Q+A Mike Gascoyne
After the punishing double-header to kick off the 2006 season, the Formula 1 world now travels to the other side of the world for round three. The Panasonic Toyota Racing Team is hoping for more after 2 disappointing races, in Bahrain and Malaysia, where the team only scored 1 point. Here follows an interview Mike Gascoyne, Technical Director Chassis
Interview with Mike Gascoyne
Was the improvement in form in Malaysia what you predicted?"I think we certainly improved the problems we had in getting temperature into the tyres. Once we'd got the tyres to work we saw the level of performance we had based on pre-season testing. We had a car capable of racing in the top 10. Obviously for Australia we will have cooler conditions and that means that we've got to keep a very close eye on getting the tyre to work. We suffered in Malaysia with Ralf's engine change and still some set-up issues with Jarno, but I think now we're on top of that."
Have the improvements made been Bridgestone developments or a combination of that and set-up?"I think it's a combination of set-up and us understanding the problem and reacting to it. I think in Bahrain and to some extent in Malaysia, our tyres in general were too hard and we need to push to go to softer compounds because our car is very gentle on the tyres. We need to be working at the softer end of the range compared to other Bridgestone teams."
Is it tough to have a problem and then to face the mileage constraints of the current regulations?"I think in Bahrain we got caught out by the limited mileage, yes. It was a track we had not been to before with those tyres, a track where we thought the problem would disappear with the high temperature compared to Europe. We were caught out but I think we very quickly got on top of it and realised what happened. And I think what really affected us was that we seemed to have a reasonable level of performance on Saturday morning, which probably led to us not digging deeply enough into the problem. But looking at it after the race, it was very clear what happened and we understood it."
Tyres apart, what are the challenges of Melbourne?"It's a street circuit, not in regular use and so it has low grip on the Friday and evolves quite a lot over the weekend. It's always an interesting venue and a fun place to visit. Logistically it's quite difficult with the long distances involved but other than that, there's nothing much to be too concerned about."
After two races, what is your opinion of the new qualifying format?"I think in general it's good but I think the first 15 minutes of the last session, where everyone is driving around getting fuel down, is not particularly interesting. That may need readjusting but overall it's definitely an improvement."
Is it a bit hectic in the pits?"It's a busy hour session but that's what I think qualifying should be. Before, when we used to have the four runs, it was boring for 40 minutes and then we had 20 minutes flat-out activity, so it's good to have more going on, that's for sure."
We've seen a lot of engine changes already. Were you anticipating that?"I think we've seen more than people expected but it's inevitable when you have a major architecture change like V10 to V8. You will get those issues but our failure on Ralf's car in Malaysia was pretty minor and not indicative of a major reliability issue. We've never had an oil pump failure before and it was disappointing when Ralf was going so well. We thought he could have qualified in the top five."
