Craig Pollock Q&A

"We have to have a reality check. I think all the team principals should get together and see where costs can logically be cut in F1. The September 11 incidents have had a huge effect on the commercial side of the team. Therefore it has to have an effect on the sport. We've had certain sponsors who were going to commit, sending letters out very, very quickly after the terrorist attack, saying due to this incident they are not going to commit the company's money in the sport of F1. It's not just the teams, it's the sport in general, such as means the on-circuit signage. The TV side could also be affected, which means the overall income coming in is going to be hit."



"I'd say that the surface area of the car is no longer sufficient to fully fund a team. Therefore you need to be linked to an engine manufacturer who is willing to financially invest in the team, over and above just supplying engines. To be able to compete with Jaguar, Renault and especially Toyota - companies that fully own F1 teams - the way they are going to invest money there is no independent F1 team that can do that. You cannot compete against a manufacturer long term. We are talking to Honda about extending our contract, and how we can work closer together. I think it's up to us to convince Honda that what we are saying is sensible in the long run. I'm sure Jordan is telling them exactly the same thing. I just think we're all heading for very hard times."



"There are many ways of cutting costs. The problem is the minute you cut testing you invest in simulation, so you actually increase costs. But the reason for cutting testing would be to reduce the amount of development parts being put on the car. That would help save costs. But then again, what are you developing? What the teams have to look at is which areas of the car are you always going to continuously develop? It may sound a stupid idea, but should all teams be running exactly the same brakes? Should all teams be running exactly the same wheels, or the same uprights, or wishbones? It should be looked at, and there will be arguments for and against. But by doing things like that you would substantially reduce costs."



"In reality we've underperformed towards our own expectations. It's been a hard season, and we just have to keep the motivation going and do the best job we can."



"I don't think we were too optimistic - you have to be optimistic going into a new year. But in the end what happens is when you build up the optimism and the reality hits you, then the slap that you get is even harder. I think we merited the slap. What we have to do is be very realistic for next year, but make sure that we don't make the same mistakes with next year's car that we did with this year's car."



"If we knew that, we wouldn't be going so slow! We've been working very hard to find out why we were going so slowly, and we've been looking at aero and looking at mechanical side. In reality there are probably two or three things that are built into the car that were just not functioning properly. It's been very weak in qualifying but relatively good in the races. But both drivers are extremely good and experienced drivers, and what we tried to do this year was build their experience into the inexperienced team, or the young team. It's not due to a lack of effort back in the factory or lack of scratching of heads and really looking at the problem. We just have to make sure that everything next year is a lot better than this year."



"There will be certain changes made. The design team has been strengthened, and we're trying to build in certain F1 expertise in other areas. You can't just carry on as is, because for the past two years the car has been capable of finishing fifth in the championship, but it's not been a car that's been capable of finishing first. Which means that we have to step up all round."



"The race team has performed fantastically well this year. They've gone through adversity, they've been working with a piece of equipment that's really not been up to attacking the top teams in the championship. But they've just stuck in there, in the same way that the drivers have stuck in. Jacques has been very vocal, just to try and push and motivate the team. That has backfired on him a little bit, but he's a World Champion and he wants to have the best equipment possible. Olivier has done a solid job and has been very good in qualifying, although perhaps a bit less strong in the races."



"I think in the last two years he's shown that he's a fighter all the way through. I think this year, there was a certain amount of frustration on his part, because the car wasn't as good as he wanted it to be. When something goes wrong, he tends to say so, which has an effect which can be motivating but can also be negative. It's been both ways. I can understand his frustration, but he also has to be an absolute team member and want to win with the team."



"Honda also knows that to have a winning car you've got to have a winning chassis, winning driver, winning tyres, but you also need a winning engine. I think they know themselves that modern F1 is not like the last time they were involved. It's a hyper professional sport, and they have to step up as much as we have to step up."



"He absolutely wanted to race next year, and we couldn't give him that deal. There was no pushing by Honda to let him go. They were actually more interested in him fully testing for a year, making sure that he was OK, so that when he comes in, he would also be in a car that was essentially capable of winning races."



"EJ in his own way has scored a little win over us, because we had him under contract, but he had to buy his way out of that contract."



"We're looking at quite a few drivers at the moment, and certainly we are in contact with one if not two of the Japanese drivers. It would be good to have one in the programme, but only if he's good enough. I will only take a driver that I really believe in."