Adrian Newey Q&A

"I think it was what we didn't do in qualifying that was more of a problem. We got it wrong in qualifying mainly with the tyre mix. A few of the Bridgestone runners, us included, used scrubbed fronts and new rears. We just got the combination wrong."



"It was a little bit more than that."



"It was a human to systems interface problem. I think, how can I put this, really it comes down to the system not being operated correctly. But that's not to criticise Mika in any way, but perhaps it's too complicated. It's tempting to say Mika made a mistake, but..."



"Yes."



"No, David's wasn't human error. He made a slight procedural error, but the system should have coped with that, and it didn't, and that was due to a bug in the software basically. In the example today the system had no chance to cope with it."



"It's a bit like saying can you change gear without pushing the clutch on a manual car? One of the things is that by the time a racing driver gets to F1 and does a normal start, he's been practising for years. Here we're talking about only the second start with these systems. OK, obviously everybody's practised it in test sessions, but it's the old thing - in the heat of the moment, it's completely different."



"I think it obviously shows the newness of the systems for the moment. Teams and drivers between them haven't got totally on top of them. Doubtless now there'll be cries that it's too dangerous, and there could have been a startline accident. That's true, but equally there could have been a startline accident if somebody had stalled it with the old strategy, so I don't think you can simply say that this is a farce, and do something different. I wouldn't be surprised if there are no such examples in the next race."



"No. I can't comment on other people, but not in our case."



"Because the problem caused the clutch to melt."



"A recovery system can only work if nothing has been mechanically damaged. In this case something was mechanically damaged, so the recovery system had no chance."



"No, I think Mika's very good at keeping himself motivated. He's very disappointed with his current position, but I think the hallmark of any great sportsman is to be able to put that behind them and just look forward."



"We don't know whether other people were filled or not. Presumably Arrows went for two stops because they don't have the capacity for one, so fair enough."



"It's a difficult call, I think. I wouldn't like to comment on that. One of the problems always is that yes you can argue it's the right thing for the championship perhaps, but I think it should be a human sport, and simply sacrificing one driver for the other, I think you can argue about the ethics of that. And also you do end up if you're not very careful with one driver completely demotivated, thinking why should I bother?"



"No it didn't. The Melbourne '98 one was a straight misunderstanding. I feel fairly comfortable with Melbourne, but Jerez '97 I can't really comment on, because I wasn't involved in it. People love to say that Mika is favoured in the team, but I honestly don't believe that's the case."



"I think his side of the garage has been strengthened compared to last year. We've obviously tried to keep the strength in Mika's side as well, so I don't think it's to the detriment of Mika's side."



"It's still only six races, isn't it? David's obviously doing a good job, but we've got a long way to go."



"We'll dedicate the victory in Paul's memory and name. What can I say? It was a sad loss for Ilmor and McLaren, and tragic for the family. He was a nice guy."