Geoff Willis Q&A

"In terms of race operations and race strategy it worked very well. The good performance in the warm-up was genuine, with a sensible fuel load, and both cars were running very well. Jacques said the car was very strong, although they were both slightly slow in the middle sector. We told him to look after the car and he drove it very easily."



"I'm not part of the race team operations, and I don't need to be. I was actually looking at the car during the stops in case we had any problems and needed somebody to make a call one way or the other. I'm really here in a role of understanding how the whole team works, and where the weak bits are. Fundamentally my task at the moment is design, performance and reliability. I think it's probably necessary for me to come to four or five races a year, maybe every third or fourth race, just to avoid losing contact."



"Yes certainly, that's right. This is obviously the problem with the job title - it's horses for courses! Adrian has got a very strong race engineering background and so he's here all the time, while Ross Brawn is sort of crossing over between team principal and technical director. My job is to be responsible in directing all the technical issues of the team, and for that I need to know in person what goes on at the race track. Clearly I'm not there to run the car day in and day out, and it would be nonsense if I suggested I should."



"The change was made while I was still on gardening leave. I came in to see David Richards in early January, I think it was, and I think we discovered that we had the same set of attitudes and understanding of what the problems involved."



"I think so. He's certainly a dynamic person. Although his experience of F1 is not a huge amount, apart from his time at Benetton, Prodrive is a serious player in the WRC and other areas of automotive engineering, and I think he's got a mindset that's right for the business. He understands what's needed. I think he's got very dynamic management style, he's decisive, he's a good motivator, and he's very enthusiastic. I'm pleased with what I find and I think we can work together really well."



"Over the last three or four years you've seen the Ferrari evolve more and more into a single concept car, and it becomes more integrated every year. You certainly have to accept that it's the quickest car out there at the moment, so it's worth having a good look at it!"