Blundell's view: 2004 F1 season review - Pt.1.

by Rob Wilkins

Four years...

Yes folks, this is the fourth year that I've had the privilege of speaking with Mark Blundell at the end of an F1 season to get his take on the year thus gone and, as an avid F1 fan myself, I regard it as a genuine perk of the job.

Mark is a great guy (Mark - pop the cheque in the post please!) and, over that time, I like to think we've built up a good rapport.

What follows is part one of Mark's F1 season review and, as usual, the former McLaren, Williams and Ligier driver is quick to tell it as he sees it. He comes out with some great one-liners and what's great this year is, thanks to Crash.net Radio, you cannot only read it, but you can also listen to Mark yourselves. Here him say: Schumacher is 'extremely dedicated. Nobody gets up earlier than Michael in the morning', or how about: Button 'was just on the podium every time you looked round. If there was a podium there, he was on it!'.

Just a selection...

So grab a biscuit, grab a drink and get comfortable.

Then get reading...

Q:
Mark, overall, what did you think of the 2004 F1 season?

Mark Blundell:
I think overall it was quite a sensible season in many respects. Obviously, there were some highs and lows, but you would expect that over the course of any season. I would expect a little bit more in the future. We have still got some people who came up at the back end of this year and I think the fireworks will start again for next season - from race one.

Q:
In contrast to 2003, when Michael Schumacher and Ferrari had to fight for both titles, it was a bit of a different story this year, wasn't it, more like 2002 in many respects, in that the Scuderia dominated?

MB:
Yeah, I think the story was over quite early in terms of who took the title, but there was still a lot of highlights throughout. Yes, it wasn't as great a season as we had the year before, when we had eight different winners or so. It was a little bit flatter compared to that, but again there were some stories that definitely were there as we went on. A couple of guys did manage to pull a few races off Schumacher and I think we were all joyful for that.

Q:
Is it fair to say that BAR-Honda and Jenson Button provided the biggest surprise of 2004, the former claiming second in the constructors', while Button notched up ten podiums, to secure third in the drivers' championship?

MB:
BAR were a massive surprise for me certainly, from where they finished in the constructors' - definitely in terms of what they put together for the overall performance. It was quite impressive.

As for Jenson, we've seen some inspirational drives from him and some impressive sort of drives, but I think he just got a lot more mature as he went on throughout the year. Even what he did at the end of the year, in terms of the Button-gate affair, has put some experience on his shoulders and gives him an outlook on what to expect for the future.

Q:
Were Williams-BMW and McLaren-Mercedes the biggest disappointments, in light of their form, or should we say lack of it?

MB:
I think those guys would be hugely disappointed to look at themselves, and look at their season and see the end results. They had trouble with reliability and that's something that they really need to get on top of. They don't want to run into engine problems - that is kind of a no-no. However, Williams will be happy finishing up with a win - that is good for any team - and I think they will be more than happy with that in the situation. There is a lot of work to do over the winter, but I still feel those two teams are big enough and experienced enough to catch up to a certain degree and fight Ferrari. I think it is going to be a lot more difficult for the future.

Q:
How did two teams of such calibre get it so wrong?

MB:
Well, it's a good question. I think it is no different to when you look at somebody like Ferrari four or five years ago, when they weren't really performing either. I think it is just a case of gelling together and getting everybody working towards the same end - and that doesn't happen overnight.

I think those guys that have been in winning situations as the seasons have gone on, now everything is starting to get back together again. I think McLaren, especially, looks as if it is starting to make bigger steps and progress. Williams have had a change of personnel and sort of there is a new generation coming through the company and through there philosophies, and that maybe will be reflected in 2005. But where you have had stability and you've had constant working relationships at Ferrari, that really has paid of big dividends.

Q:
Renault seemed to improve although they finished third in the constructors' behind BAR?

MB:
Yeah, definitely. They had the win there with Jarno Trulli, but I think they were probably still somewhat disappointed that they didn't make a bigger impact, especially after 2003, which was a much more progressive season. I think Fernando Alonso just lost out too, especially in terms of the inspirational stuff we'd seen the season before. But these guys have geared themselves up for 2005 and I think that will be the pressure year for Renault.

Q:
If you had to pick out your top eight drivers of 2004, who would they be and why?

MB:
Top eight or so... [laughs]

Q:
Go for the top six then.

MB:
Michael Schumacher would be number one, as he finished as champion again. His commitment was amazing, as was his focus, and he is extremely dedicated. Nobody gets up earlier than Schumacher in the morning - you just cannot beat the guy at the moment. But, saying that, we did see a little bit of drop of at the end of the year, and that might be a reflection for 2005, although I probably think not by the time he comes off his winter break.

I think Kimi Raikkonen and Jenson Button would be next, although it would be tough to go between the two of them. I would have to just put Button in front for his consistency as the second best guy of the season for me. I think that was one of his major plays of the year, his consistency really did reflect when he got to the end of it. The guy was just on the podium every time you looked round. If there was a podium there, Jenson Button was on it!

With Kimi, I think just pure speed, when the car was to his liking and when things were right, made the guy impressive. A couple of times, when he was out there running at the front, he just got slightly let down by machinery, but he was always a delight to watch when he got behind the wheel.

After them, I have a little bit of a struggle to be honest.

I'd probably put Rubens Barrichello up there for being consistent, but not really pulling anything off over the course of the year which sort of made any huge impact. Juan Montoya was again inspirational, but was not consistent enough. When he was in front and taking the win, like he did there at the end of the season, he was very impressive again.

Then I struggle to go on.
Q:
Okay, let's move on... of all the drivers, who should have achieved more in your view?

MB:
I expected a lot more from Fernando Alonso. I expected him to follow on from the year before and at least have a couple of wins under his belt. I felt there would be a couple of circuits there that would suit him and the Renault package - and that didn't happen.

I expected a little bit more from Toyota as a team, and that didn't really come to anything come the end of the year.

What I didn't really expect was BAR, and the ease with which Ferrari won the championship again - although I did feel that they would win it again and Schumacher would do it, I just didn't anticipate that it would be as easy as it was.

Q:
Looking at this season's F1 rookies - Christian Klien [Jaguar], Giorgio Pantano [Jordan], Gianmaria Bruni [Minardi] and Timo Glock [Jordan] - how did you think they got on? Who was your rookie of the year? And do any of them deserve a second season in 2005?

MB:
I don't think that any of them really set the world alight.

Christian Klien had the most stable season in terms of his position in the team, but he just didn't really give me anything to go against... he didn't really show Mark Webber up in any way.

Gianmaria Bruni didn't really do much for me. I watched him on the circuit a number of times and it definitely looked like he had a lot of commitment there, but it didn't come through in terms of results at the end of it.

Timo Glock came in and put in a couple of drives together which were stable and steady, but, you know, like with all these situations, it's not easy to jump in and set the world alight.

Overall, I don't think I would be giving the rookie award to anybody this year. I don't think anybody deserved to be over and above the other.

Q:
Jarno Trulli and Cristiano da Matta were both dropped by their teams. What did you make of this? Good decision? Bad decision? Fair decision?

MB:
Not so sure that it was a worthwhile decision.

I don't think Toyota really gained a great deal out of dropping Cristiano da Matta, as I don't think there was any real jump in performance. They'd probably have been just as quick leaving the guy in until the end of the season and keeping the team stable. But, then again, I don't know what goes on behind closed doors.

Jarno Trulli had some good drives. I think he sometimes really turned it on and then, other times, he was quite weak in the race, in terms of his performance. But I'm not so sure his working relationship was good - it was starting to drag the team down and they obviously felt it was best to make the change.

I'm not a big fan of changing guys halfway through the year though. I don't think it is advisable and I don't think it is in the best interest of the team in general, but when you get to that point, nine times out of ten, it is going to happen and, the minute the contract comes out of the drawer, that is when things are up.

Q:
Focusing on the Brits, what did you make of Jenson's, DC's and Anthony Davidson's performances?

MB:
Jenson, I think, we have pretty much capped off. The guy's got more mature. His consistency was second to none. He showed a real turn of speed in qualifying and the race. He probably didn't quite have the car under him necessary to get the job done and go to that top tier at any one stage during the year and win, but, you know, he's definitely a guy that has come on a lot.

David, I think, had a real tough time of it. I think he struggled still to get a lap under his belt during qualifying. He struggled to compete against Raikkonen. However, in normal fashion, he kept his head down and really got the job done when it came to the race. A lot of times, you analyse his races and he got caught out with some decisions, some of which would, on reflection, be what the team decided for him. Then, sometimes, he was caught up in a couple of incidents where really he shouldn't have been, simply because he was a little bit far down the grid. I still think he has got a great deal to offer for the future and I still think he is worthwhile candidate to have in any team.

Davidson is somebody who, on Friday mornings, was definitely a name to watch. The only factor for him is that there is no knowledge or understanding of whether the car was full of fuel or whether the revs were the same as what the engines were allowed to do in the race, what his configuration was. It's difficult to compare him against his team-mates, because those guys were in cars that had to do the remainder of the weekend and get a race distance under their belt. So I'm not sure that saying he was quicker than Jenson Button on a Friday morning, or whatever the case maybe, has any value. But, in saying that, he peddled the car round and put some impressive lap times together, and he is definitely a worthy candidate to be sitting inside a grand prix car. We will have to see whether that will come true for him somewhere.

Coming next week: The second part of Mark Blundell's F1 season review.