Rounds 14 and 15: Istanbul and Monza

Written 8th September 05

 

Die-hard Toyota supporter, Filipino TF102, is back with his mouthful and dizzying interview series.

 

Nice to see you again, and I have to say that although you’re a little more prompt this time by doing the interview after just two events, you’re still a little late.

Yes, and I practically gave in to waiting for Spa so that I’ll just do three events in one.  I fully know that doing that would tempt me to pour more than a lot in just one sitting, which would not be good.  I’ve been busy posting various thoughts and issues lately at the boards and I still have some ideas I’m itching to write about.

 

I see.  Looking forward to those again.  Anyway, Monza and Turkey were pretty good races for Panasonic Toyota, especially Monza.  What are your overall thoughts just to get us started?

Yes, I’m quite pleased with how things are shaping up.  Istanbul and Monza were both very satisfying but for different reasons.  Both were rather special, more than the usual tracks with lots of opportunities for livelier and entertaining racing – spectacular.  But just as they contrast in that Monza is one of the oldest events and Turkey is the newest, I also find some contrast in that Turkey I enjoyed as an F1 fan and Monza I enjoyed as a Toyota fan. 

 

What made the first ever Grand Prix of Turkey special?

To begin with the track itself was a challenge for the teams and drivers and as we’ve seen, in itself track, cars, and drivers made an entertaining formula.  It was a welcome bonus though that F1 upped the entertainment potential even more with new graphics and team radio broadcasts.  New additions were the Traction Control indicator, the lap series indicators for gaps between cars, and throttle and braking comparisons between two cars.  These were very useful, especially for viewers with horrible commentators, although they could use some improvement in terms of aesthetic value.  I’d also like to see average lap times of each car at the end of the race, to shed more light on race performance rather than just looking at the fastest lap.

 

 

 

Of course, it was fun to hear the McLaren and Renault radio broadcasts.  Any particular memorable broadcasts?

I remember Webber’s reaction regarding Sato after his qualifying run and there was of course the controversy from Renault.  I also recall that after taking pole, Kimi was advised that he was live on air.  First of all, it’s very rare we hear from the McLaren radio so that was a delight.  They were just so polite and formal – was that Ron or Martin?  All Kimi had to say was ‘Thanks, guys.’  I wonder what he usually says, when no one else is listening. 

 

So moving on, how would you assess Toyota’s own grand prix in Turkey?

It was okay, but we definitely could have achieved more, whereas in Monza we actualized our full potential.  It was encouraging to see Ricardo Zonta steal some attention from the all conquering McLarens on Friday but it was just frustrating to see Ralf at the start.  He was napping, like he had no confidence as to where he’d point his car.  He failed to deliver in qualifying, he lost it at the start, and he was embarrassingly slow during the race, like he wasn’t trying.  For his sake I just assumed he lowered his revs with a view to Monza.

 

But the pace just wasn’t there, and it was obvious that it was the BARs’ turn to carry the ‘best of the rest’ flag.

That is true, which makes things more saddening.  They were more than best of the rest, as they were capable of stealing places from Renault.  It’s one thing to mix it with the two front runners by virtue of strategy, it’s another level when you have the ability to overtake people.  They’d lose it in the end after the pitstops, but at least they have the ability to charge forward.  Awesome stuff, and I’m feeling envious.

 

Well, at least the tables were turned come Monza, and we were clearly best of the rest.

For sure, and after reading Takahashi-san’s report, I better realized how Monza 2005 will go down in history as one of Toyota’s sweetest success stories.  It’s one inspiring story, something to be proud of, as it highlights how Toyota has matured this year.

 

Well, how do you say so?  They’ve had better results, four podiums, etc…

Yes, but Monza showcased our ability to compete.  You see, as Keizo himself wrote, Toyota wasn’t faring well during the pre-Monza test.  They themselves knew it and even Jarno voiced concern that other teams seem more competitive.  It didn’t help that they busied themselves with the TF105B and next year’s V8.  And so they ordered emergency tests at the wind tunnel over at Cologne to find ways to further reduce drag, as they were not achieving the speeds they wanted. 

 

A clever, swift maneuver!  This means that Toyota’s improved competitiveness at Monza wasn’t just because other teams encountered problems.  That explains the convincing enough margin they had over the others, and even against archrival BAR-Honda.

Exactly.  We genuinely earned it.  We got to hand it to the entire team, especially the engineers – Monza was a very good measure of their determination and overall capabilities.  Sure some other teams may have actually experienced small problems that hampered their performance, but this cannot take away the fact that we improved by our own merits, good enough, in turn, to improve our competing ability.  Toyota Motors can find satisfaction by the fact that their investments at the factory are now productive.  Thanks to Mike Gascoyne’s influence in the wind tunnel program, look at what Toyota can achieve in one week!  In fact, it is very Toyota – efficient and continuously improving.

 

Well, it pays to have deep pockets.  Remember, while all this one week emergency wind tunnel test was happening, the same factory has been working on a revised chassis that could see race action at the last three races, and has also considerably progressed in the 2006 program, as Keizo himself wrote.

Just impressive, huh.  They do work very hard and very smart that it makes me reconsider all those things I wrote complaining about not delivering to the triple-effort promise.  Ah, but they need it too!  They need the passion of their fans – criticism and praises included.  Each success, big or small, is all the more sweeter if along the way you know you worked hard for it despite troubles, failure, and criticism. 

 

 

Indeed the tables were turned at Monza.  So what about the drivers?  What are your thoughts?

Ricardo once again stole McLaren thunder on Friday; taking that on its own we’d say he once again delivered.  Jarno once again produced his usual stellar qualifying run, but Ralf… He qualified a couple of spots behind Jarno, but aside from that I’ve come to realize he made the most of everything, and that means he delivered, too.  To his credit, his lap was clean and was good enough for a top ten, and he had a clean start and didn’t lose any place.  The downside then, is that he once again was Mr. Anonymous in the race when he could’ve been spectacular given his car.  But bearing in mind that he hasn’t raced in Monza for two years and therefore had difficulty setting up his car, then his Monza show was impressive, too. 

 

What about Jarno then?

Jarno was obviously fired up and it was noticeable that he was racing people, although losing to Rubens, Takuma, and Michael scared me a little.  I thought it was one of those days again.  I didn’t see him regain his spot from Michael though, as the TV coverage was bad, and a lot of the more important battles were missed.  For a while I thought I just missed that oh so rare moment of Jarno overtaking another car, but it turns out Michael just let him re-pass since he himself knew that his pass on the Toyota was not so legitimate.

 

The other Italian, Giancarlo Fisichella, finished third, and so after a long while it’s a case of an Italian driver, rather than *the* Italian team lifting the race for the home crowd.

Yes, and he was the first Italian to be at the Monza GP podium since Michele Alboreto in 1988.  Another special thing is the 100% reliability score, a feat last achieved at the Dutch GP in 1961.  I always wanted the Ferrari dominance to stop, but where they find themselves right now is more than a stop to dominance, and I feel for them.  They even went for ‘glory qualifying’ in an attempt to flatter.  Going back to the Italian driver, though, I think the R25 in the hands of Jarno would have done better.  I do not mean to antagonize the Fisi fans nor do I intend to suck up on the many Jarno fans on the boards.  The two were pretty even in the race, but in qualifying Jarno was Jarno and Fisi made a costly mistake. 

 

Is there anything else that made Monza special for Toyota?

We were genuinely fast and our race pace allowed us to benefit from our strategy, gaining and holding onto positions.  We’ve adopted conservative, heavy-fuel strategies before and most of the time they didn’t work as well.  Perhaps the Monza circuit also keeps the cars closer – I’m not sure – but this time our strategies allowed us to be as high up as P2, whereas before, the leaders would pit and rejoin without losing much if any position. 

 

 

Of course, let’s not forget that two very notable rivals faded away during the race.

Yes, and wasn’t that embarrassing?  Now BAR-Honda and Ferrari know for themselves how it feels to have done everything and yet fade away in the race.  Fade away is an accurate description and we’ve been there a lot of times before!  It would have been better, though, if the TF105s had some wheel to wheel action and overtaking moves.

 

Actually they did – remember Jarno, Takuma, and Rubens – only that the TF105 didn’t come out the winner.  To be fair though, we were vulnerable in those instances given our heavier fuel loads.

Yes.  And let’s be humble enough to acknowledge that though we moved up places we didn’t overtake anyone on track, whereas BAR did in their Turkey success.  There’s a difference between moving up and charging, or as some say rocketing, from behind.  I still await for that breakthrough day when Jarno and Ralf can slipstream and dive to gain places.  I dream of seeing them dicing with other cars, overwhelming them before they finally execute a passing maneuver.  It’s not impossible – remember Jenson passed Fernando in Turkey.  That pass was symbolic that there in Turkey BAR blurred the gap between themselves and the top two teams.  Jenson was just about to stop so he was already light but that’s beside the point. 

 

At the risk of firing you up for one of your trademark technical blabber, I dare ask – What do you think is the problem?

Listen if you want as I am going to tell only from what little I know.  So here.  It must have something to do with the car’s aero, as a car’s aerodynamics is obviously affected whenever the said car is behind another car.  Even leaving overtaking alone, we can also see that we find it difficult to follow another car closely.  It is difficult to literally inch toward another car unless the nature of the track permits it.  Maybe it’s the way air is fed head-on into the car.  I guess in terms of aerodynamic efficiency, the TF105 still has a lot of room for improvement.

 

But overtaking has been a week point in F1 in recent years.

Again, I just have to point out that some cars are very able in doing it, notably the MP4-20.  Drag maybe another concern, as shown in Monza.  Keizo says that the TF105’s downforce has always been competitive this year, but there is still too much drag than they’d like.  Hence overall aero efficiency – max downforce, min drag – is still compromised.  I just have to mention that GP2005 has been proven right in reporting about the TF105’s drag problem – that didn’t sound right – during the Monza tests.

 

But Nicolo Petrucci has been pretty handy, and of course we have one of the best aerodynamicists in Mike Gascoyne.

Nicolo Petrucci was brought in from Jordan only at the beginning of this year, and since he’s working on aerodynamics it’s safe to say his and Mike Gascoyne’s work is integral to what Toyota has achieved this year.  But, without meaning to take any of his contributions to our success, I still feel that we missed on other aerodynamicists.  I think few have heard of Nicolo and he hasn’t proven much before his work at Toyota.  Mike Gascoyne may provide the general concept or approach in aero, but imagine what else can done if he is partnered with Nicolas Tombasis or John Iley.  These two defected from their original teams to join equally attractive teams, when Toyota wasn’t an attractive proposition as it is now.  Tombasis transferred from Ferrari to McLaren where he joined Adrian Newey, and Iley transferred from Renault to Ferrari working under Rory Byrne and Ross Brawn.  Renault, Ferrari, and McLaren historically have always been aerodynamically strong, and they simply shuffled talent among them. 

 

 

I see.  But what really is the importance of overtaking, when race pace plus good strategy is good enough to win?

I think racing in the purest sense of it involves overtaking.  It’s just a lot more special to race or charge to the front as against merely driving to the front.  I’m sure the best of drivers would take the opportunity to go wheel to wheel over mere ‘driving along until everyone stops’ any day.  The ability to surpass others of course improves self esteem, and in racing, especially in the highest form, it can only do good to a driver and team’s reputation and credibility.  There’s a degree of awe that just captures the battle, the competition in racing. 

 

Fair enough, lack of overtaking aside you just can’t speak enough of how Monza was good for Toyota.  Do you think, though, that it’s an indication to the remaining four races?

Monza fired up Toyota and its fans, but it’s more prudent to not get carried away in high expectations.  For one Monza is a unique track where cars are fitted with one-off aero packages.  Another thing, the very next race in Belgium is quite similar to Turkey, where BAR outperformed us, and in fact actually mingled well with Renault.  And, this time they’re even having a new aero package and further improvements to their Hondas.  As for us, I don’t know what we’re bringing.  Another small problem is the fact that Ralf hasn’t raced there since 2002.  Spa was dropped in 2003 but it was back in 2004 while Ralf was recuperating from his Indy accident.  He took the last step of the podium in 2000, so that should give him some good confidence.

 

This has gotten long again, and we haven’t even touched on the many silly season rumors so abundant these days, and the B-spec car.  We have to cut this now…

The B-spec car was a rumor in itself.  We’ll talk more about rumors in our next outing, and we’ll have another unique way of talking about them.  So thanks to our readers, and remember, you can always visit my blog at www.screamingv10.blogspot.com

 

Thank you, too for your time, and until our next interview!

Thank you! One Aim! Watch us! Watch out! Go Toyota!

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