Q & A with Toyota's John Howett

John Howett: Well, we are still not in the middle yet. So...

Q. Were you expecting such a strong performance coming into the weekend?

JH: I think we thought we'd have a strong performance because actually we looked fairly strong in Hockenheim.

Q. What is it about this track that suits the car?

JH: Well, it is fairly high downforce and we have got a lot of downforce that we can put on the car. Probably, through sector two and three we are very quick. We also have a good set-up for here, historically we have been very strong here in the last two or three years.

Q. Looking at the tracks ahead, which ones do you expect to be stronger at?

JH: We are trying to be strong everywhere. We are trying to put more on the car, but are mindful that we have a massive change in terms of the profile of the aerodynamics for next year. So, everyone is reaching that dilemma I think. Between ourselves, Renault and Red Bull it is partly track dependent - and the question will be who can put the most on in the last few weeks before we have to start on next year's car without stop.

Q. Was there anything new on the car here other than Hungary-specific stuff?

JH: We put the shark fin on, which definitely seemed to give the drivers a bit more confidence. I am not sure, as all the teams are saying, that you can see it in the data, but somehow there is a bit more feeling that the drivers feels more confident. So we put that on what is a fairly high downforce package.

Q. You had a problem with the refuelling rig that cost you about five seconds. Without that, do you think the win was possible in Hungary?

JH: Well, one would say you were closer, but you can't say by how much. Heikki Kovalainen lifted a bit towards the end to save the car for the next race, and I am delighted for him. Personally I have a lot of sympathy for him, so I am really, really happy.

Q. How much has Timo Glock come on in the last few races?

JH: Honestly speaking, from our side, he has had the pace all the time. But sometimes under pressure he has not been able to put the qualifying lap - and you need the qualifying position to race well. At the beginning of the season he had a period of not too good starts, and I think now the starts are competitive and he can put the qualifying laps in. When you have got Jarno in your team it can be demotivating when you compare qualifying times. So, I think he has psychologically got over that.

To be honest, I think he was very, very positive about Hockenheim, because his race pace was very strong. And although he had an accident, it was I think much more spectacular looking than the real impact - and therefore I think he wasn't psychologically affected by the impact, but actually very confident that he could race at a very, very high level.

Q. You had a great 2005 season but things tailed off in the two years after that. Do you feel you are getting back to that old top form?

JH: Yes. We had a strong beginning to 2005 because we sacrificed 2004 with the regulation change, although towards the end we lifted. Last year, we had actually had a better season than the results showed and maybe we were given credit for, but I think now we have got a good team of people working together and it is coming. Next year is a huge opportunity and a huge risk. If you get it right you will be a star and if you get it wrong you will be struggling all season. So, we are mindful of that.

Q. How are you going to split your resources?

JH: Well, like everybody, we have been working a long time on the 2009 car. We are still forcing this car hard, but until we actually race in Australia next year I don't think anyone will know how they have done.

Q. So where do you put your focus?

JH: To be honest, I think it will be another couple of weeks before it is 100 percent on the 2009 car. But, even now we have been putting quite a lot of effort onto the 2009 car. We have been working on it for I suppose nine months to one year, but everybody has. We think we are good, but someone else may be better. We need to be paranoid!

Q. Apart from the improvement that Timo has made with his reaction time, the car seemed better off the line that it has been recently. Have you improved in that area?

JH: Yeah, one has to say that we have improved the car. We understand fundamentally now how to get a good start. It was tuning the engine to the grip, in terms of where we dropped the clutch. We were probably trying to be too quick - dropping the engine too low and our engine is probably a little bit low in bottom end torque partly because it is a frozen engine and you cannot do much.

I think we have a fantastic raceable package of an engine, but it is slightly weaker in terms of bottom-end torque compared to other engines. We have probably sacrificed the bottom end speed at the start, but we have not tuned it so the engine doesn't bog down and at the same time we don't spin the wheels so much.

Q. How was Jarno's weekend?

JH: To be honest, he hasn't been happy all weekend. He was pretty good in Q2, but in Q3 he didn't get a good lap in, and didn't get a good start. Then he got stuck behind Mark, and from that point on he didn't get many laps in free air. It was one of those races where, I think, given the chance he would have been in a much stronger finishing position. But there are no excuses.