by Russell Atkins

TO LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW IN FULL: CLICK HERE

Straight-talking Aussie – and 1980 Formula 1 World Champion – Alan Jones is never short of an opinion or two, and when Crash.net Radio caught up with him at the end of the 2007/08 A1GP season finale at Brands Hatch last weekend, he did not disappoint.

Read on to find out what the 61-year-old had to say about the current state of play in both F1 and A1GP in 2008…

Q:
Alan – 1980 Formula 1 World Champion – looking at the 2008 season, what are your thoughts so far?

Alan Jones:
Well it's early days, obviously. I think the status quo is beginning to take shape a little bit – Ferrari and McLaren are proving to be strong, and it's the same old pretenders and contenders up there. I think it's really going to be between Kimi [Raikkonen] and Lewis Hamilton.

Q:
With the Turkish Grand Prix coming up next weekend, McLaren have predicted they're going to struggle there in relation to Ferrari. Is that just gamesmanship, do you reckon, or are McLaren genuinely finding it tough to keep pace with Ferrari?

AJ:
I think it's a bit of gamesmanship, to be honest.

Q:
There have been a number of theories as to why McLaren have slipped slightly off the pace this year – do you think that has more to do with Fernando Alonso having left the team, or maybe the spy scandal of 2007..? What's your view on the subject?

AJ:
No, I don't think that [the spy scandal] will have affected them at all. They're not psychologically that tender, that a little thing like that is going to put them off their game. I think they've been around long enough and are now old enough and ugly enough that that's just water off a duck's back. I think they'll just get on with it.

Q:
Looking beyond the established 'top two', BMW-Sauber have surprised many so far this season given their poor pace in winter testing. Do you think they can win a race this year?

AJ:
They're knocking on the door. At the end of the day you really can't dismiss a company like BMW or Mercedes. They're giants, they have built the odd racing engine over the years and I think if anyone's capable of doing it BMW are.

Q:
Turning to the midfield, Renault seemed to take a step forward at the Spanish Grand Prix last time out. Do you think they can maintain that over the course of the campaign, and how far can they go with Fernando Alonso back again now?

AJ: