The Year According to Murray, Part II

Although he retired from full-time commentating a while ago, Murray Walker is still an keen observer of Formula One. Last week, Adam Cooper got Walker's thoughts on the top three teams, and this week we conclude our special two-part interview with his views on the rest of the field.

Q: Renault went into this year as double champions, but hasn't come close to repeating that form. What do you think has gone wrong?

Walker: "Renault, like all the F1 teams, is one that I respect enormously. Flavio Briatore, who is a man who came into F1 knowing nothing about it, has done a sensational job - absolutely sensational.

"In Pat Symonds, they've got one of the most knowledgeable and authoritative people in F1 running the technical side of the team brilliantly.

"To have won four world championships, drivers and constructors, is an incredible achievement. And to have won over Carlos Ghosn, who is the man who runs Renault and signs the cheques, and basically decides whether or not they stay in F1, is a great achievement.

"But it's worth saying that no team in the history of the sport has ever been successful year after year after year. Cooper were successful and disappeared, Lotus were successful and disappeared, Ferrari have been in and out and up and down through the years, McLaren have had several fallow years recently.

"And that's what's happening to Renault. It's very difficult to maintain the momentum indefinitely. But they're suffering from the problem that so many drivers and teams have suffered from, the change of tyres, basically.

"They are getting on top of it, and the wonderful thing about this season is it's getting more and more competitive as the teams get on top of their problems.

"Renault have got what it takes in terms of personnel, in terms of facilities, experience, ambition, determination. I can certainly still see them getting a podium this year."

Q: Renault has at least outperformed the two Japanese manufacturers. What do you think of Toyota's efforts this year?

Walker: "Looking at Toyota from an observer's point of view, I think they may have two problems.

"One is that the people who are responsible for running the F1 team are not allowed to get on with it and do the job themselves. You have the feeling that there are shadowy figures in Japan somewhere at the top of the food chain who are interfering or making a contribution which they believe to be helpful, but which in fact is a hindrance.

"I hope I'm wrong, but whatever the reason, Toyota have not really done anything noteworthy in F1, and it's now their sixth year.

"They're not short of money, facilities and people. In the end it comes down to putting the right people in the right places, and that clearly hasn't happened with Toyota."

Q: You are close to the Honda team. What do think of the season they've had?

Walker: "As far as Honda is concerned, F1 must be a great disappointment to them this year. I was privileged to be in the Isle of Man in 1954 when the great Soichiro Honda came over with his colleagues to investigate the TT and whether or not Honda should take part.

"They did, and you've only got to look at the success they've had in all categories of motor sport now to see what a wonderful company it is.

"And they're used to winning. So not winning in F1 this year, when it's a 100% Honda effort, must be a grave disappointment to them. But like Toyota, like BMW, like Renault, like McLaren and Ferrari, they are not short of money, facilities and people, and they will get it right."

Q: What do you think of the driver line-up?

Walker: "They've got two excellent drivers. I feel very sorry for Jenson Button, who has demonstrated that he can win races, and if you can win races, you can win the world championship.

"So the problem hasn't been Jenson Button, and the problem certainly hasn't been Rubens Barrichello, because you've only got to look at his record to see how good he is.

"Honda have just got to out the right people in the right places, and it will all come good. But just putting the right people in the right places is a difficult thing to do."

Q: Moving onto the 'privateers,' what do you think of the current state of Williams?

Walker: "As an Englishman, and someone who's known Patrick Head and Frank Williams since they came into F1, their downturn in form recently has been very sad for me and very disappointing for me. It was a culture clash between the German BMW and very, very English Williams that caused the problem.

"I'm optimistic now that they've got what is clearly a very good Toyota engine. and enough money to do the job, that they will get the job done.

"They've obviously got reliability problems. Reliability is not only design, it's implementing it and making sure that the right people are doing the right things at every stage of construction and implementation, and they haven't got it right. Hopefully, they will."

Q: Nico Rosberg is being touted as a future star. Do you agree with that?

Walker: "It's quite incredible, the father and son thing, with the Rosbergs and others. Nico potentially looks as though he's going to be as good as his father.

"His record has been extremely good from the driving point of view this year, but he's been let down by car problems. The fact that there were rumours that Ferrari were looking at him are indicative of the fact that he has got a great future in front of him."

Q: What about Red Bull Racing?

Walker: "If you expect instant results from money and people, Red Bull has been disappointing this year.

"But you don't get instant results in F1, it takes years, even if you've got the right people and plenty of money. I have no doubt that Adrian Newey and Christian Horner and their colleagues will get the job done."

Q: They have two very experienced drivers - are they two guys that you admire?

Walker: "They've got a very good blend in David Coulthard and Mark Webber. David is 13 times a Grand Prix winner, he knows how to get the job done. He's got experience, he's capable of leading the team, and I'm sure they're benefiting from that experience.

"Mark Webber has been a disappointment to me. I like him immensely and I thought he was going to be wonderful at Williams. It's a cliche, but we were all seeing Mark Webber as a second Alan Jones, but that didn't turn out to the case.

"He's been lucky in that he's got into F1, which is a very difficult thing to do, but he's been very unlucky in that he's never yet had a car that would consistently enable him to deploy his talents, and he hasn't got it yet, because the Red Bull has been unreliable.

"I believe fervently that Mark Webber can win races if he got the right car."

Q: You were close to Minardi in the Paul Stoddart days. What do you think of the team's performance as Toro Rosso?

Walker: "Toro Rosso are down the bottom. Only two teams haven't scored points, and they are one of them. They've got an extremely difficult job to do.

"Although the car is the same or much the same as the Red Bull car, because it's come from the same design team, they've got to be the number two team.

"And if you're number two that means you're not as well off as number one. There's not as much money there, there's not as much experience there.

"They're starting off from the base of having the Minardi team, which struggled for years, so Toro Rosso have got a fabulous job to do.

"Tonio Liuzzi did very well up to F1, and you could say that he hasn't been able to succeed because he isn't in the right team. This is a harsh thing to say, but if you're in F1 you've got to be the best. For whatever reason, I don't think that Scott Speed had got it in him to get to the top of F1."

Q: Super Aguri has probably been the biggest surprise of the season. What are your thoughts on the progress the team has made?

Walker: "I can't find enough words to say how impressed I am with what Aguri Suzuki has done.

"It's without precedent I think, for someone to have got into F1 in such difficult circumstances, with no time to form the team or get the personnel or get the budget, and yet get on the start line as he did for the first race last year. And they're getting better and better all the time.

"It's a depressing thing to have to say from the point of view of someone who works with Honda, but the Honda number two team has so far been doing better than the Honda number one team! So hats off to Aguri Suzuki."

Q: He has a very well matched pair of drivers, both of whom are very hungry ...

Walker: "As far as his drivers are concerned, Takuma Sato is, in my opinion, undoubtedly by far the best driver Japan has ever produced.

Whether or not he's a winner, we will have to wait and see, because he hasn't been in a car which would enable him to win. He's been on the podium.

Anthony Davidson should have been driving an F1 car in races, as opposed to being a tester, years ago. He used to compete with Jenson in karts, and very successfully, so that's how good he is.

"He's in the right place now, all he needs is experience. We don't know how good Anthony is going to be in F1 because he's not been in a winning team, and he's only been in a few races, but I think he'll get there."

Q: Finally, any thoughts on Spyker?

Walker: "Well done for trying, first of all. They took over a team that was in real trouble, and they are making what appears to be a very sincere effort to succeed.

"I don't think they will, because I don't think they've got the money, and money is what you need. But someone has got to be last, and if they're content to be there and be last, then it's nice to have them.

"Another thing in favour of Spyker is that if you look at the gap between pole and the slowest person on the grid, when Minardi were running it was typically 5-5.5 seconds. Now it's 2-2.5 seconds! That's a big change."

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- The Autosport.com Team

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