Q & A with Nick Fry

Nick Fry: "When we made the call to change Jenson to dry tyres it was perfect. It could not have been any better. We had been watching what the others did and we saw Scott Speed go out on dry tyres, muck it up and come back in.

"Then we saw Ralf Schumacher and he was the first one who started setting green times very quickly. The guys made an instant call and said: 'Get him in'. There was no hesitation. We got him in, he was on dry tyres and he instantly went quickly and then it was purple sectors all the way along. It was well deserved."

Q: How nervous were you over the last few laps"

NF: "One of the rather nice things is that the numbers reel down quite quickly and just watching the times Jenson kept going faster and faster and really vindicated the choice of tyres that he and the engineers had made.

"Really at that point, Alistair (Gibson) said to the guys: "Keep on standby but start praying." So they must have done a jolly good job praying - because god looked down and someone smiled."

Q: You have had a hard time this season with the media giving you a hard time, but time and again you kept saying 'we can win...'

NF: "Um, I have always believed it. At no time in the last five years have I woken up in the middle of the night and felt: 'We can't do this'. I have always felt that we can do this; it is only a matter of time.

"We are doing all the right things; we have been doing the right things consistently. I have been a believer and luckily everyone else has been a believer as well. Honda have given us tremendous backing to do that, encouraged us to take risks and encouraged us to experiment.

"The view has always been, as long as you are learning from it, even if you make a mistake, it will strengthen you and you will go on to greater things. Most companies do not do that type of thing. You have a fairly short reign if you don't produce the goods very quickly, but they realise how tough F1 is. But credit to them, they are a racing company and they like a challenge."

Q: How will this win change the team'

NF: "The difference for the team now is that we will be even less afraid to take risks. To win against teams like Ferrari and McLaren is incredibly difficult. And one thing that has really come home to us this year is just how tough it is.

"When you get to compete against the big boys you really know how good they are. I don't think we realised, even a year ago, how tough it was going to be. I think it has just given us confidence to take a few more risks and do things a bit differently.

"The choice of tyres this weekend was a big risk for the guys to take, but we knew there was a big opportunity, we knew if we did something a bit different then maybe we would get a great result and it has paid off."

Q: How much of a relief do you think it will be for Jenson after so much pressure and scrutiny to get that first win'

NF: "One thing that has been quite remarkable about Jenson is that the expectation at the start of the season, because of our testing times, was immense. Then it went a bit pear shaped after three or four races and then some not so nice things were said. But once we got through that, people just left us alone.

"We had our beating for not being instantly successful and then really the pressure was off. Ironically that helped us. The fact that fewer people wanted to interview us, the fact that fewer people wanted to have lunch with us allowed us to get on with the job of winning races. That pressure coming off when we were unsuccessful helped us.

"We always believed we could win - as I did and as did all the team. We just never lost that belief. The vice president of marketing for British American Tobacco said two years ago that you are going to be fine. If you lose the belief then you are stuffed. We have always had the belief and it paid off."

Q: The dry pace here looked good as well. Are you confident that the car is heading in the right direction...

NF: "Yeah I really am. Cars don't go from bad cars to good cars to bad cars. The difference between being great and being mediocre is very tiny. The car was designed well in the first place; the chassis reliability has been very good.

"We made a few mistakes but we worked ourselves up to a package of improvements for France, which didn't work in their entirety. The turning point was really at the Jerez test after that. We started to understand why they didn't work.

"Some bits we kept on the car because they work very well and the troublesome parts we took off, and suddenly in Germany it all came good. The work that was done was three months before France - it wasn't done between Magny-Cours and Hockenheim. Things don't turn around that quickly in Formula One."

Q: Jenson has talked about a big step for Turkey and that that is the one where you can expect to go well. So is there more to come-

NF: "Yes there is. We have been pleasantly surprised by the improvements we have put on the car from France onwards because they are relatively small. The big step is for Turkey and for Monza. We really expected the next step to be then.

"Frankly the difference between the car in Hockenheim last weekend and here in Hungary is virtually negligible - there is one tiny thing, just a lightweight radiator on the car. Apart from that it is the same car as last weekend."

Q: Was it a hard decision not to go up on the podium and instead let Takeo Fukui (Honda CEO) go up"

NF: "No, no, no. Fukui-san deserves the trophy. He has done a sensational job supporting the team and he has always believed that we could do it. So it is highly appropriate that Honda should get the trophy."

Q: Having Fukui-san here, did that realign the message between Europe and Japan"

NF: "No, it won't make any difference because they have always believed that we could do it. Fukui-san personally is a great racer and he is motorbike man from his roots, but he is a winning motorbike man. Nakamoto-san is the same. They have always believed we could do it and it really is something that we would continue to evolve. So it is not special in that respect."

Q: Does the win feel as good as you thought it would?

NF: "It does. The best thing is the people who are congratulating us. Everyone along the pitlane is pleased Jenson has won. They know Jenson has tried very hard. Even in some of the bad days, some of the competitors are the fairest evaluators of where you are.

"The first person on the phone after Hockenheim was Frank Williams, who rang to say congratulations, and keep at it. Frank has always been a great personal supporter. He is someone I get on with pretty well and although it is very competitive along here there is also quite a gentlemanly spirit in recognising when things are deserved and they give you a pat on the back. That has been a big part of it."

Q: Was there any point this season when you had given up on thinking you would win a race this season?

NF: "No, not at all. I knew what we had coming along in terms of development. I knew that ironically from Turkey we had some chunkier bits on the car. So I was always hopeful that towards the end of the year we might be able to pull one out of the bag.

"Frankly today was a pleasant surprise - 14 th on the grid was a tough position to drive from. But when he went from 10th to fourth in seven laps, and when I saw him overtake Michael Schumacher the way he did, it was: Go get 'em."

Q: Will this inspire young drivers in Britain?

NF: "I think it all helps. We have got some great British drivers. Some of them maybe deserve a little bit more support. Sometimes I think in the UK we look at exotic foreigners and think that they may have something special, but we have got some great drivers.

"And I am pleased to say we have got the number one British driver and we have also got Anthony Davidson, so we are doing more than our fair share and hopefully it will inspire the others."