Q+A with Force India's James Key
Force India has been one of the most improved teams of the 2009 season and, to a certain extent, one of the biggest surprises. It is now mixing it for the midfield positions along with the likes of Renault, BMW and Toyota and is firmly in the hunt for points. Yet with the field being closer than ever, it’s a hard task ultimately seizing them, as technical director James Key explains in this interview:
"Yes, we have tenths and hundreths between cars at present with just over one second covering the entire grid. This is of course incredibly close, so any reasonable updates can make a significant difference to position. As a result there is a lot of emphasis on optimising qualifying. We had a good start position in Germany and raced at the front without any issues, maintaining a points scoring position. With the current situation, track position is vital."
Has bad luck, a lack of pace, or a combination of both prevented you from putting points on the board so far in 2009?"I think luck has not always been on our side. We have had our cars in points scoring positions this year on a number of occasions but not brought the result home. We had a good window of opportunity in the middle of the season after a big step forward at Silverstone, but it did not work out for us due to Adrian’s unfortunate accident in qualifying.
"However Giancarlo’s excellent race drive at that event from 16th on the grid to 10th, just seconds off the points, shows the pace to score points was there. Similarly in Germany where qualifying went well, we maintained position for points only for the coming together with Raikkonen after the first round of stops.
"Hungary was less competitive for us, however we have a fair bit more to come for the next part of the season and we need to ensure that we capitalise on every opportunity available to us in future."
Have you been surprised by the turnabout in the pecking order, with Ferrari and McLaren struggling until recently while Brawn and Red Bull excel?"In some ways yes, however it was always difficult going into a season with completely new regulations. With the fundamental changes made for 2009 much depended on the time available to develop the cars before the season, which was perhaps more difficult for the teams competing right to the end of 2008 for the championship.
"I am not sure, particularly after the Hungarian GP, that any teams could be said to be struggling at present as the grid is so tight, it’s more down to getting it right on the day and keeping the updates coming through. There are no weak teams in F1 nowadays with just a handful of tenths of a second making big differences."
Giancarlo and Adrian appear to be two of the most closely-matched team-mates on the grid. Is there a healthy rivalry between your drivers?"Of course, there is always rivalry between team mates, however it is certainly a healthy one at Force India. Being a small team it is important that all concerned work together to develop the car and improve performance and on that basis the relationship between our drivers is very good."
Jenson Button has become the close-to-overwhelming favourite for the drivers’ championship. Do you see anyone stopping him?"I think he capitalised on good opportunities early on with a very good start to the season, however it’s less clear now how the second part of the season could progress. It is possible to have a change in championship lead with the current rates of development from various teams so I don’t think it’s all over yet, which is of course great news for Formula 1."
Source Force India
