with fuel and race tyres. But it looks like Rubens and Michael are going to be very close this weekend. Rubens is very determined to correct his record in Brazil, it would be fantastic if you could. But Michael's determined to stop him and I would be disappointed if he wasn't. There is no team orders and they are free to race so it's going to be a fascinating weekend.
Q: You mentioned team orders, when the championship's still open, I think I've right in saying your policy is to let them race up until the final pit stops and then to hold stage. As it's the last race and the championship is already wrapped up, are they racing to the flag on Sunday?
RB: Well, the only reason we apply any management is to preserve the cars. We have a good finishing record and that doesn't come by accident. We don't want the drivers abusing the cars any more than they have to. It is important that they finish the race, so I don't think we will change our policy because it's the last race. But they are free to race and there's plenty of potential.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Heinz Pruller - ORF) Gentlemen, I'm sure there's a lot more behind the new tyre rule. What about the pit stops, obviously you don't have pit stops for tyre changes now? Will you have bigger tanks, will you have less pit stops because you don't have to change tyres? And, what happens if you have a puncture or a slow puncture? Who will decide if you can allow to change this tyre? I think there are a lot of loopholes in this regulation, can I have your comments?
RB: I think the fuel situation won't change dramatically because of the need to qualify with race fuel. I think if we fill the cars up too much qualifying is going to be difficult. We've seen lots of times when if you get some free space at the beginning of the race you can use it. I don't think the fuel tanks are particularly going to get much bigger. I don't think the strategy are going to dramatically change. There may be times when we would have done a three stop because of the tyre situation and it will now evolve to a two-stop. I would be surprised if we see many one stops, even with these regulations but it depends how the situation develops. If you run high fuel load you just stress the tyres more, so we've got to look after the tyres for the whole race. In terms of puncture, I believe there is some detail to sort out, it's true, because we want this set of regulations where we all clearly understand how we can operate. One suggestion, with the puncture scenario is that you can change the tyre but you have to use a tyre which is at least used, one of the tyres that you have already used in practice rather than put on a new set. But I believe that now the rules are clear there is a need to sit down with the FIA and debate the best way forward to apply these detailed points.
PS: I agree with what Ross has said. Tyre degradation will obviously be lower, there will be less stops but it is not going to be one stop racing. It is, perhaps, a slight over-generalisation to say there will be one less stop than there's been this year, although that will be the case in a lot of places. I think the replacement of tyres is a tricky thing but what the FIA have essentially done at the moment is laid out the principal and it's up to us to sort out the detail. But I think the FIA are rather good at looking at systematic abuses of the rules. I think that if you saw a team were continually stopping with punctures or flat spots or whatever, I think would be looked at quite closely.
MG: Obviously there is an issue with punctures and damaged tyres which we've seen this year and if it happens twice, what are you going to do if you've only got two sets of tyres. We need to address it.
Q: (Dan Knutson - National Speedsport News) Sam, Ralf is leaving the team after six years. What's it been like to work with Ralf in the team? I know you also work with him at Jordan? How has he been in the team, how has the team's perception changed of him? Just talk a little bit about how it has been with Ralf?
SM: Obviously he has brought a lot of years to Williams. He is obviously a very talented driver. He's very good analytically, working with engineers and going through data. He's extremely good at understanding tyres and set-up, so he has obviously contributed quite strongly. During the last half of this season, he hasn't done, or a third of the season, you could say, because of his accident, but he also came back strongly after that and I wish him all the best at Toyota. I'm sure he will do a good job there and be a really big benefit to them on their climb to the top.
Q. (Alan Baldwin - Reuters) Sam, Juan is also leaving. Is there one area in which Ralf and Juan stand out in the team, and one area in which you would like to them seen in their time with you?
SM: Juan is obviously as positive as Ralf. Juan's a very talented driver and everyone can see he has got a fantastic racing and overtaking ability. They compliment each other very well. Although you see from the outside, a lot of things in the press about them fighting and not liking each other, internally they actually work very well together and when they turn up for an engineering debrief there is no funny business going on. They've both got a common goal, they're both smart enough to realise that if they work together on the car, the car will go faster. It has been a reasonably good partnership and so I wish them both the best.
Q: (Dominic Fugere - Journal de Montreal) Pat, bringing in Jacques Villeneuve for three races was a big gamble for him and a big gamble for the team. Could you tell me a little bit about your assessment of the results that this has brought on?
PS: Yeah, you're right. Gamble is perhaps not the word I would use. I think risk is a similar but slightly different word. The reason I say that is because you can assess risks much more than you can assess gambling. We had got to a point, as has been pointed out early, where were not scoring points with one car and things were really going from bad to worse. I'm not blaming anyone for that. I wish I could understand and analyse it, but I think for an engineer it is sometimes quite difficult to understand the human side of things. Jarno is a great guy, he really is one of the most pleasant people in racing today. He's done some fantastic things for us, but for one reason or another it wasn't working. And therefore, if you do a risk analysis on a situation like that, and you say 'actually is it going to get any better?' and if you believe it isn't, then you're on a 'we might win, we've got nothing to lose' situation. Looking around at who we could put in the car, it was a really quite a close call between Franck (Montagny) our test driver, and Jacques. Franck has really done a great job for us testing and particularly recently he's really got to grips with the car. I'm sure he would have done a great job as well. Jacques, I think we probably underestimated just how difficult it was to put someone in at such short notice, but, as I said earlier, I have an awful lot of respect for him, just for his sheer work ethic. He really has worked at it. Circumstances have conspired against him a little bit. Certainly I think you have to say that in Japan, a circuit where he has been very good, but we didn't get his set-up right, very largely because we don't know him that well. It takes a while to build up a rapport between the engineers and the driver, but I think we've already seen this morning that he's doing a good job here this weekend and I think he will have a strong race and I think he's… I was going to say he has a bright future in front of him, but of course he's proved an awful lot already, but I think he's still there.