FIA United States GP Friday Press Conference
By FIA
September 28 2002
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| FIA Friday Press Conference | |
| DRIVERS Michael Schumacher (Ferrari) Ralf Schumacher (Williams) Jacques Villeneuve (BAR) TEAM PERSONNEL Jean Todt (Ferrari) Ron Dennis (McLaren) Frank Williams (Williams) Q: Jacques, perhaps I can begin with you. What are your feelings always coming back here to Indianapolis? It's part of your tradition in a way. VILLENEUVE: Great memories here. The racing on the oval in the Indy 500 was very, very special. Being here in an F1 is definitely not the same, the same feeling. But it's nice to be here, nice to be in the States for a race. Q: You get a welcome, don't you? VILLENEUVE: Yeah, the welcome is good. The fans are great. It's not as crazy as in Europe, which in a way is a nice thing. But it's the end of the season, so the weather is not as nice as early in the year. It's a little bit grey. But it's nice. The people that are coming are real race fans. It's racing fan base, Indy. So that's good. Q: We've heard to a certain amount, we heard from a press point of view, we heard from Geoffrey Willis at the last race, who said he was really going to tighten things up in a big way at BAR. What are your feelings about the improvements planned? VILLENEUVE: Great. I think next year we'll finally have a Formula One car, and that is a very nice thing. Q: Where were the areas that you particularly wanted to see tightened up? VILLENEUVE: You can't pinpoint it. It's the overall thing. You know, we have a big heavy car, and then that's not up to Formula One standards. Honda has been stepping up, also, and we're starting to see the effect of it. Mainly it will be next year, so I'm very confident for next year. Q: Thank you. Michael, I think you like USA a great deal, what about the circuit here? MICHAEL SCHUMACHER: I think we have talked a lot of times about the circuit. It's a circuit with a big name because of the oval of what the Indy cars are doing here. And we have a compromised circuit on the same package, which is not a big challenge, for example, like we have in Suzuka or Spa. But if you see what has been possible to do, they have done a good job. Q: Yesterday you spoke about a free battle here in that -- M. SCHUMACHER: Free or three? Q: I think you said free battle during the race for the race. M. SCHUMACHER: Yeah. Q: Can you explain what you meant by that? M. SCHUMACHER: Basically it was obvious that we wanted to drive in a way that Rubens secured his second position and he supported me in winning the championship as much as he could, so it was a natural that I would support him in his achievement. I believe, if my calculation is right, if I would win this race, then it would automatically mean for him a second, which means that -- maybe Jean can say more about this -- we can race free. Q: But you haven't yet been told that you can? M. SCHUMACHER: Maybe Jean can clearly say that. Q: We'll ask later. Thank you very much. Ralf, you've been having quite a few battles at the first corner with your team-mate lately and we saw the last one, the latest episode at Monza. What's been happening there? Is there a greater rivalry than ever? RALF SCHUMACHER: No, it's just racing. I mean, there was a possibility and I was trying to take it as usual. I mean nothing, nothing special about it, is there? Q: It looked as though it was quite hot stuff. There wasn't much quarter given, much allowance made. R. SCHUMACHER: Well, that's Formula One racing, at the end of a day. I don't know, I'm surprised. Usually I would be pointed out not to overtake people. So maybe that's why. But, you know, I try my best and if there's a chance, as I usually say, and I see the chance, I take it as I took there. It was very optimistic there. Because of the way the circuit is designed there, it worked out. Q: Frank recently mentioned that sometimes your effort at the end of the season tailed off and perhaps you've made a special effort this year, is that the case? R. SCHUMACHER: No, I mean I think last year was a very special situation, at least for me. I don't know for other drivers. But I'm just trying to do my job as good as possible. Certainly if you look back to last year in qualifying, or maybe in general for the last few races, you could say they weren't too good, but then I still ended up on the podium, most of them. But I'm simply trying to do a good job all the way through. Q: OK, thank you. Frank, I think you've got a new wind tunnel being commissioned, what's the stage for that? What's happening with that? WILLIAMS: It's just a wind tunnel. Q: When does it come on stream? WILLIAMS: Not very soon. They take a long time to make. Q: So when do you expect it to be commissioned? WILLIAMS: About 12 months, 24 months, somewhere in that frame. Q: In what way is it better than the one you've got at the moment? WILLIAMS: Well, I didn't say it was better. The plans are in the Abingdon planning office if you would like to see, but they're a slightly more modern version. The existing one is quite old. Q: Two people who are in the news at the moment, you've just hired Dr. John Davis, I think. What was the thinking behind that? WILLIAMS: We needed to strengthen up one of our departments, specifically our aero department, and he appeared to be an ideal candidate. Q: Somebody else I wanted to ask about, Antonio Pizzonia. How has he figured in testing? In Formula 3000 he hasn't been fantastic, but I think he's better in the Formula One car, isn't he? WILLIAMS: He has disappointed himself in Formula 3000 and surprised us at the same time, but we rate him very highly and he should have a strong career in Formula One, there's no question about that. Q: He deserves to be in Formula One, does he? WILLIAMS: He is quick enough certainly, and I think as much of a racer to be in Formula One. He is quite good at overtaking. Q: Thanks, Frank. Jean, I'll come back to the question I asked earlier. Is there a possibility of your drivers racing one another? TODT: As Michael said before, at the beginning of the season we had the first objective, which was Ferrari manufacturer world champion, and it seemed like Michael had better chances to be driver champion. So the team did support him as much as it could. And once it was achieved, the second goal was to allow Rubens to win the second position. And now Rubens is leading the third by 17 points. And definitely if Michael is winning this race, then Rubens would be second, and we will achieve the result. But I mean it's many other cases which will happen. So once we see what is happening in qualifying, we will decide what is in the best interest for Ferrari. Q: Can you just update us on what happened this morning with Rubens and the state of his car? TODT: I mean, he had loss of pressure from the rear left tire, and then he lost the car. Q: What's the state of the chassis at the moment? TODT: It's not so bad. It will be able to be repaired for tomorrow, but nevertheless, we will change the chassis for Rubens for tomorrow morning. Q: So the chassis will be new? TODT: Yeah. Q: OK. Ron, Sarah Fisher sadly probably is preparing as we speak. Why is she having this test? What's the significance of this? RON DENNIS: It's just an opportunity for her to sample Formula One. It was a request made by one of our sponsors and by Tag Heuer and I discussed it with Bernie. We felt it would be good for the American public, and it was just something that was possible. So we agreed to do it. Q: On another subject, Mercedes has bought into Ilmor. What are you expecting from that association or that acquisition that you didn't already have from before? DENNIS: It's not a question you can really answer with a sound bite, as it were. First of all, of course, it's taken a great deal of time to arrive at this particular decision. But it's just one of the things that probably reflects how committed DaimlerChrysler is. And, of course, McLaren to winning the World Championship, and any decision we take together -- and that was a significant decision -- is carefully thought through and obviously taken with a purpose to be better on the track. And we have -- DaimlerChrysler developing a significant resource in Stuttgart, have over another 125 engineers now that have been assembled over the last few months, and the acquisition of Ilmor is the last part in significantly raising the efforts to have the best available engine in the pit lane, and that's just one of the many decisions and changes that have been made. Q: OK, thank you, Ron. I'm sure there are some questions from the floor. This gentleman here, please, the front row. Q: Two-part question. First to Jean Todt. Is there any mixed emotion for you upon being so dominant now that interest and attendance seem to be lagging in Formula One? And part two, Ron Dennis or Frank Williams: Considering all of Ferrari's resources now, has the classic game of technological leapfrog in Formula One stopped to the point that you're no longer able by resources to look forward to overtaking Ferrari technologically anytime soon? TODT: I will say at the moment our dominant position is due to different factors: Strong team, fantastic drivers, fantastic technical partners, and mainly I'm talking about Bridgestone, who is supplying us great tires. I know cycles have happened since years in Formula One, I mean Michael is on the right, and on the left, they have been leading this situation, fortunately for them at the moment. After many, many years of hard time for Ferrari, it's happening for Ferrari, and we know it will not last forever. But as long as it can last, we will do everything we can because we are very motivated. If we would have not won a race since 50 years to go along and try to be still successful altogether, we have a great team. Q: Now the question for Frank and Ron. WILLIAMS: Well, you refer to Ferrari's resource, and maybe it is greater than the one at Williams. Ron will tell you what he thinks from his side. But I've always thought the best racing cars come out of the most creative minds, not necessarily from the most technology. And I guess Jean's in possession of the greatest car presently. This will change, we certainly hope so, Ron and I do at least. DENNIS: I think, as Jean has pointed out, there tends to be a certain biorhythm to the performance of Grand Prix teams. I often think have we lost the expertise that's required to win races and win world championships. I don't think we have. I think Jean and his colleagues have obviously done an incredibly good job, and I take some comfort from the fact that I think our team has done a pretty poor job. So I think we make them actually look better than -- not that they are, but they certainly look better because of our own efforts not being as they should be. And, of course, you can then inevitably perhaps pose the next question, which is, well, what do you think you've done wrong? And then you get into trying to break down the performance elements of a Grand Prix car and which bits you feel are strong and which bits you feel are weak. But the fact is that, you know, that there is never a magic ingredient in a Grand Prix team or a Grand Prix car. It's the sum of approximately 20,000 components, and the challenge for all the designers and both, you know, in each of the disciplines is try and make each of those components slightly better every year so that when you actually put them together, the sum of all of those components gives you a performance advantage. So there's never any magic.
And I don't think it's
resource-driven in respect of certainly the three teams that we represent. I
think we all have excellent resources. I think it's inevitable that your
resources move ahead. I mean Frank is not building a new wind tunnel because
he thinks he has the best one at the moment, that's for sure and, you know,
as was the case with Jean and Ferrari who have enjoyed the benefits of a new
wind tunnel for three or four years now and we're just reaping the benefits
of ours. Resources and facilities, you tend to leapfrog all the way through
and that's what we're trying desperately hard to do, as is Frank. You're
trying to take not an incremental step, but a quantum step, and that means
you'll push down various paths, which are not going to give instant
technical gratification. It takes time to come back on top. You've got to
have the stamina and focus, determination, budget, resources and all of
these things and you just have to keep powering forward. In the end, people
who have won in the past tend to win in the future. |
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