Subscribe

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe

David Richards Q&A

At the half way mark of the season BAR lies fifth equal in the constructors' championship with Jordan, and while that's an improvement on last year, the team has scored just 11 points, and lags way behind the 47 of fourth placed Renault. There have been clear signs of pace, but a poor finishing record has proved very expensive and a double retirement in Canada, one of the biggest races of the year for the team, brought more disappointment. However the good news for David Richards last weekend was that his Prodrive empire conquered yet another arena when its Ferrari scored an impressive class win at Le Mans. Adam Cooper spoke to the BAR team boss



"I suppose there are two sides to it, really. The underlying performance is very clearly there, as we've shown on occasion when we've had a clean run. But it's extraordinarily frustrating to have a whole range of what appear on the face if it to be minor problems getting in the way. We've just got to get to the bottom of our processes and make sure those things are eradicated in the future."



"It's process control, in whichever area it might turn out to be. They've turned out to be in a raft of different areas between ourselves and Honda, and those things come right after time and effort from every single person in the team."



"Yes, that's just how it falls sometimes. It is quite extraordinary how it does seem to have rolled that way."



"No, he behaved impeccably this weekend. Clearly it's frustrating for him and there is pressure on him, but he's not someone that shows those sort of pressures very easily, I have to say. It seems to go over his head."



"Clearly Bridgestone are working hard and they're not standing still. But Michelin, with the resources they have are a very professional organisation, and they've certainly improved enormously in the last six months. They seem to have tyres that work in most conditions now. But I'm totally confident that Bridgestone won't be sitting still for long, and there are constant developments coming on there. But when you look at the grid you can't get away from what's going on at the moment."



"We're probably most affected by it at the moment."



"I suppose there's a silver lining! That's been a lot of hard work for two years to get those cars right. Again it just comes down to a methodical, strategic approach to things. You say you set out to do something, and you just have to put all the bits in place and all the ingredients in place. An F1 team is an extraordinarily complex organisation. We've got the best part of 400 people back at Brackley, all working extremely hard and doing different functions, and we've just got to make sure every last area works to the same standard as the best."



"The Le Mans programme is a very modestly run programme with a relatively small number of people who are incredibly diligent in the way they go about it. And they've just worked at it for the last two years. They've done a lot of testing, including a 24-hour test at Paul Ricard not so long ago where they went through everything. They've done a great, great job."



"They were totally dominant. They were fastest throughout qualifying by 3.5 seconds, and they were fastest through every lap of the race, and they built up a lead of an hour at one point."



"Yes! We've just got to make sure it's BAR's turn in the future..."

Be part of the Autosport community

Join the conversation
Previous article Feature: Bernie Roasts Silverstone, Toasts Turkey
Next article Ask Nigel Roebuck: June 18

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe