Button, Barrichello and de Ferran speak out
As the new Formula One season kicks-off this weekend in Bahrain, we meet with drivers Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello and Sporting Director Gil de Ferran to interview them. Here are their thoughts:
Interview with Jenson Button
Are you looking forward to the new season?
“I cannot wait! All the hard work we’ve done in testing is vital, but I’m a racer so I’m just counting down the days now. I’m very excited about this season and the whole team is fired up after seeing the step forward we’ve made since last year. I think this is going to be the most exciting season in years and for our part, I think we’re going to be right up there."
Testing appears to have been going well, how do you rate the performance of the new car?
“It's been a very long winter and the whole team has put in an incredible amount of hard work. In testing our reliability has been very good. I've completed the most kilometres out of all the race drivers this winter, and as a team we've completed the most kilometres, so it's great. It's very important to put miles on the car and the engine and it also means that you get more opportunity to test tyres and components."
What have you been doing to prepare yourself physically for the new season?
“From a personal point of view I’m fitter now than I’ve ever been. I’ve spent a lot of time at the Olympic training camp in Lanzarote and I’ve been doing just about everything you can imagine to push myself as hard as possible - triathlons, biathlons and lots of events as well, which is good preparation because it’s competitive so it gets you in the right mood for racing. I feel good within myself and mentally very strong.”
What are your thoughts on the opening race of the season in Bahrain?
“It’s great to have Bahrain as the new starting point for the season. We tested there three weeks ago, which gave us the opportunity to run the tyres in the hot conditions whereas at the European circuits it’s been pretty cold at times.
“As is always the case with the opening race, it will provide us with a true benchmark of how competitive we are versus the other teams. But our testing performance has been very promising and we’re going to Bahrain to challenge for a win. That is our objective going into every race this season - to be up there fighting at every opportunity."
What’s it like to be working with Rubens Barrichello and have you learned anything from him?
"Rubens is a good guy and he brings a lot of experience to the team. I don't think that you learn anything from other drivers in terms of their way of driving or their way of working because that’s a very personal thing, but they bring a new perspective which can be really useful."
How important is it for you to have a proven winner as your team-mate?
“I think it’s going to be very competitive between us. Rubens is still so hungry for success. We have a great working relationship and we will have to work closely off the circuit to get the best result for the team. On-track, we’ll both be pushing as hard as we can. We’ve had some great battles in the past and made some great overtaking manoeuvres on each other. This year we’re in equal cars so I’m sure we’re going to find each other many times on the race track, but I’m sure it will always be good clean fun!”
How does the new V8 engine compare to the previous V10?
"The difference with the V8 is that there's a lot less torque. Obviously there's less power - we're about 25-30 kph slower at the end of the straights - but that's not the biggest difference. It's more the torque of the engine that you struggle to get used to as the torque is not there to pull you out of a difficult situation. If you make a mistake, there’s no “get out of jail free” card - it's going to be really costly. I haven’t changed my style at all to suit the engine, I’ve always tried to be as smooth as possible."
What’s your opinion on the new qualifying system? And on the re-introduction of mid-race tyre stops?
"I think the qualifying system will be good. I think it will be great for the crowd as they'll see a lot of cars out on the circuit, which is important for Formula One, and after the first qualifying session, people will get used to the format.
"Tyre changes are a big thing for the spectacle of the sport and also for the fact that a lot of people get involved with the pit-stops - it's a proper team effort and that's fantastic, and I think it's good for the spectators also."
Interview with Rubens Barrichello
How excited are you about the start of a new season?
“I’m very, very excited - like a kid with a new toy. I’ve been doing a lot of testing and PR work but there’s no substitute for racing and finally it’s here - the start of the season."
Honda appears to have been one of the top teams during the recent tests, how do you rate the performance of the new car?
“If we look at testing, speed-wise there are only good things to say. We have made a good improvement on last year’s car, which I had the chance to try in January. With regards to reliability, again the RA106 has been strong. The things we did have problems with have been sorted out and we’re showing good prospects."
How are you finding life at Honda?
“It’s very good. It's been a big change for me and some people seem to think that the move was a gamble but that’s not the case at all. I've studied the team well and the will to win is incredibly strong. This is a really good group of people working flat out to become champions, just like me, and I hope that I'm the last little piece of the jigsaw. I feel very settled and very much at home."
The team has said it wants to be challenging for victories in 2006, is winning a realistic target for Bahrain?
“I think one of the best, if not the best thing we have done in testing, is to go to Bahrain - for evaluating the tyres, putting miles on the car and checking reliability in the hot weather, it’s the best preparation we could have done for the first race. So I think challenging for a win is a real target."
Have you learnt anything from Jenson Button?
“Jenson and I have been working very well together in winter testing. I think he's a quick driver, he's been settled at the team for a long time, so there are a lot of things to learn from him. We learn from everyone everyday. It would be too arrogant to come here today and say I have 13 years' experience and so I have nothing else to learn and that's it. I think it’s going to be very competitive between us and I’m sure we’ll enjoy some great racing against each other.”
How does the new V8 engine compare to the previous V10?
“I only drove the Honda V10 for half a day back in January, so I can only really make a straight comparison with the engine I had last year. The V8 is a different animal to drive; it has less power, but it isn't easier, simply because it has less power so you can go full throttle. It has some issues with drivability and it requires a different way of driving, but so far I feel that I'm very well adapted. I think the V8 does not cope with big mistakes. You have to be smooth and luckily I think that suits both my and Jenson’s driving styles."
What’s your opinion on the new qualifying system?
"It's difficult to comment because we haven't tried the new qualifying system yet. The people on the TV will be studying it carefully and have commentators providing data for the viewers. It may take a while longer for the fans in the grandstands to get their heads around. Obviously, the last ten cars will be on the track for longer and it will be fun for the fans because in the last minutes the fastest guy will come out, which was great in the old days.”
Interview with Gil de Ferran
You said the team wanted to be challenge for wins in 2006, are you on target to meet this objective?
“All I can say is that we’ve had an encouraging start to date. Running the Concept car before Christmas was a good exercise for us as it proved the reliability of the new engine and gearbox, so when we launched the new car in late January we were able to put in a lot of miles straightaway without reliability issues. Despite our obvious positive state of mind, we are also somewhat cautious with our approach to the first race. As ever in F1, you really don’t know what the opposition is doing. Clearly the engine rule change has been a significant one so everybody is on a very steep learning curve, but the harsh reality is that we really won’t where everyone is until we arrive in Bahrain. The biggest mistake one can make is to underestimate the opposition. We are keeping on our toes by treating all our rivals very seriously.”
The new Honda RA106 has clocked up more miles than any other V8 car during pre-season testing; you must be impressed with the car and engine’s reliability?
“The engineering groups within the team and Honda in Japan have clearly done a fantastic job. The reliability shown is not only encouraging in terms of results but also has lots of benefits in terms of development. If you’re not stopping all the time to fix problems, you can concentrate all of your efforts on improvement rather than repairs.”
Has Rubens Barrichello lived up to your expectations?
“As we expected, Rubens has integrated into the team very well. He’s done a good job in the tests both in terms of speed and his contribution to the team’s overall efforts. As you’d expect from such an experienced guy, things are going very well on that front. It’s always beneficial to have a guy with a good feeling for the car - and we’re lucky as that’s also true of Jenson and Anthony. You can clearly see from discussions between all three of them that they are always enthusiastic about the development direction of the car. And exactly the same can be said regarding their conversations with our engineers.”
How has Jenson Button reacted to having a proven winner alongside him as a team-mate?
“Jenson and Rubens are getting on fine. Jenson is already an extremely focused driver and one with a very competitive spirit. It’s clear to me that both he and Rubens are very competitive people and neither needs much encouragement from the other. To me Jenson looks fitter than ever and he’s already performing at a very high level.”
Will the recent test in Bahrain give Honda a head start when we come to the opening race of the season?
“We would hope that our recent test there would give us a little advantage over those who didn’t go. It wasn’t easy logistically but we always felt it was going to be a beneficial exercise. It has helped us with our choice of tyres, chassis set-up and with our understanding of the engine performance around that particular circuit, as well as uncovering any unforeseen issues. Apart from all of that, it was good for the drivers to experience the V8 engine and new car in a realistic race environment. Everybody at the factory pulled out all the stops to ensure we had enough parts to go to Bahrain for the test and their contribution continues to be an impressive and integral part of our pre-season preparations. Of course, we hope that our decision to go to Bahrain will pay us dividends come the opening race but, as ever, we will have to wait and see.”
Honda is allowed to run a third car for Anthony Davidson in Friday’s two free practice sessions; how much of an advantage is this?
“It’s going to be invaluable for us. It will help us enormously in determining chassis set-up and tyre choices - especially as we have a driver like Anthony Davidson in the car. I think all teams will have mileage restrictions on their race cars, so Anthony’s presence will help on that front too.”
How well prepared is Honda to meet the new challenge of a revised qualifying format and the re-introduction of mid-race tyre changes?
“It’s something that we’ve spent a lot of time thinking about. The density of PhDs per square metre here at Honda is very high and these guys are giving these issues a lot of thought right now! We are trying to evaluate every single avenue; there have been hundreds of different computer simulations done. It’s very, very hard to win if you don’t have enough speed but if you do have the speed to win, you can certainly make mistakes on the strategy and end up not winning. In a nutshell, it’s something we’re paying a lot of attention to.”
