Patrick Head Q&A
The European GP proved that Williams is not just the third force in Grand Prix racing, it looks increasingly likely that the team will be the main challenger to Michael Schumacher and Ferrari as the year goes on. Interestingly, technical director Patrick Head is confident that the team will now be quick at any type of circuit, and it will be fascinating to see if it can win on a track that is not dominated by straights and chicanes. Adam Cooper caught up with Head at the Nurburgring

"Yes. I think the judgements on tyres and pit stops were pretty good. In terms of the amount of fuel we put in at the first stop, we were basically dropping back a bit because we had quite a bit more fuel in than Michael did. If it had run on and he hadn't had his penalty, he might have been able to pull it back. But I'm quite happy with it."
"I don't know from their point of view, but that was the lap that we planned to stop on. Unfortunately Ralf's positioning at that first stop wasn't perfect, and he was a metre out of position, and that just adds a second to the stop automatically."
"I thought he had more fuel on board than that, so I was surprised. I think he came in at the same time as us, because Ralf was right behind him, pulled over to the right to enter, and I think Michael was going to do another lap. Then as you probably saw he turned right and came in over the white line on the entry to the pitlane, or the red and white line. I think it was they who made the last minute decision to come in on the same lap as us."
"Not brand new tyres, yes. We did it the way it would have been optimum to do it. The Bridgestone new tyre worked well into a run, and it wasn't that way with the Michelin tyre."
"He did put certainly his left front wheel over the white line, and I understand from what's been said at drivers' briefings that a full wheel over the white line will receive a penalty, so that's what happened. If that's what the rule is, then it's like crossing red lights or whatever, and you have to follow it, don't you?"
"He was obviously annoyed to lose the chance to race with his brother, but I think he realised his situation there. I think he felt that a couple of times, once at the start when Michael moved from the left to the right, he had to come off the throttle because Michael just closed the door on him. And then Michael moved back over to the left to take the corner. At the end of the day Ralf is prepared to fight with the best of drivers, but I think he and Michael will be having a few words..."
"I'm very pleased, two cars in the points. We've quite a few unreliability problems earlier in the year, and two cars finishing and two cars in the points is the first time for us this year. If we're going to get ourselves up to be able to fight with McLaren a bit then we've got to do that regularly."
"Certainly we were very happy with the tyres at the last test, but every time you go to a track, depending on the track temperature and conditions, tyres can behave slightly differently. I think we should be able to compete at every race track from now on through the year. I hope we can make each race less of a two-way battle and more of a three-way battle."

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