Mike Gascoyne on making it into F1's midfield

Team Lotus spent a fair amount of the first half of the 2011 Formula 1 season in the spotlight due to the political situation between itself and Group Lotus over the rights to use the name.

But while this has been hitting the headlines, behind the scenes the British-based outfit has been quietly getting on with the job of establishing itself as a serious team within the paddock and on the track.

While the team's position in F1's pecking order does not seem to have improved much on last year, Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen have consistently been the best of the drivers from what are still referred to as the sport's 'new' teams.

AUTOSPORT caught up with the team's chief technical officer Mike Gascoyne to garner his thoughts on the season so far and find out why he's so confident of climbing the tree in 2012.

Q: Have you made enough progress this year compared to what you were hoping for?

Mike Gascoyne: You have to be realistic. We said we wanted to be racing in the midfield and we're not at the moment. We're sort of in no man's land. We made some progress in Hungary and we're two seconds [per lap] clear of the other new teams, but we're still half a second to a second off the pack. I think that's... Frustrating is the wrong word. In some ways it's only to be expected because we're trying to catch up with people who are very good at it [F1] and with less resources, so in a way, why should you catch up?

But I think on track we're probably a little further behind than we wanted to be. Part of that has been that blown diffusers have become so important and it's a difficult technology to get on top of in the wind tunnel and in CFD and we struggled a little bit to get it to work properly. In Hungary we made a little step; some simple things and we've got a little bit more of a handle on it. It's just taken a little longer than the guys who have been doing it a lot longer than we have and have had a year more experience [of blown diffusers]. But I think actually, from the point of view of the development of the team, we're bang on-target. One of the reasons we're still behind the rest of the field is that we still only operate at 60 per cent of the RRA for aerodynamics. We've announced the Williams tunnel alongside Aerolab, we've been building our own tunnel and we've been employing [staff]. So I think off-track we're still on target to be where we want to be. It's frustrating on-track.

Toro Rosso and Williams are the next targets for Team Lotus © sutton-images.com

Q: Can you close the gap to the Toro Rossos and others this year and be racing among them, or will that wait until you have the new car in 2012?

MG: I think we'll get pretty close. The frustrating thing is that where we are, we could find half a second and still be two tenths off... You'd still only qualify 19th and 20th, rather than seven tenths or a second. We've got quite a few developments that are coming over the next few races up to Singapore, where we have a big development. We'll close the gap. It would be nice to be actually racing against those guys by the end of the year and actually picking off the odd Williams and Toro Rosso and then start there [next year] and go on. I think we can do it. But the other thing for next year is that our first car was totally new and done in five months; designed in Cologne and built everywhere. Last year, okay, it was designed in-house, but effectively it was a totally new car with a new engine and gearbox and done with a totally new design team. This year it's the same engine, same gearbox, same design team and based on last year's car. It's much more of a development thing so you can concentrate on the parts that make it quicker rather than just having to do everything again. And of course we've got [new technical director] Mark Smith here to oversee that. From that point of view, we're very confident about the steps we'll make.

Q: Traditionally in F1, any team that's had a solid first year has generally failed to build on it in year two. You haven't. Have people forgotten that?

MG: Formula 1 is very different from how it was 10 or 20 years ago. We did it right... Ok so our first car was done by a group of contractors overseen by my company, but we did it the way we had to do it to get the car out. But actually what we did bought us time to set up the team properly. We had a proper factory, we employed, we had a DO, we had our own production facility. We had everything on one site. We had a proper wind tunnel programme. Look at the other two new teams [Virgin and Hispania] and they still don't have that or they're tryiug to put that together. You look at Virgin. Okay they've announced their tie-up with McLaren, but where's your own DO? Where's your...? One of the things that is an achievement for us is that we're a proper Formula 1 racing team now. There are 10 proper Formula 1 teams and two newcomers. I think we were always set up to do that. It's what we were aiming for. We didn't have that second year dip because we were always set up to be a proper Formula 1 teamn.

Q: How confident are you of finishing in the top 10 of the Constructors' World Championship?

A: You don't need a silly [race result]. But I think we're far more relaxed about it than last year because last year if you fell off and ended up behind Timo [Glock's Virgin] or something, it wasn't a given that you'd be able to get back past. Now we just drive past them because we're two seconds a lap quicker. So the results will come. We had a freak race where we had a problem and both the cars stopped - Silverstone - but I think with the two drivers we've got, with Jarno being on form, with the car we've got, I don't think we'll be particularly panicked about it. Hopefully we'll score our first point. Here we're looking for a result. This time last year it was something we'd worry about. Now we just want to get a result because we have a much better car and team behind us. It's a very different situation to last year.

Team Lotus has left Virgin and HRT a long way behind in 2011 © LAT

Q: With Jarno Trulli back in the zone, are you expecting a more solid rest of the season?

MG: Yes. And he'll push Heikki too. You know that when he is back on it he really does feel the car and will help develop it. His feedback in Hungary has really helped us develop the car, so it's good and I'm pleased for him because he looked very down. A lot of people were writing him off, which is understandable at his stage of his career, but it's nice that he can show he's bounced back. We felt we weren't doing a good enough job for him, and it gives us an enormous amount of pride to say that yes, we're doing it now. We're pretty pleased about that.

Q: Was not running KERS the right decision this year?

MG: I think so. The only option would have been to run the Red Bull KERS and look at the problems they've been having. I think we were very much looking at the option of running it this year, but it's the right decision that we didn't. The resources it would have taken would have been huge for the net gain. Next year, when we're in the pack, is when we need it. What's it going to give you? Three tenths? That will make no difference to us this year, but next year, when we're in amongst it, it we'll need it.

Q: Are the Renault-powered teams pooling their resources on KERS development?

MG: I think so. For 2014 we're in discussions about how we're going to do it. Obviously we talk to Red Bull because we use their gearbox, so we'll use that system. But it was the right decision not to use it this year. The overheads wouldn't have been worth it.

Q: Will you use Red Bull's 2011 or 2012 gearbox next year?

MG: It will be a development of this year's, but the KERS package will be next year's. We're very happy with what we've got.

Q: Have you shifted your design focus to the 2012 car yet?

MG: In the wind tunnel we will change after the break to focus fully on next year's car. We've actually been still pushing on with this year's car up to now and we've got a big development for Singapore which will be worth about half a second. So I think we've juggled our resources quite well. But we'll switch the focus. Plus we've got the Williams wind tunnel coming online, which obviously will be another massive increases in capability. I think it's looking good

Q: Are you on course with next year's plans?

MG: Yes. We have good people too, and with big sponsors like GE coming on board, it's all very real. As I said, look at other new teams and without wanting to slag them off, one's announced a technical deal with someone and none of the real Formula 1 teams do it like that. HRT... We still don't know how they'll design their car. They've both announced they have new wind tunnels. Well done. They're still two years behind us. They're where we were two years ago. They've gone nowhere in two years and we have gone somewhere. There are 10 established teams now and two newcomers.

Q: How heavily have you been recruiting?

MG: The wind tunnel side has been expanding. In all areas there'll be announcements soon of people joining. It's coming together. There are a lot of experienced people here. The design team with Mark [Smith] joining and the people we have already... there's a lot of expertise and we're starting now to fund them and resource them correctly to the same level as the other reams. We'll deliver.