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TEAM MEMBERS: Stefano
DOMENICALI (FERRARI), Norbert HAUG (MCLAREN MERCEDES), Aguri SUZUKI (SUPER
AGURI), Frank WILLIAMS (WILLIAMS)
Q: A question to all of you: your thoughts on safety in Formula One
following last weekend’s accident in the Canadian Grand Prix.
Stefano DOMENICALI: Well, I think that what we have seen during the last
Canadian Grand Prix showed how safety has improved in the last years. This
is thanks to the FIA together with all the teams. You have to think that an
accident like that a couple of years ago, well, maybe we would be in a
different situation. On one side, for sure, that’s one conclusion. That
shows one thing: that we shouldn’t forget that this sport is always very
dangerous, so we don’t have to drop the attention on safety. One of the main
things, for sure, is that we have to keep up that pressure, together with
the FIA, to give as much maximum effort in that respect because it’s so
crucial, and this is for sure what we have seen in the last Grand Prix.
Aguri SUZUKI: I think the same. It was very shocking, it was a very very bad
accident, but finding that the driver has nothing is really incredible.
Also, now the cars are very safe. Imagine, I drove in Formula One 15 years
ago, maybe it would have been a big problem but now the FIA has done a good
job, and the teams and everything is very good. I’m very happy to be in
Formula One now.
Frank WILLIAMS: I must say I feared the worst when I saw the initial impact,
the very first one, the first concrete wall. I repeat, I feared the worst
but it’s certainly a remarkable testimony to the co-operation between the
teams, engineers and designers and the FIA, because the numbers get higher
and higher every year. And consequently, I think the cars get safer and
safer every year. It speaks very highly of Formula One in terms of safety.
Norbert HAUG: I absolutely share these views. The best outcome of the
weekend was certainly that Robert didn’t get hurt. It really looked shocking
at the beginning. I think there has been a lot of positive work done by the
FIA and teams and as Frank pointed out, the tests have got more and more
severe and I think it’s important to continue and we will continue, but it
is sometimes really painful to pass all these tests. But I think it is very
very important to continue in that direction. It’s a statement for Formula
One. Having said that, I think again we saw once more what speed is and this
was really probably a surprise if you saw that on television. Some
unfortunate circumstances came together but in the end it really went well
and I think that is the most important thing and it has a solid background.
It did not happen by accident but we still need to continue and improve and
push in that direction, and I’m sure the FIA will and I’m sure the teams
will be open (to their suggestions).
Q: Stefano, Kimi has had a difficult start to the season in many ways. Do
you feel that he’s now becoming more confident?
SD: Well, I’m pretty sure that the answer is yes. The more he has the chance
and the time to drive, the more he learns how to enter the new situation,
the new car, the new tyres and the relationship with the team. So I'm pretty
positive that for sure this is a very important event for him and also for
the team, and I'm pretty sure we will see the real Kimi very, very soon.
Q: Now, last weekend wasn't a fantastic weekend for the team, but you were
looking for increased performance here. This is very much a Ferrari circuit.
Have you found that today?
SD: For sure the last Grand Prix was not the best one. It was really bad,
but we don't have to panic on that. We have had a season where after the
sixth Grand Prix we worked through races for pole position. We didn't have,
in a lot of circumstances, a great race in Canada and also Monte Carlo. Here
for sure, looking at the situation over the last years, it was a good track
for us. We know that our main competitor is McLaren Mercedes who have done a
great job but I think today the situation has improved. We have done a good
job in terms of learning, in terms of understanding the situation of the
setup and the tyres here. So that will be positive for sure.
Q: Aguri, obviously two great races for you this year, two points-scoring
races. What sort of effect has that had on the team?
AS: I think I am very happy and also I want to say thank you to the drivers
and sponsors and everything. But it is very impressive because our team is
very small. This year our target is to just get points, one point I think is
already good. Now we already have four points. I am very, very happy.
Anyway, with our car potential it is normally very difficult to get points,
but if something happens in the race, for example in Spain and Canada are
very unusual races, so it is very important, the ability in the car, just to
finish the races is our target. Maybe afterwards we get some points or
something.
Q: I realize the team is really quite small and obviously very new. What
sort of developments do have coming. When we're looking around you here, the
teams here, they would have developments coming all the time.
AS: Yeah, but it's very important. Our staff is about 140 or 145, something
like that. But it is like a family, it is just one piece. And everybody
looks in the same direction. And also I can control everything. If it's - I
don't know - 500, 600, 700, it’s very difficult to control everything. But
anyway, it is still small but it is a very good team, I think.
Q: And have you got developments coming every race or every few races?
AS: Yeah, in Formula One it is very important in every race to have
developments and to improve. But it depends on the budget, you know. Our
team is still small, we are always looking for sponsors or talking to
sponsors or something else. If we get more money, OK, I try harder. But
anyway, we continue to develop our car.
Q: Frank, you vowed to turn your team around after the performance from last
year, and you have done that, I think. How have you done it? Give us some
indication of what it's taken.
FW: The fact is it has had very little to do with me. It has taken a few
extra people, appropriate people. And we reviewed in the last couple years
what we did and what we did wrong. Plenty to talk about on that one. I just
tried again and so far it's gradually coming back. But I'd remind you of the
distance between us and the three premier teams, at least a second a lap,
which is unacceptable to any team.
Q: What about the two drivers? Because obviously you've got one driver who
hasn't done a lot of racing for the last five, six years but a lot of
experience, and a young chap who is in his second year and is proving to be
very, very competitive.
FW: Well, Nico is young, very intelligent. I'm sure he's got a very strong
future ahead of him. Alex is experienced, and is an outstanding… quite a
remarkable team member. Nothing is a bother for him. He will do anything you
ask of him. I repeat he has a lot of car knowledge and car understanding.
Q: Of the two of them, do they complement one another well, do they work
together well?
FW: They work extremely well together, yeah.
Q: Are you happy with the performances so far?
FW: Well, reliability has always been our biggest enemy over the last couple
years, that’s never put to bed, no one can ever claim that. But the two
drivers get on fine, and we're making modest progress. It’s never enough, of
course.
Q: You’ve had a couple of very frustrating races where I’m sure you feel you
should have collected more points than you have?
FW: Well, it’s easy to think that, but that’s how it happens for everybody
not just any one team. If you make points everybody else has to suffer.
Except this (pointing at Norbert Haug) lot presently.
Q: Norbert, you have got the two fastest drivers, leading the championship
at the moment, potentially taking points off each other. Do you see that as
a problem or a luxury?
NH: We have had bigger problems in the past. I think the team worked so hard
over the winter and I think the engine and chassis are really fully
integrated and I really need to say ‘thanks’ for all the effort they have
put in. We did have some reliability issues, especially on the engine, in
the past couple of years and we probably threw a couple of World
Championships away due to engine problems and that shouldn’t have happened.
But so far it has been excellent and of course you have an ideal situation
if the drivers are pushing each other in a positive way and I think that is
what we are experiencing. I cannot see where they are taking points off each
other, so far it has gone really well after the first third of the season.
But we are not the guys to think ‘now we have done it’, we are the guys to
say: “We have a good starting base right now, but now it begins.” We would
never underestimate Ferrari especially, they have been, in my view, very
strong today and they will be very strong in the future. I think lots of
other teams are pushing. We have a World Championship winning team –
Renault. They are pushing and they are coming back I’m 100% convinced. BMW
are pushing very hard and I have to say my respect of the achievements of
Williams. They have done a couple of good races from good starting
positions. I think we have a very good season. But having said that we have
achieved a good basis so far and of course I would have nothing against it
if the next two thirds work out like the first one. But there will be a lot
of hard work in front of us and I think the team is working extremely well
together, the drivers are working together and that is what it is about. I
think we have all these ingredients.
Q: A lot has been written about the two drivers, especially in this last
week, about Alonso allegedly saying one thing etc. etc. Can you just clarify
the situation between the two of them?
NH: In the past we were very often criticised that we tried to steer the
drivers, to tell them what to tell the outside world and I think now we have
the situation where they both speak their minds. But I have to tell you it
is not a problem at all inside the team, I think it is very, very balanced
and I cannot see any of these frictions. Of course you have positive
competition between the drivers and between the teams on the right and the
left-hand side of the garage. You share the data, after practice is over
obviously, and I think that is a good approach. In a way it is like climbing
a ladder, you go step by step and I think the atmosphere is good. Of course
there is sometimes the feeling that you need to improve and you need to push
but this brings you forward at the end of the day. I think it is a positive
surrounding and I think Ron [Dennis] the team principle is strong enough to
influence the whole situation. And of course Martin [Whitmarsh] and I have a
positive influence on the guys. But it is not like it is described on the
outside. I understand people are looking for controversial stories, that’s
what it is about. But inside the team it’s different and if you look at our
track record in the last couple of races I honestly do not think that with
bad feelings inside the team you could achieve that. So I think we must have
very positive and good feelings and I think that is what we have achieved.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Dan Knutson – National Speed Sport News) Stefano, could you tell us a
little bit about what Michael Schumacher is contributing and doing within
the team right now?
SD: Michael is part of our team. You have seen sometimes that he is at the
races but that is not the main role and the main activity that he has. He's
working with us and mainly with us and with our engineers in order to give
his advice, his contribution to the way that he knows how to work around the
car. This is something connected to F1 but he has also an important role on
the other side of the factory on the road cars. His experience is very
important in tuning up the cars for our customers.
Q: (Dan Knutson – National Speed Sport News) Aguri, one reason you have done
well this year is that you have a car based on a race-winning car from last
year. Are you worried in 2008 that you might have to run a 2007 Honda that's
uncompetitive?
AS: I don't think so. This car is our car, it is not a problem. It is not
decided what brand of engine we will have next year because the regulations
are not decided. So anyway, we try to make next year also our car. OK?
Q: (Simon Lewis – The Press Association) For Sir Frank. You described Lewis
Hamilton as a phenomenon and unlike any driver you had seen before. Could
you elaborate on that and put that in the context of other new comers to the
sport that you've seen throughout your career?
FW: I'm happy to repeat what I said in my private opinion. I've never seen
anyone arrive and be so successful, so quickly. That is to say from his
first race. It is quite remarkable. I am looking hard to find fault with him
and he is very nice, which is quite unusual, too.
Q: (Simon Lewis – The Press Association) But in terms of other drivers that
you've seen, who does he remind you of?
FW: Nobody.
Q: (Dan Knutson – National Speed Sport News) Frank, you have made quite a
few personnel changes at the senior staff engineering level and within the
department, bringing in new people. Do you think now that that is pretty
much all set how you want it?
FW: Do you mean should I offer you a job as well?
Q: (Dan Knutson – National Speed Sport News) No, I'm worthless at that
stuff.
FW: All right. I wouldn't tell you what we're going to do or not going to do
but we have a very good line-up right now, thank you.
Q: (Dan Knutson – National Speed Sport News) Are you worried that post 2008
you might have factory teams with a B team and that might not fit into your
business plan?
FW: Well, I've clearly been uncomfortable about customer teams but
essentially if the money isn't affected, we'll mind our own business and
everybody will mind their own business, so life will go on quite sensibly. |
