Ross Brawn Q&A

"We were reasonably confident that it wasn't going to rain. Then with the unfortunate accident it started to get a bit closer, but we decided to stick with what we thought, which was a dry set-up with low wing, and it worked out well."



"I was quite surprised at how much wing Williams were running, because they ran a stack of wing, which meant that they weren't particularly quick on the straight. We knew Michael had quite a good straightline speed advantage, and he was able to use it. Unfortunately Ralf then settled down, and Rubens wasn't quite able to repeat it. It was pleasing, it all worked out very well."



"Yes. Williams made it easy for us, for sure, first Montoya and then Ralf. We were relatively trouble free with Michael. Once we were past the pitstops it was just a question of bringing it home as quietly as possible. All the excitement was with Rubens."



"He was not happy with the car all weekend. We need to have a think about what to do about it. But we didn't get a lot of dry running. Come the race he didn't have a lot of confidence in it, and you need confidence in the car here. So he was struggling a little bit. We got him out in front of Hakkinen, and then Hakkinen managed to get him on the first lap at Eau Rouge. Mika wasn't particularly quick, which meant that Coulthard then got him, so it all went wrong at that stage. That was that."



"I think he was a bit unsighted by Hakkinen. He was trying to get on the back of Hakkinen to really have a go that lap. He just didn't see it properly."



"I wasn't that disappointed last year. We came to Spa, which was the classic McLaren circuit, and we almost beat them at the circuit where they've traditionally been the strongest. I thought last year if we can do it here, we're going to be in with a shout at the rest of the races, and that's what happened. So I was not that disappointed with last year, considering that we almost won the race that they had a reputation for being the masters of, and it was a good start for the final four races of the year. This year Michael was fantastic. I don't think even if they had made better starts, I don't think they would have seen him."



"That is the encouraging thing, that we haven't had a particularly bad circuit, although Hockenheim was a struggle against Williams. Last year there were certain things that we were unlikely to be able to do anything about. Whereas this year, apart from the odd exceptions when Michelin tyres and the BMW engine have all come together, we've been very, very competitive on every track, and certainly as good if not better than McLaren on the same tyres at most of the circuits. So it's been a very encouraging performance this year, certainly another step forward over what we had last year."



"Well, there are a lot of good people at Benetton still there from the days when I was there, and it's a fine line between good team, good car, and things not quite coming together so well. For them it must have been incredibly encouraging. Fisichella made two great starts, which helped of course. I don't think he was quite as quick as the McLarens, but he made a couple of exceptional starts and drove very well to hold his position. It's a shame he couldn't hang on to second! But they must have been very encouraged by their performance."



"That's going to be very tough. At the test the other week Williams were exceptionally fast, and it could well be a repeat of Hockenheim, but we'll do our best to make sure it isn't. But they are a bit fragile. There was another engine failure here by the looks of things, and Monza is a very hard circuit. Either they're going to have to tone down the engines a bit, or they're taking a risk. Who knows? Maybe we can push them so they have to run the engine hard, and we'll see what happens."



"Yes, in a race where they thought they were going to be very strong. But that's what championships are about. They have a very good package, but you've got to have everything else, you've got to have the team and the whole thing. They're still showing signs of needing to put all the other bits and pieces together, and that's why they've not been such a strong contender this year. I'm sure they will be next year. That's why I praise our team as often as I can, because they don't make those sort of mistakes. You only see how difficult it is when you see what a hash someone else makes!"