Questions from the floor:
Q: (Bob Bull –
BBC Three Counties Radio)
Do you think it is possible to make the sport cheaper to run given that it is so competitive and the teams are so close?
Martin Whitmarsh:
I think the answer is yes. F1 is a very expensive sport and there have already been a number of initiatives... which I think have been successful. There have been other initiatives, some of which have been launched by the
FIA, which have sought to control costs which have been spiralling. We all know that in truth we can quite dramatically reduce the costs without ruining the spectacle. It is important for those of us who have been in the sport for a long time that F1 remains at the pinnacle of motor sport. But I think we can do that with some sensible measures which control costs. I think historically F1 teams have not always been successful at working together and having a common interest, but I do sense personally that in F1 at the moment there is a strong view from all of the teams that not only from their own personal benefit, but for the good of
F1, that we need to keep the independent teams in the sport. We need to make sure the sport is healthy and renewing itself, so it is time to work harder than perhaps we have worked in the past at controlling costs.
Frank Williams:
I think Martin has got it right. The only thing I should add to that which perhaps is relevant is that next year's car is designed very much to improve and facilitate overtaking. If that alone occurs it will be a big benefit to what you see on television.
Ross Brawn:
I think essentially budget capping was a nice solution as that really did reduce the costs. You have got x amount of money to spend and you can't spend any more. You can't argue with that logic. Our difficulty has always been in restricting the technical regulations or procedures, you close one gate and everything bolts through the other one that is still left open. We froze the engine and all that money was put into aerodynamics and other areas of the company. That's the difficulty. In the purest sense, if we can constrain the amount of money that is available to teams, then costs will reduce. We don't seem to have been able to find the solution with that, so I think we are going to explore the technical constraints or the operational constraints and see if there are solutions there. But we have just got to be so careful that we do not leave any door even ajar that people could push open and pour all their resources into it. There is talk of restrictions on wind tunnels which is possibly a relatively easy thing to implement but if there are no restrictions on CFD, then teams will pour all their money into CFD facilities and nobody has explained to me so far how we can contain CFD. It is a very difficult thing to restrict. I can understand you can only have your wind tunnel turned on 12 hours a day but I can't understand how it restricts CFD facilities. It is not an easy task, I agree with Martin, but there is a good spirit within the teams at the moment to try and find a solution.
John Howett:
I personally believe with open dialogue and shall we say with a good intent from all parties it would be very easy to achieve. If we don't get that, then I think it is challenging. We have the capability to reach agreement but it is having this very transparent and open dialogue which is very challenging in F1 when you come from an industrial background.
Q: (Dan Knutson –
National Speed Sport News)
Frank, could you give us a half-term report on your drivers? How do you think Nico and Kazuki have performed so far this year?
FW:
Nico [Rosberg] clearly is still learning, he's having rather too many accidents, but he's super-quick and we have enormous faith and confidence. [Kazuki] Nakajima doesn't say a great deal, gets on with it, has scored seven points which is really rather good since he's struggling a little bit to go as fast as his peers but he's a very good team member, works very hard and is very intelligent.
Q: (Takeharu Kusuda –
Lapita Magazine)
Question to Frank about your drivers: you have two young drivers, one is Nico, one is Kazuki. Kazuki spun today, I think Kazuki is not good at qualifying. Could you tell us about the differences between Nico and Kazuki?
FW:
Well, qualifying is tomorrow but, today, there's 0.2secs separating them, rather less than I thought there would be round this particular circuit. As regards Kazuki, his performance is truly encouraging so far today. The gap between the two drivers has been greater earlier, but he continues to improve. I would like to say he has very few accidents except for what we saw this afternoon. He's a great, great asset to the team in every sense.
Q: (Tomas Richtr –
TV Nova)
This question is for Martin and Frank: fourteen days ago Max asked your teams to put more pressure on FOM to give you more money from the TV rights, so you can pay more money to the FIA for its services. Any comment on that?
