Interview with McLaren's Martin Whitmarsh

Rather than achieving a record for success, Juan Pablo Montoya and Kimi Raikkonen delivered McLaren a different kind of first when they crashed at the first corner - as the team had never lost both drivers on the opening lap of a Grand Prix before.

The collision not only ended the team's hopes of a podium finish - with help of a one-stop strategy for both drivers - but served to prompt a wave of speculation that Juan Pablo Montoya's position at the outfit was suddenly under threat.

McLaren F1 CEO Martin Whitmarsh sets the record straight on what the team thought of the accident, and just what impact it has had on Montoya's future.

Q: Is that the shortest Grand Prix in your memory at McLaren?

Martin Whitmarsh: "In terms of total team mileage in a race, it probably is. I cannot think of a shorter one I am afraid."

Q: What is your personal opinion on the accident?

Whitmarsh: "If the drivers established a gentlemanly code of waving each other through courteously then there would not be any such accidents, but I don't know that it would make for entertaining racing.

"Kimi was trying to stay out of trouble, which he looked like he was going to be able to do. Juan was racing with Jenson Button and Nick Heidfeld. The three of them were alongside each other and Juan was squeezed on the inside going into Turn 2, and when Kimi braked, Juan braked but had a wheel on the inside. And he could not avoid hitting the back of Kimi.

"Juan Pablo felt he was being squeezed by Button, and in fairness Button was being squeezed by Heidfeld, and that led to the accident. If Kimi had not been there, then probably something was going to happen between the other three anyway.

"But I think that is motor racing. If you establish a gentlemanly code of waving people past, then you would not have accidents, but I don't think you would have quite the right level of entertainment."

Q: Were you confident the stewards would see it that way as well?

Whitmarsh: "Yeah. I don't think they were going to take any different view. Ordinarily in these circumstances you hear all sorts of opinions bounded around, and I have not heard anyone claim anything other than it was a racing incident. It was three guys all trying to get lined up for Turn 2.

"Juan wanted to keep the inside line and thought he could get them on the way out, which he may have been able to. But if you are on the outside in that situation then you try to squeeze those on the inside of you, don't you? I have not heard him point the finger at them, and I haven't heard them point the finger at Juan either."

Q: Does this hinder Montoya's position with the team for next year?

Whitmarsh: "No. I think getting good results helps us all, but the way in which the end of this race came about isn't something that the team is going to hold against Juan Pablo.

"Had he let Button and Heidfeld through and taken an ultra-cautious approach we would probably have had some view on that with him, wouldn't we?

"The disappointing and frustrating thing is we had a pretty good race car, and I think we had some tyres that were reasonable in the race, we were one-stopping and I think, and this is borne out by what Jarno Trulli could do, but the Renaults were not so strong.

"I don't think we could have beaten the Ferraris, frankly, but I think we could and should have got a third and a fourth."

Q: Are you still committed to going for these quite long first stints? It's been questioned before, but do you think now is the time to reappraise that approach?

Whitmarsh: "In the last three races we haven't gone ultra short, but I think you can get sucked into going ultra short because it flatters you and you go home on Saturday feeling better with life.

"But I think we were quite aggressive in Monaco, consciously, Silverstone and Canada even, and I think here, it was the right strategy but fairly extraordinary to have both cars out like that.

"Yes, it is more likely (to be caught up in accident) if you are further back, but they had both made good starts to get to where they were."

Q: Will the team be speaking to either of the drivers?

Whitmarsh: "Well, we have spoken to the drivers but not in a manner of dishing out reprimands. We have spoken to them to get their view and to get our view.

"I think both the drivers were out there to race and they made good starts. We would not have wanted them to have taken a different approach, although we regret the outcome - but that is hindsight. We have got no odds with either of the drivers about what happened."

Q: There was a rumour in the media centre during the race that Juan might be dropped for the French Grand Prix and Pedro de la Rosa would race instead. What do you make of that?

Whitmarsh: "There is no truth in the rumour. It is just a press room rumour, presumably for entertainment purposes. Would you? Is there grounds and justification if you look at it? There isn't, is there?

"Did he do anything outlandish there? No. The fact is that he had two choices - give way to Button and Heidfeld, in which case he would not have got squeezed so much and could have braked, or hold his position relative to those two.

"Unfortunately when he braked he had his front left slightly off the circuit and lacking grip. That did not give him the ability to stop in time.

"I think if you look at it, you can regret the outcome. But you cannot say he should have plainly and obviously done some different in a racing circumstances."

Q: Juan will be racing in Magny-Cours then?

Whitmarsh: "Yes, Juan will be racing in Magny-Cours."

Q: So that ends the Lewis-Hamilton-to-race-in-France rumours too, then!

Whitmarsh: "Yes! One thing that has come out of this weekend is that I want to calm all those rumours (about Hamilton's drive at Jerez this week) down.

"I have said it a few times. We have been very active and supportive of Lewis. We are continuing to help and support him, he is concentrating on the GP2 season, and we want him to carry on concentrating on that. There is no hurry for him, he is a young driver and we will bring him along.

"He is doing a service for the marketing part of the organisation, doing an advert. The testing programme we have [in Jerez this week] is in employing our two test drivers.

"I think Lewis is a fantastic talent, I am sure he is going to be in F1 and he deserves to be in F1. Gary (Paffett) is also a very, very talented driver, and I feel in some ways sorry that he has been in some extent eclipsed by circumstance, because he is doing a very, very good job for us in testing and he is good enough to be an F1 race driver."

Q: You have got a problem there, though, with Gary, Pedro and Lewis all capable of racing an F1 car?

Whitmarsh: "In the short term it is not a problem. But I accept that is a problem in the longer term if you get three or four drivers and try to get them into one car. It won't go.

"I think Pedro wants to race, he is a racer, but he is a very intelligent, mature individual. Recently he committed to McLaren and he would love to race, but he is mature enough to know that he is being employed as a test driver. We have not made any promises. Humanly we would be delighted to see him race in a McLaren, but he knows the situation there.

"With Gary and Lewis, then they both deserve to be racing in Formula One in the next couple of years. That could be next year for both of them in other cars."

Q: Realistic option for you to farm them out?

Whitmarsh: "I think the reality is that we have some options, but I think - as we have consistently demonstrated with Olivier Panis, with Alexander Wurz, with any of our drivers - we have tried not to stand in their way, if there is an opportunity.

"There is a lot of discussion about what our driver line-up is going to be, but the truth is that we don't have unnecessary pressure to make that decision [now]. The starting point is that Fernando [Alonso] is in one seat, and we are discussing with a series of other drivers who is going to be in the other seat.

"Whatever happens, we are going to have a very strong driver line-up, aren't we? We have just got to balance that. It is about managing expectation.

"As we have said before, over the years we have slowed Lewis's development and that has caused some pressure, but the reality is that we have made the right decisions and we have been investing time, money and effort in Lewis for over 10 years.

"He deserves to be in F1, and I am sure he will, but it has to be at the right time."

Q: Have McLaren signed the engine agreement that was put together over the Indianapolis weekend?

Whitmarsh: "Yes."

Q: Are you confident that the FIA will accept it?

Whitmarsh: "Well, if you have got unanimity, then I would be surprised if the FIA doesn't accept it. Because it is best for F1. It is better than the solution on the table, and it is universally accepted.

"With the engines being frozen in, if you have got an uncompetitive engine for the next three, four or five years, then where is the story? Where is the interest?

"We would all lose interest in F1 in that environment, everyone knows that, and I hope we are going to find a way forward now."