Sir Frank Williams Q&A

After finishing third in last year's Formula 1 World Championship, the Williams team is in a strange form of limbo in 2001. No one expects the team to consistently challenge Ferrari and McLaren just yet, but on the other hand it might not be so easy to maintain the position achieved in BMW's first year. As the team responsible for much of Michelin's development, Williams is inevitably seen as the French company's main challenger, and the tyres could be the factor that allows Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya to figure at the sharp end on some weekends. Sir Frank Williams is certainly relishing the prospect, although he continues to play down expectations. Adam Cooper spoke to him

"It will eventually. I don't think Michelin will be super competitive or equal with Bridgestone immediately, but we need something to close the gap, and even if we were equal on chassis and engines, we'd need something to give us an advantage over other Bridgestone cars. It's an obvious thing to do. But as to how long it will take Michelin to provide that difference, I don't know."

"I don't think we will have got it horribly wrong. It may take a short time or it may take a long time. But Michelin will do it. They're like that."

"It's a political matter... But I know what he means. We do all the work and they take the benefit. But life can be tough, life can be like that sometimes. And if Bridgestone retire, and I do hope they don't, then of course what can we do about that?"

"It's a racing engine, and it involves taking risks."

"Yes, but very calculated risks. These people at BMW know what they're doing. They go as far as they can, plus one or two per cent, to find out whether they're really at the limit or not."

"With the car one is strictly limited or regulated in so many areas. That said there's still room to be different, or still room to excel. But I don't know how good we are."

"That's a question for Patrick to answer really!"

"It'll be much harder to finish third than last year. It was hard last year, and it's always hard, so our hopes aren't high."

"Well, that's the kiss of death isn't it? That's what worries Patrick and myself."

"I don't really enjoy it, but we just want both our cars to have an equal chance of winning. If one drops out then the other guy can take the lead, or vice versa. So no, we don't really like to have any potential real aggravations."

"I don't know. I don't think it'll be that difficult. They're serious people. They haven't caused the problems, but the press just think it's a great story, and here we are reviving it again! I understand your interest, but I think they'll be too busy trying to move from fifth to fourth, or fourth to third, to be trying to stab themselves in the back or make life unpleasant for each other."

"I'm under no illusions that while he can look good everywhere else, in F1 he's up against the very best. He knows that too. I'm just going to sit back and watch the action!"