Pat Symonds Q&A
Benetton had a terrible season in 1999, slipping to sixth in the constructors' table after Jordan and Stewart surged ahead. However this year the team has fought back, inspired by the news of Renault's purchase of the whole operation before the Brazilian GP. Incredibly, only four times this year has anyone other than a McLaren or Ferrari driver actually stood on a podium - and three times it has been Giancarlo Fisichella. Ralf Schumacher was third in Australia, and then the Italian was third in Brazil, Monaco and Canada. In the first race he was eventually bumped up to second after David Coulthard was excluded. The team is now battling with Williams, BAR and Jordan for third place in the championship, while Fisichella is the best placed driver outside the top two teams, in fifth. Adam Cooper spoke to technical director Pat Symonds about the season so far, and the future with Renault

"I thought we would get on the podium this year. We've had a bit of luck go our way, for sure. It's been a better year than last year, which was obviously a very, very poor year by our standards. I believe we can finish third in the championship this year, and I guess that realistically that's not a bad achievement. But we're not in this game to finish third. It's only winning that really excites me, so I can't call it a good year!"
"I think we've got a much better car. Last year's car was quite troublesome. It had some problems that we identified as the season went on, but we really weren't able to cure them, without a complete redesign. We managed to eliminate a lot of those areas in the new car, so we've got a much more user-friendly car. The whole lot is working better - the engine is a lot better this year - so it's coming together."
"No, I don't think you can say that it's caused some immediate changes, but it does allow us to plan into the future. And that's very gratifying. As a team over the last few years Benetton has not been very rich. We're still a big team, but really operating on a small team's budget. That's been very hard to live with. I think now we can see the future with Renault, and that's very exciting."
"I think it's going to be great. Since Renault pulled out a few years ago a large part of our work has been trying to put us into a position to get them back, or to attract another a major manufacturer. But Renault was always my first choice. So this is the first part of fulfilling a bit of an ambition. There's a lot of work to do to justify the faith that they've put in the team, but I think we can do it."
"Yes, absolutely. It's becoming a very big job these days. Mike's a great guy, and I think we are going to really move on with him. So it is a very important part of the jigsaw."
"In the time he's been with us he's always driven well, but I think this year he's shown a lot more maturity and put a lot of effort in. Occasionally I was critical of him last year, but equally we gave him a very difficult car to drive. His finishing record this year is superb, and he's had some very good races. I would be very pleased if we keep him. He's yet to win a race, and that's always a bit of a landmark for any driver. But I think that will come reasonably soon, and then I think we'll just see him grow and grow."
"Yes, it's been a great disappointment. It's quite hard to understand, and we've obviously put a lot of effort into trying to understand it, trying to sort out the problems. It's has been difficult. At the moment Alex has no points and yet we've been third or fourth in the championship. If he could just get a few it really would make our life a lot easier."
"It's hard to say that there's one area where Alex is losing out. He's had quite a bit of luck go against him. He's always qualified behind Giancarlo this year, and sometimes it's by quite a small amount, and it's a little mistake here, or a yellow flag there. Things could be so different, but they're not, and that's motor racing."
"The stewards said it was a racing incident, and from what I've seen on the video, I have to agree. Giancarlo and Michael made similar starts. I think Michael's move was legitimate. Giancarlo maybe didn't expect him to come across and brake that early, but it's one of those things. I don't think there's much to complain about. I think the stewards were absolutely right."
"He had an alternator failure. The battery voltage dropped, the gearbox control unit lost control of the gearbox, put it into first gear, overrevved the engine, locked the back wheels, and spun him off the circuit!"
"Yes, it's annoying. I think the worst thing is that in every other sport you get a streaker with big tits, and we get a bloke in a plastic mac!"
Latest news
FIA finalises 2026 Formula 1 power unit regulations
The FIA has finally approved the wording of the 2026 Formula 1 power unit regulations, which in turn paves the way for Porsche to enter in partnership with Red Bull.
F1 porpoising and roll hoop rules changes ratified by FIA
The FIA’s World Motor Sport Council has approved changes to the floor regulations in Formula 1 for 2023 to prevent the porpoising phenomenon seen this year.
Why Mercedes steered clear of an F1 car concept revamp despite early struggles
Mercedes opted against revamping its Formula 1 car concept despite its early struggles in 2022 as it felt following other designs would "only get you so far."
How one of F1’s greatest names was revived
With its eponymous Formula 1 team falling into obscurity in the 90s, the Brabham name looked relegated to the manufacturers' history books. But after a long legal battle, the family reclaimed its rights and in 2018 launched Brabham Automotive. David Brabham discusses what came next for the iconic brand
How a bad car creates the ultimate engineering challenge
While creating a car that is woefully off the pace is a nightmare scenario for any team, it inadvertently generates the test any engineering department would relish: to turn it into a winner. As Mercedes takes on that challenge in Formula 1 this season, McLaren’s former head of vehicle engineering reveals how the team pulled of the feat in 2009 with Lewis Hamilton
The under-fire F1 driver fighting for his future
Personable, articulate and devoid of the usual racing driver airs and graces, Nicholas Latifi is the last Formula 1 driver you’d expect to receive death threats, but such was the toxic legacy of his part in last year’s explosive season finale. And now, as ALEX KALINAUCKAS explains, he faces a battle to keep his place on the F1 grid…
The strange tyre travails faced by F1’s past heroes
Modern grand prix drivers like to think the tyres they work with are unusually difficult and temperamental. But, says MAURICE HAMILTON, their predecessors faced many of the same challenges – and some even stranger…
The returning fan car revolution that could suit F1
Gordon Murray's Brabham BT46B 'fan car' was Formula 1 engineering at perhaps its most outlandish. Now fan technology has been successfully utilised on the McMurtry Speirling at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, could it be adopted by grand prix racing once again?
Hamilton's first experience of turning silver into gold
The seven-time Formula 1 world champion has been lumbered with a duff car before the 2022 Mercedes. Back in 2009, McLaren’s alchemists transformed the disastrous MP4-24 into a winning car with Lewis Hamilton at the wheel. And now it’s happening again at his current team, but can the rate of progress be matched this year?
Why few could blame Leclerc for following the example of Hamilton’s exit bombshell
OPINION: Ferrari's numerous strategy blunders, as well as some of his own mistakes, have cost Charles Leclerc dearly in the 2022 Formula 1 title battle in the first half of the season. Though he is locked into a deal with Ferrari, few could blame Leclerc if he ultimately wanted to look elsewhere - just as Lewis Hamilton did with McLaren 10 years prior
The other McLaren exile hoping to follow Perez's path to a top F1 seat
After being ditched by McLaren earlier in his F1 career Sergio Perez fought his way back into a seat with a leading team. BEN EDWARDS thinks the same could be happening to another member of the current grid
How studying Schumacher helped make Coulthard a McLaren F1 mainstay
Winner of 13 grands prix including Monaco and survivor of a life-changing plane crash, David Coulthard could be forgiven for having eased into a quiet retirement – but, as MARK GALLAGHER explains, in fact he’s busier than ever, running an award-winning media company and championing diversity in motor racing. Not bad for someone who, by his own admission, wasn’t quite the fastest driver of his generation…