Toyota's Mike Gascoyne about his life in motorsport

42-year-old Englishman Mike Gascoyne has been Technical Director Chassis for the Panasonic Toyota Racing Team since December 2003. Alongside his engine counterpart Luca Marmorini, he has played an intrinsic role in promoting Toyota to the top half of the F1 hierarchy in only its 4th season in Formula One. He speaks about his life in F1. About Panasonic Toyota Racing he said: "To the last person, all of us want to produce the best F1 car out there."

Interview with Mike Gascoyne

Mike, what does your role as Technical Director Chassis entail on a day-to-day basis?
"My job as Technical Director Chassis means that I am responsible for all areas of the chassis design, which incorporates aerodynamics and all the Research and Development, including vehicle dynamics and simulation. Additionally, I am in charge of Race and Test Engineering and activities within the F1 workshop. At the race track, it is also my function to oversee all operational activities and to lead race strategy discussions."

You first became involved in Formula 1 back in 1989 with the McLaren team. What had you been doing up to that point?
"I joined McLaren in 1989, prior to which I had been at university in Cambridge in England studying for my degree and PhD. I attended Cambridge from 1982 and my focus of study was engineering, but specialising in aerodynamic and fluid dynamics. My PhD was in fluid dynamics looking at flow around ground-mounted obstacles. Upon leaving university, I contacted McLaren through a job advertisement and got an aerodynamicist post. I was employed by Bob Bell, who was subsequently my Deputy Technical Director at Renault and since my move to Panasonic Toyota Racing is the Renault F1 Team Technical Director."
The past and present of F1, and fond memories

When you first entered the world of Formula 1 racing, what was the biggest thing you discovered to be different to how you imagined it?
"In all honesty, I did not have any preconceived ideas of Formula 1 at that time. I had never been massively interested in F1 or in motorsport, so it all came as a bit of rush when I was given the job. It was basically my first full-time job after university and I was very lucky to be able to find something that combined all of my interests – aerodynamics, engineering, sport, competition and windtunnel work. One of the benefits of my job as Technical Director Chassis is that I can still spend three hours per day in the windtunnel working at the heart of our aerodynamic development."

F1 Racing of the late 1980s and early 1990s was the era of Prost and Senna. How has the driver-car, driver-engineer relationship evolved over the years?
"I do not think that the relationship between the driver and engineer has changed a great deal over the years. At McLaren we had Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna, two of the most exceptional drivers in motorsport history, but even though the cars have evolved tremendously, the role of driving and setting up the car is still similar. The art of developing and executing the race strategy with the driver has also not changed. But the job of the driver has changed with the increased function of electronics and the amount of date logging required. Engineers have also had to adapt to become more analytical in their approach to a grand prix weekend. The teams at track are larger and everything is processed in much more detailed, but the essence of the driver-engineer relationship remains fundamentally the same. The engineer’s job has expanded, but the driver still has an accelerator, a brake, a steering wheel and four tyres sticking him to the ground, just as he had all those years ago."

You were also at Tyrrell, where Ukyo Katayama of Japan raced. Do you have any particular memories of that time?
"Tyrell was a great place to work and as Deputy Technical Director under Harvey Postlethwaite it was a good arena for an engineer to learn his trade. They were very professional and innovative even for a comparatively small team. Ukyo Katayama drove for us for many years and was a good driver. I still see him nowadays and get along with him well. At university I did a lot of mountaineering and Ukyo does a lot of climbing, so we have a mutual interest and passion for that. Ukyo was a very quick driver. His best season came in 1994 when he drove some outstanding races and scored some excellent qualifying positions, putting the team higher up in the championship than it really deserved to be from its resources. I always remember his “bansai attack” qualifying laps. One of my fondest memories was Tyrrell’s first race in Brazil where I had only just joined the team and it was in a quite a lot of trouble. Harvey and I had only just joined and the design of the car was rather late with things only just about coming together for that race. But Ukyo drove a great race in difficult circumstances to finish 5th and won the first points for the team. That was a highlight and announced his ability to the world."

If the Car’s not Fast, it doesn’t Mean Anything

Later you achieved success at Jordan and Renault before joining Panasonic Toyota Racing in 2003. What is the secret to your ongoing success?
"The foundation of my work and the real secrets to success were learned during my time at Tyrrell, where with limited resources we had to be careful to prioritise what we spent our money on. Harvey Postlethwaite used to have a saying that “any idiot can design a racing car, the trick is to design a quick one”. That phrase has remained a guiding principle for me to this day. Harvey was good at prioritising what made the car quick. The lessons I learned at Tyrrell have been applicable wherever I have gone since, including Toyota. It is based on the philosophy of investing resources, however big or small, in the right areas, and the trick in being a Technical Director is the ability to do this. The key to chassis performance lies in aerodynamics and that is what I have worked hard on at Toyota; implementing a proven methodology in the windtunnel and prioritising what is important."

It appears to be complex to balance chassis, engine and aerodynamics in one F1 car. What would you consider to be the key to producing a top class F1 car?
"I think it is possible to balance the different elements. When you look at the cars winning races and leading the championships, these teams know how to get the balance right – that is why they are where they are. Engine performance is critical and the integration of the engine within the chassis is important. That is one of the benefits that Toyota has with its under-one-roof philosophy by having the engine and chassis departments in close working proximity to each other."

Everything we do is for our Ultimate Goal

Who were you mentors coming up through Formula 1?
"Engineering-wise, there were two guys who acted as inspiration for me. Firstly Harvey Postlethwaite. His untimely death of a heart attack in Barcelona was a great loss to F1 and engineering. Also, Bob Bell who first employed me at McLaren. I am pleased to see him having the success he deserves at Renault, but hopefully all of us at Toyota will try to put a stop to that soon!"

What drives you to success and how do you assess the meaning in “winning” and “success”?
"Simply, what drives me is to be involved in a competitive sport. We all want our cars to be the best and to beat the best. When the cars are at the front end of the field it is a fantastic feeling, but above all it is a team sport and it is more special to be part of that team. Now we have reached a point at Toyota where success will be winning the World Championship. Getting podiums like we did in Malaysia, Bahrain and Spain is a form of success, and our first victories will be a kind of success, but essentially these results are only a stepping stone to the ultimate challenge of winning the championship."

What does Panasonic Toyota Racing still have to do to win its first race?
"The whole team has performed exceptionally well this season and we can be satisfied with our results, but we still need to make the car quicker. That means using our core ideology of continuous improvement in all areas, having a better engine, better aerodynamics, more downforce, less drag and making better use of the tyres through these improvements."