Glock: TC ban won't affect laptimes

Asked during a media dinner in Valencia, where ten of the teams started testing on Tuesday, Glock said he expected no dramatic increase in laptimes, especially over a single lap, also admitting drivers would be more prone to making mistakes on longer stints.

"I think the drop will not be much," he told a group of journalists. "I think that for the first race we will be on the same speed again, because we develop the car. It will be different in the race though.

"When you lose the rear tyre, you lose rear stability, so I think we will undoubtedly make mistakes, but for one lap it will not be such a big difference."

Sophisticated ECUs have been banned for this year to make way for a standard unit developed by Microsoft and McLaren Electronic Systems. Although this one no longer provides automatic traction and engine braking control, so drivers will have to be more delicate with their pedal movements, laptimes didn't seem to increase during pre-season testing.

On Wednesday, McLaren driver Heikki Kovalainen did a 1:11.000 lap in Valencia, beating the 2007 best of Lewis Hamilton, which was set early February last year, by 0.120 seconds.

However, Glock admitted he had some concerns about driving without traction control in the wet, because he thought cars have become more aggressive since electronic aids were reintroduced in 2001.

"The cars are now different," he said. "I think they are much more aggressive in terms of aerodynamics. And when you lose the car it is quite difficult to control it because it is reacting so quickly and so aggressive.

"Sure, ten years ago I think it was easier to drive without traction control in wet conditions. I mean we have to see how it is in a race, but it will be tough.

"With an F1 car today it is quite easy to do aquaplaning compared to ten years ago, and that makes it difficult."

When asked if the lack of traction control or engine braking control would be the more serious difficulty from the drivers point of view, Glock said: "Traction control. Especially in the wet. That will be the main problem." But he added he expected drivers to adapt well.

"I mean at the test they look as normal as they were last year with traction control," he said. "The quick guys out there are still the quick ones. Maybe we will see more mistakes for sure, but that's normal. That makes it interesting."

Speaking about the much applauded slick tyres that could return to the sport from 2009, Glock sounded cautiously optimistic.

"They were impressive especially over one lap, when you had maximum downforce on them, although in 2009 configuration they got tricky," he admitted.

"But in the end when we develop the 2009 aero in the wind tunnel we will be up to speed too. Slicks were really-really impressive with a Formula One car. And in the end I don't know, but I think it would be the right way to go back to slicks.

"Would it make the racing more interesting? That's another question. Because I think it's not the matter of grooved tyres or slick tyres, it is the matter of how big the difference in aerodynamics will be."

Glock however wasn't sure it was also a good idea to ban tyre warmers. Drivers who went out on the track without pre-warmed slicks during a Jerez test last December complained of being several seconds off the pace in the first few laps.

"That is really tricky I think," the German said. "I mean Jarno (Trulli) tried that as well and he said that it is dangerous and difficult. Especially when you have just 10-15 degrees, or when it rains and it dries up and you go out on slick tyres and they are cold. It is like driving on ice. That's why I think it could be dangerous.

"But in the end you have to see that the season will mostly be in the summertime. When it's 30 degrees outside it is much easier to drive with the tyres, because they are already warm, and you can put them out into the sun or whatever. So it shouldn't be a problem in the summertime, although in the wintertime it's difficult."

2007 GP2 champion Glock, who has already started four Grands Prix with Jordan back in 2004, hoped he would be able to score points regularly this year at Toyota.

"My goal is to be back in the points together with Toyota, try to do a consistent job over the whole season and try to improve together with team," he said.

"We have to see how the first race will go, but my target will be to get the car home in the points. And to be as close as possible to Jarno in qualifying, because I think he is one of the best qualifiers out there."