30/05/2005
NEWS STORY
In his (now) traditional sit-down with journalists at the end of the weekend's racing activities, Jean Todt was first asked how he felt about the result, which saw Ferrari drivers, Rubens Barrichello and Michael Schumacher, add ten points to the team's tally. Did this mark a sign of improvement, are things getting better for the Scuderia?
"Better? No, it's not better," he replied, firmly. "It will be better the day when at least a Ferrari wins and if possible first and second. That will be better.
"Otherwise, we still have this problem of starting low down on the grid which we've had since the start and of the season," he continues, "and also taking part in races which are also as chaotic as today, with the rather lively start after which Rubens was ninth and Michael 14th or 15th. After that, it was a difficult race with no course but a climb back up the order, but one which was never going to achieve what we might have hoped."
The first corner incident worked well for Rubens it is pointed out.
"Yes," says the Frenchman, "but the results are a function of the facts and not 'but for the accident' or 'with a bad position on the grid' so what I see today is that we were third and fifth and that does not compare to our ambitions."
Could the Brazilian have won, had the race been a little more ;incident-free?
"I think it would have been very difficult," he admits. "If… if…," he continues, "there's no point in analysing 'what if'. We have to analyse the thing with what happened, and clearly what happened is that we have been starting too far back, because if we had been more in front on the grid, we would not have been penalised by an incident at the start, so it's up to us to try to be higher on the grid and then that will certainly change the physiognomy of the race.
"You you can see some of the competitors with one right in the front, and one car in the middle. They have two different races. So we need to be able to start more in front, and at the moment we struggle to do that."
Asked if the car's potential has improved, in comparison to Monaco, Todt responds: "No. At Monaco, in terms of performance during the race, we were probably better than we were this weekend.
"The problem was that at Monaco overtaking was more difficult than on circuits such as Nurburgring, and unfortunately we weren't able to confirm this difference in performance in comparison to our competition."
In two weeks the F1 circus goes to Montreal, an altogether different track. Does this give Ferrari cause for optimism? "I am optimistic that we will soon be better placed on the grid," he replies, "on the first two rows, and that will change things.
It's time to bite the bullet and ask, "Is the championship over for Michael?"
There's a long pause, finally he replies: "We are clearly not favourites, but we also know that this is a sport where things can change very quickly. We saw that today, on the last lap of the race, so one needs to be careful of making final predictions."
The Maranello team is testing in two different locations this week - Silverstone and Monza - is it hoping to make a big leap forward?
"We are hoping to improve the situation, yes," he replies, "with a lot of (new) bits and tyre testing. As usual, our tests are always big. The important thing is the result are big.
It's pointed out that this is the second successive race in which his team have got both drivers into the points, and that the ten points earned today are the biggest haul for the Italian team this season.
"Our aim is not to be the second best," he says, "it is to be the first."
A question regarding whether Michael's was on the right strategy is firmly slapped down: "The person who won the race was on the same strategy," says the Frenchman.
"It's normally more risky to go on a three-stop rather than a two-stop strategy. It's the first time this year that a team has gone on a three-stop strategy, two cars. It hasn't happened yet this season."
Of course, Rubens only qualified seventh though he was obviously running very light, how disappointing was that, especially when (technical director) Ross Brawn said Ferrari might have to compromise the race to get qualifying position
"It was disappointing," admits the Frenchman, "but on the lap time situation we were not so bad here, taking into account that Michael lost three or four tenths on his qualifying lap but you know missing grip makes things more difficult."
Of course, after the race, the main talking point was the Raikkonen incident, did Todt feel that McLaren did the right thing in keeping the Finn out?
"I'm not going to speak about McLaren," he replies, firmly. "I will never speak about the others.
"When I retire I will, I promise," he adds, smiling, "but while I'm paid by Ferrari I'm not going to speak about the others."
Asked what he would have done in the same circumstances, Todt quickly spots the ploy.
"I already answered," he says. "If one day we have a problem with our car you will be able to ask me the question. However, I'm not going to speak about the others. That's clear."
Asked about the regulation which prevents teams from changing a tyre when it is in a dangerous condition, he replies: "The other thing that you can say, or argue, is that the rule of one set of tyres for qualifying and the race is a tough rule. So we have interpreted that in a conservative way, that's why we pay the costs in qualifying.
It seems that no tyre manufacturer so far has been able to achieve 100 per cent of the new rules. You have one tyre company who is doing a better job in qualifying and a worse job in the race, and the other is achieving a worse job in qualifying and a better job in the race.
"Better," he continues, "I don't want to use the word 'safer', because then we get into political areas, so what I can say after seven races I'm not sure, but it's not criticising anybody because when you implement a rule you have to leave that rule before finding out how good or bad it is.
"And it seems it is a tough rule and it is not going into cost reduction because, as I mentioned a week ago, if you have five sets of tyres, it makes about eighty laps, five-hundred kilometres. So the rules in the past were easier. But can you imagine if Ferrari says 'we should go back to the old rules' what will happen?. I'm not going to get into presenting that.
So, is there a problem, particularly with flat-spotting?
"It can be, but then the more difficult a car becomes to drive, the more chance you have of making a flat spot in braking," he replies. "If it was the old rules, you would stop, change the tyre and you go out again. Now you don't have that option. But saying that, it is the rule, it is like the rule with the engine. Now it's one engine for two races. If you have an engine failure you stop. Tyres are probably a bit more sophisticated, more delicate."
It's pointed out that the engine rule is not (generally) a safety issue.
"Look," he replies, "you have races like Le Mans, you don't change the tyres so often, it's just a question of…
"The problem in F1 is the competition is so tough, so you try to go to the limit with every single ingredient of your car."
So are the teams being encouraged to go too close to the margin, because of the intensity of the competition this year?
"I think the true story is that here, at the Nurburgring, nobody has been driving here," he replies. "So you arrive and it's a question mark. You come with two choices of tyres. First of all, you don't know if that will be a good choice, that's why, you have seen, since the beginning of the year, some very strange situations.
"Look at Monte Carlo," he continues, "in Monte Carlo, during the race, some cars were four seconds, five seconds off the pace. It's quite self-explanatory, but it probably wasn't the best choice of tyres. For us, we have arrived sometimes with no grip for qualifying, so we pay for that, but it's less spectacular, but then during the race it works. So that's why I say it's not like a gearbox ratio.
"You know very well, you have this configuration of circuit, you know exactly what is the ratio, but you arrive with 20 sets of different ratios that you can change and all can be simulated. For the tyres, you cannot do that. That's why you tell me 'what will be the tyres?' We don't know what will be tyres in the next race. It is much more unpredictable."
But is he concerned that there have been so many tyre issues recently. For example, Michael could have had a big crash in Barcelona if the tyre had failed in the wrong place, and Wurz had a problem in testing.
"That's why we are very conservative in this race," he responds. "You have to decide whether you want to compromise safety or whether you want to compromise speed. We have always…"
He hesitates, then continues: "If we have the choice we always try to take the choice which is closer to safety. But I may say that and we may have a problem in the next race, so that's why you have to be very cautious."