By Simon Strang Friday, June 20th 2008, 18:00 GMT
Autosport.com caught up with McLaren F1 CEO Martin Whitmarsh at Magny-Cours, to hear his views about the proposed safety car changes, the increase in superlicence costs, the threat of a drivers' strike, and more...
Q: What were your drivers' impressions of the safety car test?
Martin Whitmarsh: "They didn't have any problems, as far as I know. I think Lewis [Hamilton] found it very distracting to be very closely monitoring the time deltas on the screen, and one of the perils of that is that it's okay doing it on a clear track, but if you do it in a [real situation] then (it is different). So that's a clear and obvious drawback, but that's just a comment he made on the radio. I haven't spoken to him in any more detail than that.
"It works alright, but I think you've got to be aware that if we're in a chaotic situation - if it's a monsoon and there are cars all over the track - there is a danger that drivers will be intent upon looking at deltas and not looking at debris or everything else that may be on the circuit."
Q: So you think it needs more work before it is implemented?
Whitmarsh: "Maybe, and maybe it needs a simpler light system higher up rather than having to read it off the dash. I don't know. But in fairness, that was a comment that Lewis made on the radio as he came in, and he was probably more focused on other things."
Q: Are you closer to Ferrari here, is your pace what you expected?
Whitmarsh: "We expect to be in front of them all the time! Seriously, we had a good test in Barcelona, the engineering team and Pedro did a good job there and I think we made some good progress. We know we've gone forward and we expect our competitors to also have gone forward as well. But I think we are reasonably competitive here."
Q: Is the strategy to light-fuel Lewis given he will start ten places back on the grid?
Whitmarsh: "Yes we have a strategy. There are a number of things you can do but the important thing is to try to get Lewis into a situation where he has a clear track and can show his performance. But it's very difficult to overtake here, and it's very difficult to find that bit of clear track during the race.
"Tomorrow we will run focused on qualifying. You've got to have some regard to the strategy in the race, but overall the current regulations mean that such a penalty, especially on a track like this, is quite tough, and we've got to make sure that we do the best job we can do."
Q: But this also presents a good opportunity for Heikki Kovalainen
Whitmarsh: "Heikki has been strong all year. In quite a few of the races he has, fuel-corrected, out-qualified Lewis. He's had a bit of bad luck, Canada was not his strongest showing for us and I'm sure he's going to be determined to get the job done here this weekend.
"But it's going to be tough - the Ferraris look strong, and we know that the BMWs are consistent and I'm sure they are buoyed by what happened a fortnight ago and they'll be trying pretty hard as well. Renault, who knows what they did today but one could strongly speculate that they were a little bit light on fuel this afternoon."
Q: What is McLaren's view of the superlicence issue that has been brought up again this weekend?
Whitmarsh: "Well I don't think it's for us to comment on it. The superlicence is something between the drivers and the FIA, and the way it is structured I think is generally proportional to the driver's ability to pay.
"But if I was a racing driver I probably wouldn't like to pay as much, and that's true in all walks of life. But I don't think we as a team have got any comment on it. Perhaps it was blown out a little bit, some of Lewis's comments.
"I don't think any of our drivers, or any drivers in the paddock are seriously thinking about strike action. I think it was a bit of a storm in a teacup. The reality is that it is what it is, and I don't think it's for McLaren to make any comment on it. We'll concentrate on trying to win races."
