Heinz-Harald Frentzen Q&A

"The Honda deal is not only giving us more horsepower; it's also giving us a big boost from the morale point of view. The motivation inside the team suffered quite a lot, so it's quite important. So I'd say it's a big boost for us and for the morale."



"There are always people leaving. Even last year there were people leaving the company, after 1999, but it wasn't that important because everybody was talking about success. This year people are talking more intensely about it. Of course we lost both race engineers, for various reasons. But on the other side we are getting back good people who are experienced, David Brown for example, and Eghbal Hamidy will join us in the future. In the end we are building up more people, and getting more experience. So it's a normal situation. I wouldn't take it too much into consideration."



"Well, never change a winning team. The good point about it is that we haven't won any races last year, so you can't use that sentence!"



"There are always some advantages and disadvantages if people are coming, but honestly I don't have any negative view about that at all."



"I hope so. But not only fighting for positions which are midfield or at the bottom end of the field. I expect to fight with him for the top ranking."



"It's not important really to see what BAR is doing, it's important to make progress and develop our car as quickly as possible. We have a lot of pressure to solve a lot of problems. But I think we are able to cope with the situation pretty well - I think we are able to go back to having the chance of winning races. At the moment it's difficult to look left or right, and see what the other teams are doing. The new regulations are giving a big challenge to really get right from the beginning, to get the maximum out of - let's say - the holes or spaces that the new regulations have made. I estimate that the teams like McLaren and Ferrari from the beginning are at a very high level, maybe better than most of the other teams. They have got more background, they have got very sophisticated wind tunnels, and they have got a lot of experience to use the regulations as much as possible. We know about the problems, and we also have spent more time in the wind tunnel than in the past, and in this respect we are gearing up."



"It was very difficult last year, especially for me as driver. You are so responsible for the motivation as well of the whole team. It's easy to motivate people when you win races and you are successful. Motivation is coming in very easily to the people. But if you are suffering and have some problems it's also really difficult time and again to get the maximum out of yourself, and as well trying not to lose the focus. I found that last year very difficult."



"You always want to be quicker than your team mate, that's for sure. Jarno especially is very hungry for success. He's trying to beat me - I had a very successful season in '99 and won some races. So he is hungry for having success with Jordan, and he has got a lot of expectations as well. He's very competitive. So what this means as well for the team is that they are appreciating the situation of course, having two strong drivers rivalling each other. This is the best thing that can happen to the team. From this point of view it's a very helpful position."



"Well, automatically there's some friction when you have two drivers in the team, it's normal. The important thing is how the team can cope with the situation and how the drivers can cope with the situation as well. We are not only there to beat each other. It's very important that it's an open relationship, and we work together with the team. This is one of the most important points. Otherwise friction can be a very negative thing. But I think we have this under control, and it's not a big issue."



"I think it would be a mistake to underestimate Michelin. But I would say as well the danger is there that you could have two classes or categories, simply because the tyre manufacturers decided to have a different philosophy of tyre compounds taken to the race track. That means that maybe the Bridgestone drivers or Michelin drivers could be up and down in two categories. But on the other side I think some teams could have an advantage working closely with a tyre manufacture developing the car due to the tyre, or the tyre development to the car. It's going to be anyway a hard work for both sides. For Bridgestone and Michelin there's going to be a lot more tyre testing, and that's why all the teams are gearing up and employing more test drivers and employing more people to run bigger test teams. It means the budget is as well being used a lot more than in the past."



"You have to be part of the game here. If one of the tyre manufacturers concentrates on the World Championship there could be some directions going into the Ferrari car or the McLaren car. It's simply up to the situation. But I think from what I have experienced so far in F1 they are keen as possible to give a fair chance to all teams."



"From a driver points of view I would say I don't like it. It makes your right foot numb, because you don't need to be that skilful any more, especially in wet and damp conditions, where you really have great respect for touching the throttle. In this situation life becomes a lot easier. You can think about it as safer, but on the other side you don't feel the traction of the tyres themselves with your foot, like it used to be. You become distant from what is happening from a grip level point of view. On the other side we all know that the development with the software partners in all F1 teams has become so sophisticated that for the FIA it's difficult to control something that is not really traction control but works in the end like traction control, and gains time out of it. That's why I think at the moment it's a pretty fair stage to have traction control in for everybody. From what I've heard it's still not decide that clearly, but will probably happen."



"Yes, it will make life easier for every driver. You will not see any more the differences between the drivers."



"It does only say F3000 probably isn't giving enough information to the team owners to tell if a driver is good enough. I think that it's only raising a question mark about what should be a good class before F1. I personally think if you have talent, you have talent, in go-karts, F3 or F3000. But it doesn't necessarily mean that you can show your talent in an F3000 car enough to make yourself get a ticket to F1. I think this is a situation that the sport authorities should think about. I can't say if Raikkonen is a good driver - I don't know him. From the outside it's hard to make a judgement. I think as well you should have a certain level of experience if you enter F1. Because F1 is a dangerous sport; there is room for making mistakes. It requires the professionalism of each driver to oversee the reaction of an F1 car."



"In racing there are many circumstances which are new, which are unexpected. In testing conditions you drive only on consistency. In racing there are a lot more possibilities happening. Also from a young driver point of view it is always a big challenge when you enter F1, that's for sure, it was for me and for everybody. Even if you have F3000 experience. We should give people a chance to develop themselves. Luckily testing is not forbidden yet. If that would be the case it would be even more difficult for young people entering F1."



"I'm thinking about more people than I did before. It's certainly a bit different when you get a wake-up call in the middle of the night! But it's a nice experience, and we're very happy about our new addition to the family."