Post-race Q&A with Jean Todt

Kicking off the season with a victory was obviously the start the team were looking for, but team principal Jean Todt was far from satisfied - because Felipe Massa's gearbox problem in qualifying had cost them the chance of a 1-2 finish.

Autosport.com joined Todt's regular Sunday night debrief, where he began, as always, by addressing the media.

Jean Todt: "So definitely we are quite happy about the result tonight for the first Grand Prix. It is always important - the first appointment of the new championship - and, as everybody knows, it was the opening of a new chapter.

"We have started with new people, a new structure and new responsibilities, new cars, and I will say on the performance side we are quite pleased because we have demonstrated to have a very strong package - engine, chassis, team. Our weakness, we have not been reliable enough.

"That was because of the problem yesterday for Felipe, who started in the last position and he managed to finish sixth. So it was three important points, but disappointing considering the potential we had and he has demonstrated.

"We will have to carry a lot of effort in the coming days, in the coming weeks before Malaysia, to improve our reliability. But that does not mean we will not work to try and improve performance of the car.

"We already have a development programme that is underway and which will be pursued over the next days, weeks and month.

"But it was a really important, very encouraging and very pleasing result for the team, for the motivation to face the situation we have been facing. Definitely we are amongst the contenders for the success. We could verify that our competitors are strong, but we will be able to compete with them."

Q: In qualifying, especially Q2, the gap between Ferrari and McLaren appears to be quite small. But in the race, looking at the timesheets, the gap is almost one second. Do you believe that is an accurate reflection on the balance between the teams?

Todt: "We reckon on durability we were probably stronger than our competitor in the race. But if you take [Fernando] Alonso's qualifying time yesterday in Q3, even taking into account that he stopped three laps behind Kimi, still Kimi was very strong and the Ferrari was very strong - even in qualifying. But I think for this race it was a bigger difference in the race."

Q: Is the nine tenths an accurate figure?

Todt: "I don't know. It depends on the situation; when it was done. I don't think there is one second, but in the race Kimi was very good, the balance of the car was good and the tyres were performing well. It allows him to be quite quick."

Q: Ferrari have had a long relationship with Bridgestone. We have seen some teams struggle to react to the new tyres. Although they are new this year, how much of your experience with Bridgestone have you been able to drawn upon?

Todt: "So, I will answer it because you don't have to have a lot of technical skills, which is my case, to answer this question.

"We are not the only one who have used Bridgestone in the past and to be with Bridgestone this year as the sole supplier. There are other teams, I am not going to nominate them, but you see where they are. And the regulations are completely different, so the advantage is none."

Q: Did Kimi surprise you at all this weekend?

Todt: "Well, honestly, not really. We had the opportunity of meeting very early before the start of the season. And Kimi, he is exactly what I was expecting. He seems to be a bit more smiling with us, which you know is not our speciality. But still, we are very happy with him. And he seems to be happy with us."

Q: How is your relationship with him?

Todt: "Just professional and friendly. He spends time with the engineers, the engineers are happy with him. And he spends time with the team. On Saturday I had dinner with him and Felipe and they were happy. It is just a good atmosphere and confirmed what everybody feels in the team.

"So, again, when you have Michael [Schumacher] calling us when we are going on the podium it is quite demonstrating of what we are doing together - feeling happy together. And knowing the car has front potential makes us even happier.

"But still we have to be cautious, because what has happened over the weekend [to Massa] is not our standard, and we are not satisfied."

Q: No worries for the new era?

Todt: "Time will tell. So far, so good."

Q: What are your feelings about Felipe?

Todt: "Felipe is great. He is a good boy. He is a very talented driver. He has improved fantastically last year and he is really part of the team. The team love him a lot and he is a talented driver, good guy, we are very happy with Felipe."

Q: Are there any concerns that with the way the championship is likely to pan out, McLaren clearly gave the advantage to Fernando Alonso with the strategy there? You have two competitive drivers trying to take points off each other. Any worries over that?

Todt: "You know, we are just starting the season. Our goal is to try to be as much in front as possible. There is no number one or number two driver. We will see over the season how things move. At the moment we are completely happy to accept what happens, in whatever order, as long as they are in front."

Q: What did Martin Whitmarsh say to you behind the garages after the race?

Todt: "Congratulations."

Q: Is that all?

Todt: "Then we had a private discussion. Nothing to do with the race."

Q: When this car was launched, it didn't seem much faster than its rivals. But then at the Barcelona and Bahrain tests it got faster and faster. Arriving here, you seemed to have a big advantage over your rivals. How much of an advantage do you think you have?

Todt: "I mean, simply the first two tests we did we did not come with the right specification with the car. We started to come with the right specification in Barcelona and Bahrain. So that was the reason."