07/03/2005
NEWS STORY
The season opener wasn't quite as disastrous as it might have been for Ferrari. True, Michael Schumacher's race ended following a coming together with fellow-German Nick Heidfeld, however, teammate Rubens Barrichello was able to pick up eight welcome points - in the revised 2004 car - thanks to an inch-perfect drive, and typically excellent strategy from Mr Brawn.
The first few points in the bag, Jean Todt sat down to answer a few questions.
Given the starting positions, did the Ferrari boss feel that the final result wasn't as bad as it might have been?
"It could have been worse," he replies. "I think Rubens got the most out of the situation. That is offset by the fact that Michael was unable to score one or two points because of his accident, but that's part of racing and you have to accept it.
"On the positive side, we were nevertheless competitive, in spite of the car being an evolution of last year's car. The 2005 car is still being developed prior to racing it. We have a few things to improve with Bridgestone but nonetheless, in terms of wear and consistency we were good."
The general behaviour of the car allowed Barrichello to be competitive, would Todt agree? "He remained competitive," says the Frenchman, "but we need to be more competitive."
So, what conclusion does he take from this Grand Prix? "It's difficult," he replies. "There is a very competitive Renault team with Fisichella who drove a very good race to win. There is Red Bull, for instance, which was astonishingly competitive but having said that, it's a bit premature to reach final conclusions because I'm sure that there are other teams which will become competitive during the upcoming races.
"But it does look as though the championship will be very open and that should be welcomed by all spectators who enjoy Formula One and for the championship."
It was thought that due to the tyre regulations there would changes in the order during the final ten laps of the race or so, but that wasn't the case. Both Bridgestones and Michelins lasted well. "Yes, they wore well," he agrees, "Which was very interesting. Ours were perhaps too hard, we could have perhaps gone for softer tyres but that's a good sign for the races to come."
With regards Michael's accident, he says, that it was a racing incident. "Absolutely," says Todt.
Does he imagine a more lively championship this year, with more battles and fights and competitors for Schumacher and Ferrari? "I hope not more lively and difficult than today," says Todt. "I hope we can have better races in the future".
Is there any greater need to introduce the new car after today's performance? "No," he replies, without hesitation. "We know that we are not yet at the standard that we want with the new car so we will keep testing, developing it until we feel we are in a position to introduce it. There's one engine for two race weekends, so we still have one race weekend to try to do."
Were you encouraged by the race performance today, because obviously Rubens had a very strong drive? "We knew that we had good performance with the car, so we are only disappointed with our starting position on the grid. But that's fate, there's nothing we can do about it."
With regards qualifying, do you think the new qualifying system worked? What were your views on it? "Qualifying on Saturday is nothing new," he replies. "The only thing that's new is that there is fuel in the car and then on Sunday it's new.
"People wanted to give more of a show on Sunday. I don't think it will make a huge difference. I didn't like this qualifying at all: to have one car 11th and the other 19th is not something I like. I didn't like it at all.
"I always said that I preferred the kind of qualifying in the past where you had one hour, 12 laps and then the quickest time was taken. That's what I preferred, but everybody was against that so…
Asked how strong he feels Renault will be this year," he replies: "They will be strong, some others will be strong too. It seems that they have done a good job: good tyres, a good package.
What about McLaren? "I think they have a good package."
Any surprises amongst the others? "I think some teams were better than I expected, but others were worse than I expected. It's not up to me to judge the others. I don't like talking about the others.
And Giancarlo's result, did it impress you? "He did a great job to get pole," says the Frenchman. "He was in the right situation and he exploited it well.
"But we know the guy is a strong driver. He demonstrated that. You need to have the right combination, however. You need to have the tyres, the car, the team. If you manage everything then you are competitive. He's one of the drivers who can imagine winning a race."
He has made no secret of his dream to drive for Ferrari, is he a driver who you might be interested in? "You know, we have our drivers until the end of 2006. He has a contract with Renault, so why speculate?"