Grand Prix of Luxembourg
Nurburgring

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Friday 25 September 1998

"Friday Five" press conference -- Drivers: Heinz-Harald Frentzen
(Williams) and Ralf Schumacher (Jordan); Industry: Norbert Haug (Mercedes),
Corrado Provera (Peugeot) and Martin Whitaker (Ford)

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Q. Martin, now that the purchase from Audi-VW has gone through, what plans
do you have for Cosworth Racing?

MW: Most importantly, the company will continue to be based in Northampton,
where it employs 500 people. There are a further 50 employees working in
California. Like Jaguar and Aston Martin -- two other specialised
operations which are owned by Ford -- it will continue to be managed
independently, with the objective of maintaining its own personality. I
would like to see Cosworth Racing blossom, just as those other two
companies have done. Another change we plan to introduce is the arrival of
a new Managing Director, although we have not yet fixed who it ill be or
the date when his employment will begin. In the meanwhile, the position of
interim Managing Director will be filled by Dick Scammell, who as many of
you know was already in charge of the company until last year

Q. Norbert, last year at this race the Mercedes engine had a lot of
potential, even though it was not always realised. What are the changes
that have been made since then to turn the new McLaren-Mercedes into a
winner?

NH: Changes have taken place in all areas and obviously the new engine we
are using this year is much better now. Looking back, it is possible to see
now that the reason for our car being so good at the beginning of the year
was the opposition, which was not as well prepared as we were. The tyres
played a role in that, too, but now things have come into balance. That is
what we predicted from the beginning, and with the 80-80 scenario you see
here, this is turning into a fantastic championship for the media and the
fans. For our sake, we would certainly like it to be a little bit
different, and I have to admit that we made some mistakes. But still we are
on a good way. We did good tests last week at Magny-Cours and I am hoping
for reliability.

Q. What can you tell us about the engine failures you have had, for example
with Coulthard at Monza?

NH: I don't want to go into detail, but it is something rather strange a
problem which only seems to occur here and there, on certain types of
circuit. We experienced something similar last year here, with both cars,
when they went out on the same lap while holding the lead. It isn't
something that I wish to be reminded of, but you have to expect these
failures. It is hurtful, but without the pain you cannot move forward. I am
confident we have got it under control.

Q. Corrado, after this difficult season with Prost, what are the feelings
and reactions of Peugeot?

CP: We were aware that the relationship between Prost and Peugeot would be
difficult at the beginning. One reason for this is that although the
agreement with Prost was reached in February 1997, it did not take effect
until the end of the year due to our separate commitments. This made it
impossible for us to start working together until the end of the year. And
although we speak the same language, perhaps we were not talking to each
other in the same friendly and open-minded way that we now employ. This
first year has taught us a lot of lessons, and we know that we are
progressively finding the right way. We are already in the process of
reaching our common goal. The new car for 1999 will be ready on schedule,
the new evolution of the engine will also be ready on time, and relations
between Prost and Peugeot will be on a different level. We are really
confident.

Q. There has been speculation that your forthcoming participation in the
World Rally Championship may dilute the effort that goes into F1. Is that
something you can avoid?

CP: When a company likes ours sets itself the objective of being
represented in every segment of the new car market, this must also allow
you to be present in all categories of motorsport. As far as rallying is
concerned, this belongs to the history of Peugeot. But the two programmes
will be pursued separately, with separate budgets and teams of engineers.
Peugeot is committed to trying to win in both disciplines, and I can make
the categoric statement that it was never our objective to return to
rallying in order to escape from F1. Never! Believe me, this is our
position and we will try to stick to it.

Q. Heinz and Ralf, now that we know you will be exchanging places at Jordan
and Williams for next year, what will you each be looking for with your new
teams?

HHF: I hope Ralf's seat isn't too big for me! I am looking forward to a new
challenge. I already know Eddie Jordan from our times in F3000: he is a
funny guy with a lot of energy who pushes everyone quite hard.

RS: I will be having a new seat made, which means I won't have the same
problem as Heinz-Harald. As far as my year is concerned, there was a
certain stage at the beginning of the year when we lost a lot of
opportunities and things didn't look good. Then at one stage I suddenly got
a lot of offers, one of which came from Williams. It is a great honour for
a young driver like me to get an offer from a team like that. If you look
at the history of Williams, it is a team which has always had the ability
to come back. My target there will be to win races, or even perhaps
something more -- although that would be a long way down the road.

Q. To what extent can you help your brother in these last two GPs?

RS: He won the world championship twice without having me in F1, and he
will manage it a third time. As I have said many times, I drive for Jordan
and I will try to get the best results for my team. One thing is for sure,
and that is that I would never try to stop him getting a good result. Last
year Jacques Villeneuve said something very unfair about Michael having
three drivers on his team, which suggested that I was on his side as well
as Eddie Irvine. That was not true, and it still is not true. I will try my
best to keep him behind me, but he is still my brother and there is a bit
of a difference there.

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