Bahrain GP: Friday Press Conference

13/04/2007

Can I ask the team principals to summarise today because it looked quite dramatic - certainly for one of you?
John Howett: I think a normal Friday. We had a programme to go through. This morning on a green track the car was working fairly well and I think we went through the programme this afternoon and were fairly happy.

Nick, it all looked a bit busy?
Nick Fry: It was a little bit busy! Obviously, we had pretty much the same car as we had last weekend, so we weren't expecting too much. The day turned out pretty much as we expected with the exception obviously that Jenson lost his engine this afternoon and only got some very early runs. We could probably have done without that because we come here not in the best position at the moment.

We saw the guys working, was it the T-car with the engine off?
NF: I don't think that was anything to do with Jenson's problem, just normal work.

Jenson, explain the problems with the car at the moment, because obviously there are some fairly major issues. What can you say?
Jenson Button: It's pretty simple really; we're not quick enough. We're not producing enough grip I suppose, for the drag. We can be reasonably quick in a straight line but the car is pretty difficult to drive and we can't do a corner the same twice, pretty much, in a race. It is very difficult to be consistent. Or you can put a bit more downforce on and then we're nowhere because we don't have the straight line speed. So we're a little bit stuck really. It is frustrating for everyone in the team, not just myself, but this is what we have at the moment. We just have to do the best job we can until we get something better.

Is it better or worse on certain tracks? Better or worse in race conditions than in qualifying?
JB: It's easier in qualifying because you just have to do it once but in the race it's a much more difficult car to drive. We had a reasonable race in Malaysia from where we started on the grid, and Rubens did also, but I don't think that really reflects our performance. I think that maybe other people didn't have such a good race and we got the best out of what we had.

Rubens has been complaining about stability under braking, as he was this time last year, but I understand it's a different problem?
JB: It's a slightly different problem! No, we are struggling with braking stability but that's not the only thing. It's very difficult to pinpoint one problem with the car. Under braking you have a stability problem at the rear, at the apex you have another problem and traction is not fantastic. But that's what happens. Everything seems like it's not working. It seems like the traction control is not the best TC that we've had and other parts of the car are the same. The package at the moment is not that great and as soon as we find more grip and downforce for the same sort of efficiency, I think all the other problems will fade away.

Nick, what are the plans for curing the problems?
NF: It's not really one thing unfortunately, as Jenson said. The car is just short of grip. It's principally an aerodynamic issue although there are some mechanical changes we also want to make to the car. We will make some changes at Barcelona, principally a large number of aerodynamic parts. There will be more for Canada and we are in the process of testing those in the wind tunnel and elsewhere. There will be more after that, probably in Magny-Cours. I think it's just going to be a series of rolling changes, if you like, rather than one change which is going to fix the problem.

So rumours of a new car are greatly exaggerated?
NF: I think it depends on what you mean by a new car. There are large parts of the car where we don't have any specially identified problem. The gearbox seems to work, the engine – with the exception of this afternoon – has been pretty reliable, the main part of the monocoque, albeit that we may have to alter things to make some changes to the aerodynamic shape. As far as we can tell, the rear suspension seems perfectly okay. We are going to have to change a reasonable amount. I wouldn't call it a new car but it's not going to be insubstantial either.

Is it true you have made an offer to Ross Brawn?
NF: No, it's not true. I made one comment in Malaysia along the lines that I'm sure there are a number of people who might be interested in Ross. In my view he's an incredibly talented person and he would be an asset to most Formula One teams. I also added that I thought Ferrari would have some kind of arrangement with Ross. You don't let a person of that talent go without having something, whether it be written or verbal, and I was told that Jean (Todt) or Ferrari had confirmed that was the case. My personal view is that Ross is taking a well earned year's sabbatical. I'm sure there are a number of people interested in him but we will see what happens later in the year. Maybe he will go back to Ferrari and maybe he will go fly-fishing, I don't know. The team principals talk to a lot of people all the time and we are no exception, but obviously in our situation we have spoken to a number of technically adept people.

Ralf, your feelings about the Toyota car performance in the two races that we have had?
Ralf Schumacher: I think we have had a pretty decent start. In both races we have finished in the points. For me Malaysia was a bit difficult but apart from that we have not felt unhappy with what we have achieved so far. There's still a lot to do, that's clear, but in general I think it works quite well.

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