Season Debrief: Ralf Schumacher

Panasonic Toyota Racing driver Ralf Schumacher looks back at the 2005 Formula One season. It was the best F1 season for the team so far and Ralf thinks that the results have been really really good, but the team wasn't where they wanted to be in the last three races.

Interview with Ralf Schumacher

Looking back at the season, have you been positively surprised?
"I must say that the results have been really good but unfortunately we haven't been where we wanted to be performance-wise in the last three races. Apart from that it has been a very successful season."

What have been your high and low points of the season?
"There have been only highs really. Podiums in Budapest and then Shanghai were great, as was taking pole position at Suzuka. But I suppose you could say that it was also a low point starting from pole and then not finishing better than eighth, but there wasn't much I could do about that. It was an aggressive three-stop strategy that helped us get pole but then the Safety Car meant that I couldn't capitalise on it. There was the qualifying crash at Monaco as well, but you can't really call it a low point when you start last and finish sixth!"

Is it fair to say that you prefer a car with a more positive front end than the original TF105 possessed?
"Yes. That has always been the case with me. Some drivers prefer understeer while others, like me, prefer an oversteery car. The change to the front suspension on the TF105B is a good first step in the right direction, but we know there is still work to do."

What has most impressed you about Toyota this year?
"The team itself. I came from Williams, a very experienced team, to one where I thought there might still be work to do, but I arrived at a team that is a lot better organised than I have experienced before. They are very motivated people, with a great spirit. People on the outside say that the team looks too big to react quickly but it is structured very well and there is such a hunger to do well that it is very enjoyable place to work."

If you were to be critical, where can the team still improve?
"If you are being very critical there are perhaps some races where we might have done better with different strategies, but having said that, we had some perfect races as well, so it's an ever-evolving learning process. Not just for us, but for every team. And then our aerodynamic performance was not as good as it could be. But when you look at last year that couldn't really be expected. The step that the team made from last year to this was really incredible and highly commendable."

What's a realistic target for you in 2006?
"We're looking to win some races. That's what our target should be and let's hope it's a realistic one!"