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Ross
Brawn Interviewed after the Grand Prix
6.3.01
Autosport
magazine's Adam Cooper spoke to Ross Brawn to get the full story of
the teams weekend including Michael Schumachers mysterious
hand signals
Q: How do you
think you and McLaren compared in the race?
It
was a little bit difficult to judge, and on the one hand its a
shame that Mika went out so early, as it would have been interesting
to see how it developed, but I wasnt complaining too much. I think
we were running more downforce then they were, running more wing than
they were. They were quicker in T2 generally, and we were quicker in
T3. That was obviously the settings that they opted for.
Q: Did you expect
that the two of you (Ferrari and McLaren) would still be ahead, or did
you think that Michelin would push Williams up there?
Michelin
will be a consideration throughout the year. I think the thing is, I
know what weve been able to do over the winter, and Im sure
that McLaren have done a similar job. And its hard for me to understand
how someone else is going to make a big jump. Because our guys have
worked incredibly hard, and worked incredibly well, with a very good
car, and although all the other teams are very good, its hard
to see how theyre going to make twice as much progress as we were
able to.
Q: Where do
you think the two teams stand against each other, compared to this time
last year?
I
think we were quicker this weekend. I know Ron Dennis gets very frustrated
that his strategies are criticised, probably unfairly in a lot of cases,
but I get frustrated when people say that the McLaren is the best car,
because I think there were occasions last year when we had a better
car. And I think weve started this year with a better car. I think
Rory [Byrne] and the people involved in design of the car and Paulo
[Martinelli] on the engine have done a fantastic job, so weve
started the season again with a great car. I think the two teams tend
to drive each other. After Melbourne last year we decided to make an
even bigger effort to try to improve the performance of the car. Weve
got to keep that up. If we can continue to progress, it will be very
encouraging. I think they had a better car at the beginning of last
year, and later in the season we turned it round and we had the better
car. Michael is the best driver in F1, theres no doubt, and equally
I think we had the best car on some occasions. So it was that close.
Q: Michaels
now won five in a row. Can he beat the record? [Alberto Ascari won
nine consecutive Grands Prix over the 1952-53 seasons]
Ive
said this before, its like rolling a double six. Youve got
the same chance of doing it at the next race. If you say youre
going to win the next 10 races, thats something different. If
you say can I win the next one, its the same chance. Thats
how I approach it. We had a fantastic year last year, and eclipsed all
the records that Ferrari has achieved, so why not?
Q: How much
did Michael back off towards the end of the race?
Completely.
There was no need to do anything else.
Q: And that
was being carefully managed between the two of you?
Yep,
except we had this radio problem which was getting in the way a bit.
I wasnt sure if he could hear me. I said if you can hear me, touch
your helmet, which he did. Then at least I knew he could hear me, so
I could start to give him the information that he needed. The radio
came back later in the race, so it wasnt a problem.
Q: So it didnt
actually cause any dramas?
No.
I was worried because it was getting towards the pit stop, and we would
have run into a drama there.
Q: Was there
any danger of him losing concentration when backing off, as we saw in
America last year?
I
dont think this time, no!
Q: And Rubens
backed off as well?
There
was nothing he could achieve really. He couldnt get David at that
stage, and he was under no pressure from behind. So I just told him
he had to be quiet and drive to save the car rather than doing anything
else.
Q: What do you
think of Rubens performance this weekend?
Pretty
good. Considering he lost some running time he did a great job in qualifying.
Its just unfortunate that he got tied up with Alonso and lost
his place to David. He got a lot of dirt on his tyres, and before we
knew it David was a couple of seconds ahead. Then we lost a little time
in the pit stops.
Q: How worried
were you about getting to the finish?
Well,
we just hadnt done the normal race distances that we should have
done by this stage of the year. Normally weve done four or five
race distances. For various reasons, we just werent able to do
that. So it was Michaels first race distance with this car.
Q: Were you
actually pleasantly surprised when they both ran the distance?
Im
always surprised at the first race! Theres always a certain irony
in this business, when youre very well prepared, something you
dont expect lets you down. When youre not very well prepared
you get through.
Q: Are you out
of the woods yet?
No,
no. Theres more to do before I feel comfortable. You never feel
entirely comfortable.
Q: Michael stopped
on the track on Saturday morning. What was that about?
He
got some stuff between the brake calliper and the wheel, and he came
to a halt. He felt that the wheel was graunching or grinding, so he
stopped because he didnt want to damage anything. There was some
stuff stuck between the calliper and the wheel, and thats why
he didnt want the car pushed, so they had to lift the car up.
Q: And he had
a problem in the warm-up?
We
had a brake problem, because a piece of debris a stone or a bolt
or something got into a brake duct and damaged a rear brake.
Thats why we stopped running, and I wasnt sure what the
problem was, and obviously when you have a brake problem you need to
understand it before you start running again. But clearly a piece of
debris had gone in, come round, and broken some of the brake disc mountings.
Q: Are you now
focussing on reliability or performance?
Both
really. Were going back to Italy to test at the end of the week.
Weve got some new pieces we want to try in Malaysia. Theres
not much we can do on reliability between now and the European season,
because theres not much testing. But well strip the cars
down, see what they look like, and fix any problems we have.
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