31/08/2004
NEWS STORY
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Two weeks ago it was the 2004 Constructors Championship, now, as a result of a strong drive to second place at Spa Francorchamps, Michael Schumacher has secured the Drivers' title, giving Ferrari its eleventh title in six years.
In the afterglow of a historic weekend - it was Ferrari's 700th Grand Prix and Schumacher's seventh title - team boss Jean Todt sat down to answer a few questions before joining the post-race celebrations.
Asked why Michael didn't win the race, the Frenchman is quick to respond. "Quite simply, the answer is because there was a driver in front of him who was better," he replies, with a wry smile, "with a package that was better than ours. As a result we finished second and third."
The German started on the front row, but was soon running sixth; that seemed quite unusual. "There wasn't anything really unusual," he replies, "if it wasn't that Ferrari had an agreement with Bridgestone to bring a fairly conservative tyre which favoured reliability compared to performance. Performance brought a certain risk which we didn't want to take on a circuit like Spa."
He's reminded that Schumacher now has seven World Championship titles: that's Fangio plus Clark or Senna. "It's in different eras," admits the Frenchman, "but it an extraordinary record."
So, how will that affect him, now that he races only for pleasure? Will he be stronger? "He has nothing to prove," he replies, "he drives for pleasure, he does the job which is his passion, to drive for a team that he loves and he is loved by the team, so I think it's a enjoyable experience which he has no wish to end."
He's been in the sport 14 years, a sport that is so demanding, yet he accumulates wins and shows no sign that he will finish. "It might seem extraordinary," says the Frenchman, "but he's still young, he's very motivated, he's very fit and I repeat, he feels good, so he's in environment which bring his joy, serenity, the feelings that he enjoys, so there's no reason for him to finish.
What's the difference between a Constructors' title which you achieved two weeks ago in Budapest and a Drivers' title, is it something more personal for the driver, or are they allied? "They are complimentary," he replies without hesitation. "We know right at the start of the season that there are two championships: one for drivers, one for Constructors, where the points are scored by both drivers in the team , so it's very gratifying for the team to have the Constructors' title. It means that the two drivers, as a team, allows the team to win the title, which is very difficult to achieve anyway, and when it comes to the Drivers', it's the drivers with his car, his team, but it remains a package because one knows very well that motor racing consists of a driver, a machine, a team, tyres so the package has to reach the ultimate performance.
Do you feel that Bridgestone are the key to this success? "They are a very important part of our success in the last few years," he replies, "absolutely".
We didn't see a lot of emotion after this win; are you simply satisfied by work well done? "I think that what we feel, we prefer to feel amongst ourselves," he admits, "so our principle is not to show too much emotion in public, but to profit from the most extraordinary moments. So what is more important is what happens within the team rather than outside it.
Does this title feel to the other ones you've won with Michael? "It's different when you achieve something," he replies, "something that you're aiming for for so much time, so much work, so much input, so much effort, so much determination. So simply what is good this year, it's a bit like in 2002 but it comes quicker."
Michael said after the race that the fact that everyone had written Ferrari off after the winter testing times, when he went to Imola for that final race and realised how good a car he had, how good tyres he had, it acted as a spur to people, to prove to people as to how good a job he could do this season. Has that been a motivation during the year? "You have a lot of question marks that you have to cover over the season, when you think about the reliability," says the Frenchman. "Even if I'm superstitious so I don't want to claim reliability because we never know what can happen next race but it should make us reflect when we have scored 216 points out of a possible 252. That does make you think what it does mean, as an effort from the team, from our partners to achieve that, so it's the best reward we could dream of."
Will the approach be different over the next four races, or will it be exactly the same? "The same," he replies, without hesitation. "We must win, we do what we want.
"Today we are a bit disappointed," he continues, "because we like success, but I know it's a bit stupid, but it's good sometimes to see that you have a car which is in front of you and which is stronger than you, so it gives you more motivation, more strength because you easily forget what you have achieved and you are more concentrated on what you have to achieve."
Bridgestone were saying that everything that could go wrong did go wrong this weekend. The option was blistering, the starts weren't very good, they didn't have a very good weekend with the tyre, do you think that's a one-off for Bridgestone and that Ferrari will come back at Monza, or do you think we have seriously seen Michelin and McLaren step up their performance? "It was a choice," he responds, "it was a choice to go with what we were sure was reliable. We could have chosen to take more risk and to be quicker but we decided we wanted... it's a very quick circuit and we would never compromise for safety just to be quicker, so it was our own decision that we would race with tyres we knew that had proved to be reliable enough in these kind of circumstances."
Do you think the Michelin punctures were because the tyres were marginal? "You know very well that I'm not going to comment on that," he says, with the merest hint of a smile.
What were your first words to Michael after the race? "We don't have to talk, we just have to see each other," he replies. "It's better than words. We have such a unique relationship. There's nothing special, it's just that we aim for the same final result and we just feel so much happiness and reward amongst us if we can achieve it."
He was very thoughtful today; what do you think this day means to him? "A fantastic day," he says. "Sometimes it's hard to believe, what has happened over the last few years, because what Ferrari is doing, what Michael is doing for Ferrari - if you love motor racing as we do love motor racing - it has never happened in the whole history of motor sport so it's just fantastic."
Do you think he approached today slightly differently? "Not really, he just tried to do the best with what he had and we don't know what would have happened without the safety car and all that. But we really did the best with what we could today. If the situation would have been on the other side maybe it would have been different, but I don't know if it would have changed anything."
Ross said earlier today that with the pressure off, the teams are looking perhaps bringing in some new people, trying out some new staff, some strategies? Are you keen to see that happen? "I don't what the others will do," he admits. "The other teams. I don't think there are so many things you can do for the four last races. For us, we may do some tests with people, but not something really specific. We want Rubens to finish in second position in the Drivers' championship and we feel he's in a comfortable situation but still he has to deliver the job and the others are fighting for the Drivers' and Constructors' championship, so still it's very important for all of our competitors."
Do you think that winning the title so early means that your hand is strengthened for next year because you've got so much more time to prepare for next year? "Maybe if we were really fighting for the championship we would have to work much more on the development of this year's car, which is not the case," he replies, "but still we have a group which is working on the track, a group working on testing, we have a group working on next year's car, next year's engine so I mean.. yes, it helps us to put even more emphasis on next year's programmes. But it's not a major change."
We've seen a lot of crashes this weekend and people came to Spa saying that it could be quite dangerous, quite fast, and going to Monza in two weeks time people are saying top speeds could be 230 mph. Do you think we are at the limit now in terms of circuit safety or has this weekend been acceptable for Formula One? "It's a difficult question," he admits. "We weren't so much quicker than two years ago if you see the lap time. That said, you have to be more at the limit considering the high competition, so it maybe causes some choice which are preventing more uncertainty. But it's a choice, what you want to... we have been favouring reliability and the whole package."