Interview with Frank Williams

Yes, he acknowledges the FIA's right to investigate what it believes is a serious case. And yes, he also has sympathy for his colleague, friend and rival Ron Dennis, the McLaren team boss.

But more than anything, Williams is worried about the repercussions of the whole affair on the sport, and just at a time when his 'independent Grand Prix team' - as he calls it - is in the best shape it's been for quite a while.

Autosport.com caught up with the highly revered team boss to hear his views on next year's calendar, his driver line-up, and of course, that pesky espionage case.

Q: What is your feeling about the spying affair and all that has happened in the last few days?

Frank Williams: "It seems that McLaren and Ron [Dennis] are in a bit of trouble with the FIA. But whatever evidence the FIA has, I don't know what it is. I imagine it will come out, if they got it. The WMSC is meeting on Thursday, so we'll know soon.

"But the other thing to keep in mind, until that evidence comes out, is that every time we take an employee from BMW, or we lose one to Honda, or a Renault man goes to so-and-so, there's always some transfer of information.

"Sometimes it's very little information, sometimes it's of tiny value, and sometimes it's worth a tenth or two of a second per lap. It varies.

"More often than not you get very, very little out of anybody, because I think these days, most teams are clever enough to ensure that nobody except the very senior people knows the whole picture."

Q: So what do you think about the FIA contacting the drivers and requesting them to cooperate? It is unprecedented.

Williams: "I don't know all of the FIA statutes, but I guess they believe - and they're right - that the F1 world championship belongs to the FIA.

"They have the right to administer it as they see fit, providing that at all times this is within the law and operates with the expectations of fairness. And they seem to do that.

"Given that, they clearly feel they have a right to ask any competitor - driver, or team, or team member - in the championship to pass on to them information that they think is of an unsporting act or something like that, I don't know the precise words.

"But they think this is a serious case, and they seem to be taking this very seriously. And with a cynical smile I add, with the most enormous tenacity."

Q: Do you think that whatever the outcome, people are going to say this is a tainted championship? If McLaren win, the Italian fans will refuse to accept this result - and if McLaren are disqualified, other fans will say it's another proof of Ferrari favouritism

Williams: "It depends on what the outcome is after the WMSC hearing. It's impossible to comment on that now. Certainly they have this enormous... I won't use the word witch-hunt, but there is enormous tenacity to find out what happened.

"This may cost Formula One some business. Hopefully not, but it's in every newspaper most days of the week."

Q: Can Formula One survive a situation like McLaren being eliminated from the championship or something like that?

Williams: "Well that's pre-judging the outcome, of course. But I just have a bit of concern that if it goes on much longer, it will deter sponsors who are currently present in F1, or who are close to coming in."

Q: So you are concerned about that

Williams: "Quietly concerned."

Q: What about the fans who will be let down?

Williams: "Well, it depends on what the truth is. We assume the truth will come out on Thursday (in the WMSC hearing) or shortly after that, and then we can worry about whether the fans will feel let down or not."

Q: Without pre-judging, there is a clear threat that McLaren will be disqualified. The last time something like this happened was with Tyrrell in 1984, and they weren't anything as big as McLaren are now...

Williams: "I don't want to get drawn into this discussion - I deliberately kept well away from it. That's why I say we should wait until Thursday, when I assume the FIA will declare what evidence they have."

Q: Have you spoken to Ron Dennis, though?

Williams: "Not recently, no."

Q: You must have sympathy for the situation he's in, though

Williams: "Yes... But it all depends on what comes out, what the evidence is."

Q: Moving to a different matter, are you proud of the fact that you are beating the Toyota factory team?

Williams: "No, we're not proud. We are one second or more slower than two other teams. That's all that matters."

Q: Why are you so sure Williams will be back at the front next year, then?

Williams: "When did I say Williams will be back at the front? Anybody seen me say it?"

Q: Well, Nico Rosberg said recently that he thinks Williams can fight with the top three teams next year and Sam Michael is hoping to make a big step forward with the car.

Williams: "Oh, no question that our expectations - no, our target - is to get in among Renault and BMW. But to say we will be first or second would be totally fanciful. One second in F1 is a mountain range to climb, not just a little hill.

"We were all - except maybe BMW - a second behind Ferrari and McLaren at the beginning of the year. And we still are. And that's nine months."

Q: Can you comment please on next year's driver line-up? What is the status with Alex Wurz for next year?

Williams: "I haven't decided yet about Alex; I haven't taken a decision about him and therefore whether we need anybody else or not. I wouldn't say it's the last thing on my mind, but it's not of a primary importance. As for Nico, he is a fixture for next year."

Q: Well, the are some people who think Nico might be in one of the two top teams very soon...

Williams: "These are people whose head is in the ground at the same time. Their feet are not on the ground."

Q: What about Kazuki Nakajima? He's been doing well in GP2 this year, and Toyota want to help him. Would he be a candidate for a race seat with you next year?

Williams: "I'm smiling, because if you've been watching lap after lap [of the GP2 race], you'd have noticed that he's been a little bit wild - and you'd have known he was called in twice for a pitlane penalty, I think. Today was not his best day.

"But the good side of this is that he's trying on the limit, he's finding out how far he can and can't go. And he certainly doesn't lack courage.

"So if he comes out at the end of it all with a much better understanding of race craft, then it's a very helpful thing. He really could be a magic guy."

Q: Tonio Liuzzi would clearly love to drive for Williams and has been recently saying great things about the team...

Williams: "If you're trying to find out who's on the drivers' list..."

Q: I'm just wondering if he's considered?

Williams: "I can't make any comment at all. Alex has not been given a bad-news letter yet, and it may well be that he won't."

Q: Bernie Ecclestone is now working on the new Formula One calendar. We already know that we have Singapore next year, and Abu Dhabi is coming soon. Given that, what is the maximum number of races you would like to have in a year?

Williams: "Money has a lot to do with it, because everyone's paid accordingly beyond a certain number - and it's not pro rata; you need to be able to afford to run twin race teams and the extra air freight, which is a massive cost.

"And it's not just the race teams - right now a lot of the engineers and departments are exhausted. I get so much shit at times - excuse my language - so I'm not really sure. There's a limit to how much can be done in a year, especially when it's all around the world.

"That said, money buys most things in life."

Q: Would money buy 25 races?

Williams: "We wouldn't go that far. Bernie would probably do 20 if he can get away with it next year. It will just have to be discussed among the teams."

Q: Finally, are you expecting your relationship with Toyota to grow beyond what it is now?

Williams: "I don't see how it can grow much further, honestly. They've got their own team, we got ours; they're very helpful with the engines - very good people to deal with. It's excellent.

"But you see the sign above the door? We are an independent Grand Prix team."

Q: And how is the independent GP team doing nowadays? Are you in a healthy situation?

Williams: "Yes, definitely better. It was very tough last year, but it helped us be very efficient with our money - we learned a great deal about how much you can save without really hurting performance."