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Gazza looking forward to level playing field

Gazza with Stevenson
By Karl King August 2 2008
Force India's Mike Gascoyne was part of the FIA's 'Friday Five' press conference in Hungary yesterday. The team's chief technical officer fielded questions about KERS which is to be introduced next year and how the new regulations overhaul for 2009 will create a more level playing field which may give his team a good chance.

Here's the transcript of the press conference chopped about to bring you just what our technical guru had to say...

Q: First of all a question to you all: In the last four grand prix we have seen drivers who perhaps we wouldn’t expect to see on the podium and perhaps one or two drivers who we would expect to see on the podium not on the podium. What do you think are the reasons for that?
Mike GASCOYNE: Obviously in the last couple of races there have been quite a lot of incidents with pace cars. I think with the pace car regulations as they are now you can obviously luck in. It has always been the case under the safety car you can luck in and that happened to Piquet in the last race. People can get lucky, but having said that, he had good pace afterwards and drove a great race and made the most of it. But I think we do need to revise the safety car regulations as we have them. They are pretty confused and I don’t think they achieve what they set out to, so I do think we need to look at it. But it is good for F1 when things like that happen.

Q: Mike, what are your feelings about expanding the team for next year? Do you need expansion, further investment and more resources?
MG: Obviously, we are the smallest team in F1, a team in the last couple of years in its Jordan guise suffered from no real investment. Then under Midland and Spyker it didn’t go anywhere, there weren’t proper budgets and the team could not really develop. But over the last six months as Force India we have put in place proper budgets. They are still very small budgets compared to all our competitors but that has allowed us to expand, improve and bring some new people on board and we will continue with that for next year. And obviously looking forward to next year you have got all the rule changes. We have inherited a performance deficit really from Spyker and Midland and although we are catching that up, F1, I think, is perhaps its most competitive it’s ever been, certainly in the 20 years I have been in it. Although we have improved hugely compared to our competitors and we are regularly within a couple of seconds of the quickest car that still means we are the team rooted at the back. That is very good for F1 but that makes our life pretty difficult. But obviously for next year it is a level playing field. We do have good resources, especially in key areas like aerodynamic, where we can match the opposition, and we see it as a real opportunity for us.

Q: So you feel it is going to level things out rather than allow the bigger teams to pull ahead again?
MG: Well, I mean there are two schools of thought. In F1 over the last three years we have had rule stability and it has become very close. There is an argument that everyone starts from a level playing field, so it is an opportunity but it could mean also some people will get it more right than others. Therefore it could move the field apart. We just have to make sure that we are one of the ones that get it right.

Q: A final question to you all. There have been various reports about the KERS systems. What are your feelings about KERS at this stage?
MG: We have looked at the type of systems that are available. Yes, we are working with our engine supplier as that makes a lot of sense. We are also looking at systems in our own right. I think from an engineering point it is an interesting challenge but also from a racing point of view. It can provide some variation in the way you use the system and I think the message it sends out on energy recovery and for F1 is a very good and clear message. You are bound when you are developing new technology to have some engineering problems and some people have had them but I am sure we will get on top of them. To make the system work from the start of next year is going to be very challenging. But people will make it work and we will get on top of the technology and we will develop better and lighter battery solutions, mechanical solutions because that is the pace of development in F1. So it is just an engineering challenge and we will get on top of it.

Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) For everybody, there are a lot of rumours about the problems with the KERS: fire, battery explosions. Could you explain to us exactly what range of dangerous things there are around this new system please?
MG: I think the safety issue is one that’s being stressed but it’s just an engineering problem and an engineering challenge. At the end of the day, we carry 70 kilos of fuel around at 200mph and go round corners. It’s just a similar engineering safety issue to address. We have to go through it and be rigorous but it’s just like numerous other challenges on the car.

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