MB:
It is very difficult to say - it was horses for courses. There were a number of circuits where Ferrari were strong and a number where
McLaren were strong. There was times when Ferrari was a little bit weak in terms of strategic decisions and that applied to McLaren as well. I would be very reluctant to say which team had the best equipment and which team did the best job this year. It was as much of a draw as you could get.
Crash.net:
BMW continued to make lots of progress and were easily ‘best of the rest’, but was that enough or were you hoping they might get closer to the top two?
MB:
They did a good job. They kept progressing and they had two good guys sitting behind the wheel, in the shape of
Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubicia, who pushed each other. BMW look like they are getting more understanding of what is required now, but whether they will go the next step is difficult to say because that next step is huge. It is tough to go from podium positions to scoring grand prix wins. When you have got the might of McLaren and Ferrari there you have really got to be on top of your game and have all the resource necessary to match that. We wait with anticipation on that side of things because we know that BMW have done it in the past and we will just have to see if they can do it again.
Crash.net:
Quite a few teams under-performed - principally Renault, who seemed to really struggle at the start, why do you think that was?
MB:
I don’t really know why Renault struggled so much. It is always difficult to analyse and see a team, which has been winning grand’s prix and championships previously, all of a sudden drop off the map. The same could be said for Honda as well and probably between both of those teams the expectations were high and the results weren’t fulfilling. You can say there was a driver change with
Fernando Alonso and maybe that took some enthusiasm and emphasise out of
Renault. But I truly don’t believe that one guy behind the wheel was the be all and end all. Look at
Ferrari, they lost
Michael Schumacher but they still continued their winning ways. Renault just didn’t quite have the package right and everybody around them had improved their packages. If you look back through the history books you will see that things go in cycles and maybe Renault will come back stronger next season or the season after. But definitely this was one of their weaker years.
Crash.net:
Honda, as you mentioned, had a dismal year and so too did
Toyota. Were you shocked by just how bad they were?
MB:
I was very shocked by what was going on with Toyota because we have been waiting and waiting and waiting for something to happen there and it still hasn’t come through. You just expect that the might of Toyota, being probably the number one motor manufacturer in the world, would deliver more on the circuit with its motorsport programme. But they still haven’t achieved much.
