Pollock and F1: what's changed?

Some time ago, in the midst of political machinations at British American Racing, Pollock admitted that if he had to go through what he'd already experienced over again, he would think very seriously about getting involved in Formula 1 team management again.

So, what's changed?

"The hardest thing with British American Racing was continually having to put decisions through a board or committee," he said. "The minute you are run and managed by a committee you are potentially being set up for failure. If I had to do that again I definitely wouldn't want to be involved. An F1 team has to be a form of benevolent dictatorship otherwise it really doesn't work. The final decision has to rest on the shoulders of one person and decisions have to be extremely fast.

Pollock confirmed that his un-named American backers were happy to have him at the helm.

"Yes, scary isn't it?" he smiled. "The funny thing is, I'm not scared and that's not arrogance. There are few people in the paddock today able to do the due diligence on a Formula 1 team. Look at those that have evolved. You've got Frank Williams, Ron Dennis, Eddie Jordan and Peter Sauber who could go in and lead a team and know exactly what you need.

"I happen to come into that category, not because of my experience up and down the pit lane but because of my experience, along perhaps with Ove Andersson at Toyota, of having to build something up from zero and put the structure in place."