BAR drivers take new approach

Talking in Melbourne in the build-up to the first on-track action, Richards gave some insight into how management techniques can move every area of the team forward.

"Talking now of the drivers," he said, "previously it might have been a case of: well, 'I drive the car'. But we say, no, you've got to understand, you are not the best driver in the world today. You have weaknesses and we have to find ways of improving that. So you are going to go away and come back to the table with how you are going to improve yourself. And I don't mean about how he's going to drive around corners, but how he is physically going to tackle the problem in a more constructive way.

"Jenson and I went out for lunch together and he said, 'this is intriguing because you are taught to believe that as a racing driver you are perfect. But now I look at it, I can understand how I can improve."

Richards would not be drawn on any specific weaknesses, but speaking of drivers generally, he added: "It might be his approach to understanding one aspect of the car or his approach to his relationship with his race engineer or his approach to the way he tackles the whole weekend.

"For instance, I found out that the drivers were arriving for the weekend on a Thursday and it was only at that point that they learned what the whole programme for the weekend was going to be in terms of testing tyres and so on. So we brought that forward and made them join a conference call on a Monday morning. Jenson has really bought into it well, and Taku (Sato) as well."

On the psychology of the sport, Richards added: "When you are embedded in this environment it is probably the most macho in the world. You walk up and down that pitlane and you ask anyone to show their emotions, sensitivities, concerns or weaknesses and you won't get it out of them.

"But until you get a team of people together who understands that and will share things, you will never move forward. It's far more complex than anyone thinks. It's not just about sitting in a motor car, it's about working in a very technical environment and motivating people, carrying them with you."

Was Richards implying that with Jacques Villeneuve as lead driver such a situation would not have been possible?

"I spent a day with Jacques on his boat in the south of France last year and I told him that it was the only way to go forward," he replied. "He started to open up to the ideas but he's been around a long time and I think he was far more cynical about the whole environment we are in.

"Funnily enough I think Jacques, at an early stage, would have been exactly right for that sort of thought process. But he is a very insular person and it was very difficult to get him to be a real team player. I didn't mind the non-corporate bit. You must still allow people to be individuals.

"To answer the question, you can't single out one individual and say it has changed things overnight, because it hasn't. But sometimes you don't realise what a difference individuals make until they are not there..."

In the next couple of weeks, meanwhile, Richards is set to take Button to lunch with a leading driver who found himself in a similar situation, leading a team. "Nothing formal," DR smiled, "just a chat about how he coped with that situation." He was giving no names away. Damon Hill perhaps?