Gascoyne not expecting quick turnaround

Gascoyne begins work with the Spyker team today after his contract with Toyota expired at the end of October.

He has joined Spyker as Chief Technology Officer following his exit from the Japanese squad during the middle of this season.

Dutch car maker Spyker completed the buyout of the Midland team by this year's Italian Grand Prix. The team, who failed to score any points this year, will use Ferrari engines next season as they aim to move up the grid.

Gascoyne reckons he will not have time to help the team improve their performance at the beginning of the season, but he is hopeful they will start to move closer to the front by the halfway point.

"I'll be in every design meeting, and I'll be making all the key designs decisions," he said. "But the new car is already pretty much finished as of November 1, so I think what we can do for the start of 2007 is fairly limited.

"The engine deal was finalised quite late, and I'm coming in even later, so you can't expect that we'll have gone anywhere by March next year.

"But what's important is no matter how much money you put into building the house, if you don't dig the foundations properly, it falls down. So you've got to do the basics right before you start changing the on-track performance.

"I think the performance in the first race is fixed, but by mid-season you can have a significant influence, and that's what I'll be looking to do."