F1: BAR interview with Willis

Lucky Strike B.A.R Honda's technical director Geoffry Willis on 2003, 2004, the B.A.R
Concept car, the switch to Michelin and more

<b><i>Q:</b></i> You must have been encouraged by Lucky Strike B.A.R Honda's strong 
finish to
the 2003 season?

<b>Geoffry Willis:</b> "We certainly had a more difficult mid-season than we expected 
for a
number of reasons. We struggled to get the best out of the tyres during the
summer and it's fair to say the tyre war seemed to be going against us
during that period before it balanced up again towards the end of the
season. However, I think the final result of fifth place in the
Constructors' Championship is a good reflection of where we were in overall
terms of engine, chassis and tyre performance." 

@photo:left:filename:f1-2003-ger-tm-0119.jpg @@
"The final race at Suzuka was
one of the rounds that went to plan with two cars in the points and shows
what we should have been doing more often. To be honest it probably wouldn't
have changed our final place in the championship but we'd have been a lot
happier had we finished fifth with 60 points rather than with the 26 we
actually scored."

<b><i>Q:</b></i> It was the team's stated 2003 ambition to start challenging F1's 'big
three', how close have you come to meeting this objective?

<b>GW:</b> "We're on the edge of it. When everything went well we were getting into the
top eight on merit. But we weren't consistent enough. It was always going to
be a building year for us and overall the chassis and engine worked pretty
well. We didn't have any fundamental problems, however we did have a number
of reliability issues. Strangely enough we were one of the most reliable
teams on Friday and Saturday but then we'd get problems on Sunday. As a
result we've really concentrated on procedures and getting on top of any
faults much earlier in the process - we don't have an intrinsic problem in
core design but we need to focus a bit more on the last five per cent of the
task."

<b><i>Q:</b></i> Clearly you have learned from 2003; what are the current strengths and
weaknesses of Lucky Strike B.A.R Honda?

<b>GW:</b> "I think we now have got a good technical foundation on which to build. I'm
happy with the technology we have in the car and with the manufacturing and
the design resource that's now in place - we are going into next season with
a group of people who've worked together for at least a year, some of them
longer than that. So I'm very confident we can be braver still on design and
technology. We understand where we had problems last year. The big focus for
the team is on reliability and making sure all the proper procedures are
followed and that we have real control. As I said earlier, we are already
doing 95 per cent of the job properly, now we've got to make sure we get the
benefit of that solid ground-work."

<b><i>Q:</b></i> You've introduced an interim Concept car for the current winter test
programme, what are the reasons behind this move?

<b>GW:</b> "With recent developments, the reasons are three-fold. Reliability is the
top priority for us next year and the Concept car gives us the opportunity
to run the 2004 engine, the 2004 gearbox and essentially all of the other
complicated mechanical systems much earlier than would be the case if we
waited for the 2004 chassis. It also allows us to evaluate a few other parts
of the car such as the new hydraulics system in advance of waiting for the
new car." 

"Secondly, by running these reliability critical parts early it
gives us the ability to release the 2004 car later. We can therefore spend
more time on the performance development of the new car before setting
anything in stone, so to speak. The third reason is that we now have a new
tyre partner and tyres do have different characteristics, so it's important
we get as much mileage on Michelin as possible."

<b><i>Q:</b></i> Six months ago there was talk of racing the Concept car in the first 
few
flyaway Grands Prix in 2004, is this still the plan?

<b>GW:</b> "We will now be able to race the new car but we will also have a certain
amount of flexibility in our planning. As the 2004 car is only being
launched in early February, there will be only three tests in the run-up to
Australia and we will need full confidence in its reliability before we go
to the race. The probability is that we'll take the new car but we will
review the situation nearer the time."

<b><i>Q:</b></i> There are some new technical regulations for next year, what effect 
have
they had on the new car?

<b>GW:</b> "The main changes are some reductions in aerodynamic performance - we've got
a different rear wing ruling which essentially gets rid of the upper forward
element plus a bigger engine cover and rear wing end plates to provide
sponsors with more space. Overall they will reduce the efficiency of the car
and the amount of downforce by a bit - not by a huge amount. The other big
change, of course, is that we now have to use the same engine for the whole
weekend or incur a severe penalty. That comes down to making an engine last
for 750 to 800kms for the whole weekend."

<b><i>Q:</b></i> Will lap times therefore be slower than they were in 2003?

<b>GW:</b> "The rate of development is such that this will reduce the amount by which
we get faster. Next year's cars will still be faster but maybe by a few
tenths of a second less than they would have been without these changes."

<b><i>Q:</b></i> With the top four teams not permitted to run a third car during 
Friday's
first free practice session, will you be at an advantage over them in 2004?

<b>GW:</b> "Certainly, given the opportunity, we'll do everything we can to make it an
advantage. We are looking at exactly what we can do and how we can best use
those extra two hours on a Friday. There should be some tyre evaluation
benefits, too."

<b><i>Q:</b></i> How will the new driver pairing of Jenson Button and Takuma Sato work 
and
what are your thoughts on Jenson leading the Lucky Strike B.A.R Honda attack
in 2004?

<b>GW:</b> "Obviously Jenson does have the greater experience and he will have to take
a leadership role. We are expecting him to step up to that position but it's
equally important that both drivers have a strong input into the team. I'm a
believer that both the drivers should have quite a big influence on the team
by placing a consistently high demand on everybody around them. In terms of
car and engine, however, we will always ensure Jenson and Takuma have the
same car, the same specifications and therefore the same opportunities."

<b><i>Q:</b></i> You must have been impressed with the way Jenson settled into the 
team last
year and also with Taku's showing in Japan?

<b>GW:</b> "Yes, Jenson did a very consistent job for us. Taku, at very short notice,
responded very well at Suzuka. He had virtually no time to get himself
focused and he turned up and worked extremely well with the team. On that
performance, I'm looking forward to next year."

<b><i>Q:</b></i> Does Taku's position as a Japanese driver strengthen B.A.R's ties 
with your
engine supplier Honda?

<b>GW:</b> "It's got to have some benefits. Takuma's spoken English is very good and
it's helpful in bringing the Honda and B.A.R sides together. Moreover,
there's obviously going to be a cultural comfort in having a driver who
speaks the same language as those at Honda." 

<b><i>Q:</b></i> Taking a slighter wider perspective, how is the multi-dimensional
relationship with Honda functioning?

<b>GW:</b> "We've further refined the involvement of Honda engineers on the chassis
programme. There are now 25 Honda engineers working as part of the B.A.R
design structure in Brackley and there is also a separate group of Honda
engineers working on transmission research and development. That said, the
design of the car remains 100 per cent B.A.R. However the Honda engineers
are used as an integral part of our design process so there are
aerodynamists, mechanical engineers, transmission engineers, vehicle
dynamicists, control system engineers. We hold regular meetings every two
weeks between us and the senior staff from Honda and we've certainly made
big progress on co-ordinating our programmes." 

<b><i>Q:</b></i> Are you happy with the progress Honda is making on the engine front?

<b>GW:</b> "In 2003, Honda started with a completely new engine and then made a
considerable number of performance steps throughout the year. And now next
year's engine is completely new yet again. It's a lot smaller in terms of
packaging and weight reduction with a number of the concepts carried over
from the end of last season. We had a pretty competitive engine at the end
of last year - this year's will certainly be lighter and have virtually the
same power although it's got to have almost twice the life. So we are
certainly expecting engine performance to be good and also to enjoy the
benefits gained from reduced weight."

"Under the current regulations one of
the biggest challenges in Formula One design is to package the car in a
very, very tight space in order to get the best out of the aerodynamics. The
longer the relationship with Honda continues, the more we have the
opportunity to integrate the design of engine with the car."

<b><i>Q:</b></i> Why the switch to Michelin tyres in 2004?

"On a regular basis we review all of the factors that affect the performance
of the team - drivers, design, key staff, tyres and so forth. As part of
that overall assessment, we felt our longer term strategic interests would
be best served by switching to Michelin tyres from 2004 onwards."

<b><i>Q:</b></i> With all of the top F1 teams aside from Ferrari now racing on Michelin
tyres, won't this make life tougher for B.A.R?

"If the track conditions at a given race are biased towards Bridgestone then
it will give Ferrari a very good advantage. However, considering all the
information we've been assembling over the past 18 months, we are confident
we have made the best long-term decision for the team."

<b><i>Q:</b></i> There's definitely one additional Grand Prix in 2004 and perhaps two 
more;
are you happy with the increased number of races?

<b>GW:</b> "I believe the final figure will be 17 not 18; even so it's certainly going
to be quite tough. We are going to have a considerably increased testing
programme pre-season on top of a similar amount of testing during the season
as we had in 2003. There's no getting away from it, 17 or 18 working
weekends plus 48 days of testing is a high workload on those in the factory
and it's pretty tough on the race and test team personnel, too. But they are
all well motivated so we'll have to work around it."

<b><i>Q:</b></i> Come 2004, will you be looking over your shoulder for a challenge 
from those
behind you or will you be solely focusing on those four teams currently in
front of you?

<b>GW:</b> "The answer is we'll be firmly focused on those in front. Realistically next
year we see our competition to be Ferrari, Williams, McLaren and we'll see
what happens with Renault. Certainly, we're looking that way rather than
over our shoulders."

-bar-


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