11/07/2005
NEWS STORY
 |
Sitting down for his traditional post-race media de-brief, Jean Todt was clearly disappointed, his team, for the second successive week, demonstrating a worrying lack of pace.
However, the topic on everyone's mind wasn't the lack of pace or Michael Schumacher's title hopes, but the claim by British tabloid, The Daily Mirror, that Ferrari is aiming to make a £20m bid for the services of Jenson Button.
Any comments on that Jean?
"You are talking about speculation," he replies. "Zero per cent true.
After a short silence, he continues: "You are talking about two different things. You ask me if it's true, that speculation, and I tell you it's not true. If we forget that, you ask me if he's a good driver: sure he's a good driver but again, it's what I was tell your colleagues.
"We have a lot of good drivers, but you need the whole combination: the car, the reliability, the tyres, the engine and the driver. If you have the whole package, then you are able…" he pauses. "Look what is happening from one race to another, from one year to another. I was talking about some drivers who finished second, not with a Ferrari this year. They are not in the points. Suddenly, he's got 'sunburn'.
"So you need the whole package. In a way, to judge a driver, there is only one good way to judge, it's amongst two teammates. Then you can really know who is the best among them, but otherwise, not possible."
Inevitably, his team's performance in the British Grand Prix is mentioned, was it a nasty surprise for him, a wake up call?
"An unpleasant surprise," he admits, "but we were facing the same situation as one week ago. It was about the same, not worse. If you take the quickest lap time during the race, last week, this week, if you see what has happened on Friday when we were very competitive, then Saturday struggling a bit more, and then Sunday during the race struggling much more."
The Maranello outfit has a major test lined up this week, will that improve matters?
"First we need to analyse because testing for testing sake doesn't make us quicker," he replies. "We need to analyse why on Friday we are competitive, why on Saturday we may lose performance and why on Sunday we definitely lose a lot of performance. We need to analyse why.
"To identify the problem is quite easy," he adds, "to solve the problem is more difficult and that's what we have to do.
Michael Schumacher has said that the performance at Silverstone compared to the North American races, is a step backwards. Is he right?
The Frenchman sighs: "It is true. Since a few races, we have moved backwards. Again, if you see the lap times during the race, very often this year we did the quickest lap time or very close to the quickest. At Magny Cours we were 1.3s off, here we were 1.2s behind the quickest time. Our competitors managed to do the quickest time on the last lap. After the 20th lap, we struggled more and more, so we went backwards."
Asked if he feels the team is moving in the right direction, his reply is immediate and to the point: "At the moment we are not moving in the right direction, that's true," he says. "We are not".
So what's the problem?
"We mainly lack grip," he replies, without hesitation. "It's the whole thing. It's very difficult to judge clearly where it comes from. If it's only the tyres, it's not only the aerodynamics, because if it was only the aerodynamics, we would never be able to do a quick time, like we did on Friday.
"We are with the others," he continues, "same level of fuel, and we are at the same speed. And then we dropped back. But for them, it's easier to identify where it comes from, because there are several teams with that. With all respect for Jordan and Minardi, it's very difficult to have a good comparison with them. So for that reason, it's up to us, together with Bridgestone to try to get the best analysis as possible."
So, do Ferrari need to solve this problem to build up a new package for next year, or do they simply give up on 2005 and concentrate on 2006, or even a revised car for the remainder of this season.
"Whatever, we will make a new car for next year. It's a new engine…" he replies, before being interrupted.
"But if you don't know what the problems are, is it necessary for you to find it out in order to have better ideas for next year or could you also say…"
It's his turn to interrupt: "All the development is always coming from a certain know-how. As I said before, the people who have been contributing to the success of Ferrari in the past are the same people now, so it's not a question that we lost the know-how. At the moment, we simply are not quick enough."
So how is the V8 programme coming along? "It's moving along," he replies, "but it's too early to say whether it's good or bad. I think we are in a phase of learning and developing the engine."
It's understood that two teams will be running their V8s this week, what about Ferrari? "We have started on the test bed, not on the car, but on the test bed," he responds.
The big question, is this year's championship still possible? "It's getting more difficult," he admits, "but if we would be able to get a good package for the coming races, it is still very open, but we need to be able to be in front of the others and at the moment we can't manage to do it.
"If we are able to be in front of the others who are very strong, then it could still be very open. If we are not able to do so, and if we lose a few points race after race, then it's getting more and more difficult until it becomes impossible. At the moment it's not yet there."
Apart from winning the championship, how important is it to win races this year, for the image of Ferrari and maybe as a push for next season?
"The image of Ferrari is very strong," he shoots back, "so let's say we are not happy about the present situation, but considering the image, I know sometimes we are living in a very irrational world, but it emphasises how difficult it has been to be so successful for so many years in a row. So if half a year is enough to destroy our image, I would be more cautious about this kind of analysis and I leave that you.
"On the commercial side we are very strong. We have orders for over two years for the V8 cars, one year for 12 cylinder cars so the company is very strong. Saying that, at the moment we are not good enough in Formula One."
Asked if it is still possible for Ferrari to make a (significant) step forward in time for the German GP, the Frenchman says: "I don't know. I don't have all the parameters to hand, so it's possible but very difficult."
Normally in Formula One, one doesn't make a huge step forward, it's pointed out, it normally comes in smaller steps.
"Clearly, we had a big drop in performance during the race today because we were missing grip," he replies, "and if you take a few races ago, it's our competitors who had a drop in performance during the race, and we were very strong. So if we are able to find the right mixture and do a better job, it's possible.
Bridgestone brought a new family of tyres to Silverstone, did they work?
"We have to analyse, they have to analyse," he responds. "If it has given the result we expected the answer is no, but that's why we have to analyse and they have to analyse the situation with our technical people.
As a sportsman does he take this situation as a new challenge? "It's a new challenge," he replies, without hesitation, "yes, for sure."
What about motivation within the team, does he have to work hard to motivate the team at this time? "They are all very motivated because they don't like to lose," he says. "That's the best motivation, try to react, but it's difficult in one way but it's also quite healthy, because it shows how difficult it is to be successful and it gives you motivation to try to be successful again.
"We are not happy about the current situation, but you know we are in the situation of some of our other competitors who did not manage to win Grands Prix for five or six years and still they came back. So that's why it's a healthy situation to have to fight for success again."
And Michael, is he motivated?
"He doesn't like to lose," admits the Frenchman, "but he's very, very motivated, sure. We could say that we've won so much, so who cares, but we do care as if we had never won."
Todt is known to be an admirer of FIA President Max Mosley, does he think he will be challenged for the FIA presidency this year?
"He was here over the weekend, didn't you speak with him," he hits back. "You should ask him. I hope he will challenge, the answer is yes, I hope he will challenge. He's the best president available, so I don't see who could challenge him."
A lone voice speaks out, determined to gain further mileage out of the Jenson Button rumour. "Why do you think this speculation happened, where do you think it came from?"
"Can you remind me in which sport we are?" ask Todt. "What is its name?"
"Formula One," replies the lone voice.
"Good," says the Frenchman, smiling and rising to his feet, "so you have the answer."
"Have you been in more difficult situations in the recent ten years?" he's asked, as he prepares to leave.
"Sure," he smiles, "much more… 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998 and part of 1999; all those were more difficult."