Nick Fry Q & A on team strategy

The strategy calls that the team made in the race, in particular switching Jenson Button from a three-stop to a two-stop run, prompted conspiracy theorists to suggest that the outfit had secretly imposed team orders to help its world championship chances.

AUTOSPORT caught up with Brawn GP CEO Nick Fry after the race to find out what really happened, and why it was poor lap times in Barrichello's penultimate stint that really cost him the victory.

Q. Can you clarify the strategy situation today regarding your drivers? Did both drivers start the race on a three-stop?

Nick Fry: Yes, both drivers originally were planning to do a three-stop strategy. It was an intelligent decision by Jenson's side to switch it, and it obviously turned out for the best.

Q. What was the reasoning behind switching Jenson to a two-stop then?

NF: Obviously he was shorter on fuel than Rubens, and we assumed he would pull away at the front and build a bit of a gap. When that didn't happen, it was necessary to split them. It was something that we had talked about a lot before the race anyway. It was something we had planned for, and it turned out to be the best. We were a little bit worried about [Felipe] Massa and [Sebastian] Vettel, for Rubens that is, and that faded when they both came into the pits together. That was a bit of a surprise as we thought Vettel was going to go a bit longer than that. I don't know if they did that deliberately or that was the plan.

Q. What is your response to the conspiracy theorists who say it was a deliberate ploy to favour Jenson Button over Rubens Barrichello?

NF: No. Both sides of the garage were racing, and listening to what was going on there was huge determination - firstly for Jenson to make the gap, and then on Rubens' side of the garage with a bit of frustration at the end that they didn't make it happen.

Q. It is a nice position to be in to choose which strategy you want for a driver to win a race. How far removed is Ross from it as the guy at the top. Is he still involved in it, or does he step back and let the team get on with that?

NF: Ross is still very much involved from an engineering and strategic point of view. That is really his long suit. We've got fantastic people doing the strategy and we've got obviously the race engineers and drivers playing a big role in that as well. Having Ross just to ask the right questions is a huge benefit to the team.

Q. When it comes to making a call like that, and each side has to make a shout, who makes the decision?

NF: The process is actually that the strategists with the race engineers do the job themselves. The benefit of having Ross there is that if he doesn't agree then he will step in. But I think one of the great things about Ross is that he is not someone who sits in meetings pontificating, he is someone who doesn't say that much, asks a few questions, and if everything is going according to his feelings then he just keeps quiet. It is only when things are not going according to plan that he steps in, but he is very good at delegating.

Q. So Jenson came in first and was switched. As Rubens was next in, was it a team decision to split the strategies or was the option open to Rubens' guy to go two as well?

NF: They obviously could have switched if they wanted to, but they were pretty set on what they were doing. On the face of it both of them were going to come out extremely close. When they actually switched Rubens was still ahead, and I don't know what happened in the final stints. He obviously lost all the time there, and instead of having an advantage where, at that stage we expected Rubens to win by 1.5 seconds, it switched back the other way after the second stint.

Q. How important a weekend was this, as the big development push concentrated on this race?

NF: I think the important thing is that the update package we put on the car worked. It is obviously something that we thought would happen, and it is a circuit where everyone can be quite competitive. The Red Bull obviously is very good aerodynamically and this is a circuit where they were going to be strong. So, to beat them here is great. We think in Monaco we have a good chance and believe the car will be more suited to the circuit, probably more so than here.

Q. Does the focus now turn very much to the championship? No driver has lost the world title with a start like this?

NF: I think that our view is that it is still one race at a time. It is still very early in the year and it is great where we are, but I don't think anyone inside is thinking too much about that. It is do the best possible job - and that is what we are doing all along. Through the survival of the team we have learned to take one step at a time, and we really just continue with the same philosophy. Every day is a new day and we try and do our best. The guys are just doing a great job and there is a huge enthusiasm and they are getting into the swing of things now.