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Q. Geoff, what are your first impressions of the team?
A. "A number of separate thoughts. I'll start with the positive
side. We've got good team motivation. Good communication inside. A
very positive attitude to change. On the downside, we've got a lot
of work to do. Technically, we are somewhat behind where we should
be. We are not really able to compete at the level I'd like to.
Most of the issues we have are related to the technical design
quality and we have the resources, we have the people in place to do
it. We just have to give them a rather stronger idea of what's
needed and direct them in the right direction. Having said that,
there's a lot of other good things about the team and the
organisation. The organisation at the track, the manufacture, the
organisation at the factory. These are all strong things so it's not
all negative, but we have to accept that we have a lot to do to
become competitive at a level that I think our resources can perform
at."
Q. What effect to you expect to be able to have this season?
A. " It's a good question. There are a number of mechanical and
structural issues with the car that are very difficult to deal with
in a short time in terms of weight distribution and centre of
gravity. There are some characteristics - I certainly believe we are
deficient in aerodynamic performance and we have some aerodynamic
characteristics that are a problem on the car. Those are much more
addressable in the short term but I would probably not like to give
a timetable for doing that. We have to get a little bit more of an
idea of what those problems are, but I would hope we could address
some of those problems step by step through the year."
Q. You need some more power as well and people talk about a step
forward for Canada. I know it's difficult to split the package but
how much progress do you think that could make?
A. " Honda are working on developing their engine all the time.
It's just as important. In this business, if you want to be
successful you really do have to have all parts correct: You have to
have your chassis and your engine and your tyres and your driver
competing at the top level. Certainly for us our primary task is
dealing with our chassis deficiencies.
Q. David - are you pleased with things with Honda so far?
A. "Relationships are not built overnight from my side,
although the team has been working with Honda for the last couple of
years and we are, I suspect, both in a similar position today. We
are working very hard to improve on things and clearly have a long
way to go to put ourselves up at the front of the grid. We're
enjoying a very close relationship with them, not just on the engine
side but on some chassis development work that we're working on a
long term basis.
We've had people working with them in Japan and vice versa. In fact
we'll meet on Monday for further reviews and that's something we do
on a regular basis. In general terms I'm very happy with the
relationship. Clearly it's got to bear its fruits but that will come
in due course, I'm quite convinced.
Q. Geoff, When do you intend starting design on the new car?
A. "I'm already thinking about it and we will start with the
beginning of the wind tunnel programme probably at the end of this
month and also we're thinking about primary layout, wheel base, fuel…
volume, gearbox… layouts - that sort of thing starts probably in
the next 3 or 4 weeks.
Q. David - do you think the Reynard situation will affect the
team?
A. " No - it has no affect on the team whatsoever. Yes - in the
early days there was always the production capability from Reynard
but the team is totally self sufficient these days.
Q. Geoff - you were working at Williams for a very solid team.
Can you tell us why you accepted this challenge?
A. "Certainly I think that challenge is one of the key words. I
had a long time working with one team and had been through downs and
recently through ups. I certainly felt that…was interested in…had
been talking about coming here. It was a number of combinations.
Part of my task had been completed at Williams. Trying to say 'am I
happy to walk away from a team just about to contend for a world
championship?' is obviously quite a difficult thing but, and
tempered with that, I had been there for 12 years.
You get driven for new challenges. Maybe we should take our
challenges because we tend to regret what we don't do more than
regret what we do. I've found a group of people, particularly with
David and Nick Fry, who have a positive attitude. We've done some
re-organisation and I'm very confident. I don't underestimate how
much work we have to do but we're going in the right direction to
solve some of those problems.
Q. You've seen the current car. So far, what do you think of it
and do you see enough improvement to be able to introduce a B spec
car this year?
A. What I've seen of the car so far would suggest to me that it's
somewhat behind times. It's indicating that there hasn't been an
understanding of just how much development there's been in Formula
One over the past 5 years. I'm sure the car got better year on year,
but unfortunately the opposition got better year on year much more.
When it comes to talking about a B spec car, it's a little bit of a
'how long's a piece of string' question because what constitutes a B
spec? I don't think for example that we would consider changing the
chassis but a substantial amount of the aerodynamic parts of the car
are available for relatively straightforward design.
I don't think you'd consider putting a new gearbox on the car if
that was what you thought would make it better. This year I want to
use a number of the parts of the car, to re-engineer a number of
them to try and get an understanding amongst the design team of
what's required, what is current 2002 benchmark engineering. And I
want to address a number of specific performance issues that will be
more aerodynamic than mechanical.
Q. David, what are the links between the team and Prodrive?
A. Prodrive is a management team working very closely with me within
BAR. Nick Fry is the Group Managing Director who's been working on
operational issues within the company, from manufacturing…he
actually chairs the weekly meetings that Geoff and his team have to
work on the performance management and the future of the team. To
his right you've got Hugh Chambers who is Group Marketing Director.
He's working on restructuring the marketing department to look to
the future and work out where we need to be in 5 years time. Apart
from that we've had a strong involvement in HR and the personnel
side of the business - sorting out a number of issues there and
restructuring the business appropriately. Recruitment obviously.
Basically we can call upon any of our resources - we are only 15 kms
down the road and there's already been a big cross over of staff
between the 2 businesses: in the past, not by design, but more so
today. If we need somebody, we can pull them in. It's been a very
effective and close collaboration. Without that resource, we
certainly couldn't commit ourselves to the level of change that I
believe we can achieve in a modest period of time. It's not a
single-handed business. We employ 360 people at Brackley in the F1
team and that takes quite a bit of organising. There's a lot of
infrastructure there and it's a close collaboration between the two
organisations. But it's at a management level only. It's not on the
technical side. The technical side is completely different.
Q. Geoff - how good is it to be working with Jacques again? There
seems to be a little Williams enclave around him anyway?
A. " It's true that there are a number of refugees here. Maybe
I shouldn't say refugees….positive decisions to make change. It's
certainly good to work with Jacques again. I haven't had that
opportunity for a few years. I think both Jacques and I have both
learned a lot in the intervening few years and I'm looking forward
to a successful partnership.
Q. David, has Reynard's demise given you any recruitment pull?
A. "It's a very sad situation because right on our doorstep 130
people were made redundant so clearly there's no shortage of talent
in the area where we are. We're surrounded by motor racing teams and
a talented pool of people. It's more of a very sad situation than
something we would be benefiting from.
Q. Would you recruit any of them?
A. "If we need anyone we will certainly be seeking to recruit
the very best people. If they come from there, they come from there.
If they come from somewhere else, they come from somewhere else.
Q. Looking long term David, this team will cease to become a
marketing tool for BAT. What happens after 2006?
A. "Clearly it's got to become a successful marketing tool for
somebody else and we've got to re-establish ourselves as do many
other people in the pit lane, have to think now it's not very far
away when we see a post tobacco era and I think that's a challenge
facing a number of teams in the pitlane. Its something we're already
starting to think about very carefully.
Q. David, there have been rumours that Bombardier's are looking
at a share holding. Has there been any change in share holdings
since you took the reigns?
A. None whatsoever. I know of Bombardier quite well from Lear jet
etc… but no communication.
Q. Geoff - you work with JV. You know what car he likes to drive.
How long do you think it will take to give him the kind of car
Jacques would like to drive to win races again?
A. It's a tough question but I think I know what kind of car he
likes to drive. It's the same type of car I'd like. A quick one.
There are a number of steps to do that. First step: make sure our
engineering is at the right level. Second step: get our performance
up. I would hope we would be in a position next year for both cars
to complete every race. We should be scoring points as often as
possible and we should have an expectation of every race that we
will be getting points.
In the following year I think we will be in a position where we…
are expected to be in a position, from time to time, to pick up
podium positions, not by luck but because we are at that level of
performance. It's certainly a number of steps up the ladder to get
to a championship winning position and with the level of
professionalism of the other teams, it's not something you
under-estimate it. It's a long hard slog and there'll be many other
people trying to do it at the same time.
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