Q & A with Jean Todt

Todt: We will never know. It's always easy after I think we finished in front of most of the teams who did test at Silverstone, so, simply, I think we lost because there was a team who was quicker than us.

Q. Were you expecting more, heading into this weekend, especially after the Barcelona test?

Todt: Alonso was not there, if I remember well, at the Barcelona test. Then from one track to another one, things are different. Some tyres on one circuit doesn't mean that it will be good on another circuit. We were competitive, but not enough to pretend to finish better than second and fifth, with Michael and Felipe, today.

Q. Michael was clearly quicker than Kimi today but lost a lot of time held up behind him. Do you feel that if he had been ahead of Kimi early on there would have been enough of a challenge on Fernando, or do you believe Renault were too fast?

Todt: To fly, you know? Two or three tenths. Two or three tenths is not a lot, but if you multiply it by 60, it makes twelve to 18 seconds and they were definitely quicker in qualifying yesterday. Michael, at the beginning, probably could have been quicker if we would not have been behind Raikkonen, but he was behind.

And then in four laps Alonso managed to take eight seconds on Michael and that was the end of it. And Fisichella passed Felipe in the pit stop. In a way, it was a good move that we managed to have Michael able to pass Kimi at the second pit stop.

Q. That lap of Michael's was very impressive; he went quicker than anybody in that middle sector.

Todt: He was the only driver using a new set of tyres. He had fuel for 19 laps and he did a very strong... but the in lap was very strong as well. It was the quickest in lap of all his race, with old tyres and then he did best T2, T3.

Q. What are your feelings about the championship? Do you think that Fernando may have established a decisive lead in the championship?

Todt: He has scored 74 points out of 80 so it's remarkable. He's quick, competitive and reliable, so it makes things more difficult for the others. Michael has 51 so it all depends on how the next ten races go.

Q. Is there any chance of reversing the situation, given that the next races are a double-header and a flyaway?

Todt: I don't see why flying to the next race will change something with the performance of the car. But development, we are going to test some new developments, some new adaptation to the car next week and those two circuits are very quick circuits and we have a very efficient, so I think we should be competitive, but how competitive the others will be we will see that when we are there.

Q. Where is the test next week?

Todt: Paul Ricard. Massa and Badoer.

Q. What developments are you testing?

Todt: Tyres and Montreal and Indy configuration.

Q. New bits as well?

Todt: Yes.

Q. What are your thoughts about facing Indianapolis again after what happened last year?

Todt: I hope we make the same result and that everybody will be there.

Q. Twelve months ago, Jenson Button was being linked with Ferrari and now in the run-up to this race, David Coulthard has been linked with Ferrari?

Todt: I can only comment that we never had any contact with Jenson Button, never, and we never had any contact with David Coulthard, never. That's the only thing I can comment. Maybe it's not accurate. I spoke with him (Coulthard) last year, at the end of the season, and I think he came and tested a road car. He asked me if he could test a road car in Fiorano. That was the last contact I had with him. That was for the Race of Champions.

Q. Can I ask you about Lewis Hamilton; do you talk to your son about Lewis?

Todt: No, my son talks to me about him. He gets on very well, he likes the guy, he's low profile, quick driver. But from what I understand, he has, for several years, a contract with one of our competitors and if I see the team principal involved at the end of each race, he seems to have a strong intention with him, but it's my personal feeling, so that's just my comment.

Q. Do you have any reservations about putting a guy with no Formula One experience straight into a front running race seat?

Todt: I think Nico Rosberg is doing very well this year. If you take Kimi, when he joined Sauber, he hardly got the authorisation from all the Formula One team principals and F1 Commission members to get a super-licence and I think he demonstrated quite quickly that he did deserve it. I think GP2 is a very good series and I think you can demonstrate and learn quite a lot out of it.

Q. When Kimi joined Sauber and then when Nico joined Williams, neither of them you would say are absolutely front-running teams...

Todt: I don't have this problem.

Q. Did you watch the GP2 race today?

Todt: Today? Part of it, part of it.

Q. Were you impressed by Lewis's performance?

Todt: Yeah, not only today. He did a very good job. Maybe he was successful as well because I understand his teammate didn't manage to start the race. He made some good overtaking but if you saw the race yesterday he was very good he did the quickest time during the race. Only third time in qualifying.

Q. Max Mosley announced on Friday that there would be a three year engine freeze in Formula One and plans for energy storage hybrid devices. What's Ferrari's feelings on those plans?

Todt: The engine freezing, our preference was what we called the Maranello agreement of some of the teams involved in Formula One. As there is no unanimous agreement, then it is obvious that the agreement which is going to be valid is the one existing on the technical rules for '08.

And concerning energy storage, on paper, it's an interesting project. We at Ferrari, we need to understand more, that's why I've asked some of my people from the road car division to understand a bit more because then it's something which could be of interest for us, only if you have strong evidence that it's something which can be linked to road car use.

You know, for us, it's very important the synergy between Formula One and GT road cars. If it's only something you can use in Formula One and not in road cars, we would not be interested.

Q. Do you support the move to bring forward engine homologation to 2007?

Todt: More than support, suggest. It would be a nonsense to spend a huge amount of money to develop the engine for the end of the season, on next year's season, and then to come back. Saying that, in Formula One it can happen.

Q. After the excellent test in Barcelona, did you expect to win here?

Todt: I thought we could have a chance to win. Unfortunately we finished only second and fifth.

Q. In this aspect, is the result a disappointment, second and fifth?

Todt: If you come expecting that you can win, and if you finish behind the first it's sometimes a little disappointment, yes.

Q. What are the reasons for that, was it the temperatures or...

Todt: Only one clear reason: one was quicker. That's the only reason.