Friday, July 24, 1998

"Friday Five" press conference

With Gustav Brunner (Minardi), Peter Sauber (Sauber), Mika Hakkinen
(McLaren), Mika Salo (Arrows) and Jacques Villeneuve (Williams).

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Q: Gustav, are Minardi looking for a new engine?
GB: We are trying to get something, but it is difficult. We would like some
more performance from the engine, we have a little handicap, but the market
is very small and there are not many available.

Q: Is there a chance of getting the Ferrari?
GB: There is no chance of Ferrari, now that Sauber has signed the contract.
I am surprised that he took so long.

Q: What do you think of your current drivers?
GB: Tuero is a youngster, he is a young kid. He is doing quite well so far,
but we will have to see how he is going to develop. Nakano is very honest,
better than we think he but is, we just have to give him the right
equipment.

Q: As a former Ferrari man, what do you think of their fortunes this year?
GB: It is a great effort and I keep my fingers crossed for them. I hope
they win it this year because they do deserve it. They are heading in the
right direction and we have to wait and see.

Q: Peter Sauber, is your new Ferrari contract for just one year?
PS: It is not a one year contract. But the fact is we have renewed a three
year contract, so it three years.

Q: What about engine development?
PS: We have agreed with Ferrari that the current arrangement finished at
the end of this year. Next year we will use this year's Ferrari engine, but
use it as it is.

Q: Where does that leave Mr Goto?
PS: We have other engine projects that are not linked to motorsport. Mr
Goto is looking after these projects as well.

Q: Will it become Ferrari engine?
PS: Our team is Sauber-Petronas.

Q: What do you feel on two drivers?
PS: Jean for sure needed some time to get acquainted to the team and car
and I don't think that Johnny started well then went bad. But if you look
at his qualifying in Silverstone and in the race until his retirement he is
driving very strong.

Q: You went for most experience with your drivers, do you believe that
decision was right?
PS: I think we took the right decision to do these two drivers. Except for
some marginal points in both teams, I think it was the right decision.

Q: Is there a chance of Frentzen coming back?
PS: There are one or other offers from outside, we will look into it for
sure. Things are going a little too fast. I would prefer to wait a little
bit before making a decision.

Q: Mika, what are your feelings about the appeal?
MH: I don't think there is much to comment about that. We just have to wait
for the result, there is no point to comment.

Q: Are you worried about competition from David?
MH: Yes. Naturally, yes. I think your team-mate is a threat because he has
equal what you have. You just have to make sure you keep him behind. It
doesn't mean you have to make him your enemry, you have to try to make him
your ally at the tests and the races. That is how to improve your
performance. I don't see him as a threat. It makes the team stronger if we
work together.

Q: Do you think you might have to ask for team orders?
MH: No, I am not worried about those things. Racing is a fair game, we go
flat out and we get the end result like that.

Q: Are you happy about developments within the team?
MH: We have tested a lot since the last race, we went to Monza for four
days, but we weren't testing much for this Grand prix. We did some things
and I am extrememly happy with the developments. Mercedes are working hard,
I am happy about it and I am sure we will see later on that the progress
will go further and further.

Q: Where are you losing out to Ferrari?
MH: Well, it was the time in the season when Goodyear made a big step and
closed up the gap from Bridgestone and for us. That was the biggest gain.
Luckily Bridgestone was able to perform and make some better tyres, and we
were able to get a better car and engine. We have kept the advantage, in
the last Grand Prix I had a big advantage which was big before the safety
car came out. Monza testing showed how strong we are. The result today
showed we are competitive compared with the Ferrari. I think the gap is
still quite big, what happened was there were a couple of races, I don't
want to call it bad luck, but there were some situations which were weird,
and strange. I haven't been able to get the maximum points. At Silverstone
there were some mistakes, I lost time and damaged the car, so at the
restart I could not get full pace. It is a normal motor racing season and
it sounds strange to say, but we will try to win all the time. I am looking
forward to this race and the next race.

Q: Which circuits coming up will favour you and which Ferrari?
MH: You can always look at it and you can look for differences which are
smaller. Which is better for Bridgestone, which better for Goodyear, or the
engines or the aerodynamics. There are plenty of tracks but you shouldn't
rely on those things. You still have to go there and maximise it. You don't
know at the end of the day.

Q: Mika Salo, was today a little disappointing?
MS: Fridays, for last couple of races, is always the same. We have very few
of those new spec engines. We have first one on Friday and better ones for
tomorrow.

Q: Is the new engine much better?
MS: We will see tomorrow. Silverstone we didn't see it, because it is
high-speed circuit, and most of the engine's gain is driveability and power
out of the corner.

Q: So it should be good here?
MS: I have a good feeling here. It felt good when we tested it, so it
should be good here.

Q: So what about today?
MS: We had a few problems, but everyone else had a few little problems. We
tried different fuel loads, different things, but it is difficult on
Friday. The other engine has so much power and driveability.

Q: What about this circuit. Do you prefer the old one?
MS: The old one was a mega circuit. This is a bit of a drag strip with a
corner and then another drag strip and a corner. It is not like it used to
be.

Q: How is Pedro Diniz doing?
MS: In Formula One there is very little difference between the drivers. It
is just how you set up the cars and who gets the most out.

Q: Jacques, it was a big announcement yesterday. Can you tell us a little about it?
JV: If anything new can be a gamble, you just have to quantify the good
sides. There were a lot of positives, the people in the team are people
I've worked with in the past. I know they can do a good job, and they have
showed me a lot of things that they can achieve in the future.

Q: Was it a case of wanting to leave Williams or joining BAR?
JV: I was happy at Williams. This is my third season, I am pretty well in
the same, the results didn't come as we wanted, they are still working hard
to go forward and to get the good results. Even now we are better off now
than at start of the season. I am very happy with progress made, but I
expect next year to be an interim season. I didn't want an interim season
like this one.

Q: Do you think bar can win first race?
JV: Why not? You have to believe in anything, you have to dream a little
bit. I am going there because I believe we can do the job.

Q: When will be BAR winning and getting on the podium?
JV: We are in the middle of the summer. There is still nine months before
the start of next season, so you can't say anything. Everyone is working
hard to get next year ready, and at the moment I am thinking about that. I
am thinking about getting competitive this year and trying to get some
results. I am happy that the deal is done, we can put that behind and not
even think about it until the end of this season.

Q: Is it a personal challenge?
JV: Yes, you can say so. It is something new, no one knows what to expect.
There is a lot of work to be done and a lot of things to build-up. That is
what is interesting. You don't take that kind of challenge if you don't
believe you will not be competitive.

Q: Do you want to be outright number one?
JV: No, I'm not fighting to be in the same situation as Michael and Eddie
at Ferrari. I don't thnk it is right for a team; you do that if you afraid
someone is going to beat you. I am not afraid of that. I can compete, if
someone goes quicker then you just raise your game. It just makes it more
interesting.

Q: Do you want Jock Clear to go with you?
JV: Sure, why not? We work well together and I would love to work with him.
Jock is happy where he is now, so he is the one you should ask the question
to.

Q: What do you think about IndyCar drivers coming to Formula One?
JV: It's never easy because it is something different, even though IndyCars
are fast cars, Formula One is different. With the grooved tyres now it is
easy to jump from one to other. I made the jump and it worked well. Anyone
competitive over there should be able to make the jump. It would be good to
get some fresh blood in Formula One.

Q: What are your hopes for the rest of this year?
JV: We want to get on the podium and maybe win a race. We made some
progress, at Silverstone in the dry we were competitive, but as soon as it
rained it went back to the same problems we have had all the time. This
track is all about traction, so it shouldn't suit us, but we should be as
competitive as we were before Silverstone.

Q: Can you manage with Williams until end of year?
JV: I have nothing to know about next year's evolutions, but race to race I
am driving the car. I have to know what is on the car, there is no bad
atmosphere in the team. There is still a lot of races to go, we can
concentrate on the job. Everyone knows where we stand now so we can just
got on with the job now.

Q: Was offer from Frank good?
JV: Yes, definitely. Of course my position is not as strong as last year
with the results, but that is logical. The negotiations were good. There
were other negotiations in the paddock. We wanted to make it pretty early
so we could forget it.

Q: How long is contract with BAR?
JV: More than one year. If you go to a new team you would be stupid to
leave after one year. There are lots of new things to work on, so it takes
more than one year.

Q: Did you give thought to staying at Williams another year?
JV: I don't think there was any point at staying with Williams for one
year. It has to be more, maybe three years.

Q: What sort of team mate do you want?
JV: Competitive, aggressive and can fight. Because it pushes you and the
whole team progresses. Someone I can get on, the atmosphere within a team
is very important.

Q: Jacques, what do you think about Alex Zanardi doing donuts in IndyCars?
JV: When I see Alex doing donuts it gets me annoyed because it seems like
one guy is above the rest. I find it difficult to accept.

Q: Peter Sauber, what do you think?
PS: Spontaneously I wouldn't find it very amusing, but for an American
series it is quite adequate.

Q: Jacques, what do you think of Zanardi?
JV: He is very, very quick, very competitive. He has shown what he was
capable of when he got to the States. He got the right team to work in and
he is a fighter. In Formula One he would have to calm down, because the
suspension is not as strong and can't bang people like he did last year.
But in the States it worked so far and he has been very impressive.

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