© LAT Images for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd
Mercedes’ Technical Director James Allison attended the Azerbaijan Grand Prix Friday Press Conference. Here is the full transcript.
Q: James, thank you for waiting. Good to have you back in an FIA press conference. Can we start with FP1, a word on progress with the cars and also a brake issue was being reported over the radio, if you could tell us anything about that?
James ALLISON: Lewis went out with the Brake-By-Wire set to passive mode. So that’s not… he’ll get around the lap safely but it’s not high performance mode. Just had to come in and do a switch setting to get that back to good shape. I think in George’s case, the brakes were just a bit spongy. So that’ll all get sorted out for the next session.
Q: And what about these changes to the Sprint format? Is it something you welcome?
JA: Well, I personally like the fact that it’s… free practice is ace because you get to learn about the car but I think all of us like the adrenaline of the qualifying and the races more than the practice. So, although it feels loaded with fear and jeopardy, the fact that you get into the paying end of the weekend that much quicker; that there’s four scary sessions instead of two, that’s more fun, I think for all of us.
Q: And do you think we’ll see the drivers being more aggressive in the Sprint now that it no longer sets the grid for the grand prix on Sunday itself?
JA: I doubt whether that will be the biggest difference. I think the fact that this track is very much an overtaking track, will mean that they’ll take their opportunities where they can, but I doubt whether the fact that it doesn’t set the grid will completely change their approach.
Q: How much are you enjoying being back at the racetrack in your role as technical director?
JA: Well, just being back at the racetrack is a lot of fun. I’ve not been here for ages and, it is a place that is always fun to be at. It was fun getting on the plane to come out here, because you sit in the queue to get your check-in ticket and stuff and you see a whole heap of faces you haven’t seen for ages in all different teams. And that’s a pleasure as well, because there is a certain sort of family feeling to being around the paddock. So yeah, lots of fun coming back.
If you like SilverArrows.Net, consider supporting us by buying us a coffee!
Q: And can you explain to us why you’ve effectively swapped roles with Mike Elliott?
JA: Well, because, between the pair of us, we reckon that we would be able to cover the ground better with him doing my old role and me doing his old role. We’ve both got certain skills, and after a couple of years of trying it that way around, I think a sober reflection of what we’re both good at, meant that it would be a little more powerful swapping around.
Q: And what is your assessment of Mercedes current level of competitiveness?
JA: Little hard to know, because if you go off Melbourne, I think we were arguably the second quickest car there. But if you look at Bahrain, we were fourth quickest. I think we’re on an improving trend, but the tracks are quite different in the opening phase of this year and it’s a little too early to tell. What I do know is that there is all manner of opportunity to improve the car. And that we intend to do that.
Q: And you think W14 is a potential race winner.
JA: Yeah, why not?
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Ian Parkes – New York Times) James, welcome back first of all, even though you’ve not technically been away, appreciate that. James, will it be fair to suggest that, given the string of updates that we know, are due to come on board for the W14 that will have had Mike’s hand over it, that we won’t really see your influence until the W15 perhaps?
JA: I think that sort of question is often asked in one form or another, and it betrays – forgive me – it betrays a certain lack of understanding of how our factories actually work. I mean, our factories, the grid’s factories. It’s many hundreds of people, a thousand-plus people in some cases. You don’t have one person’s hand on a car, it’s just not how it works at all. Each person puts their shoulder to the wheel, and if the whole place is well set-up and well organised, that wheel turns more and more effectively. Even the great Adrian Newey would probably tell you that if you pinned him down hard enough. It is a very big team effort. And when I say that Mike and I would be slightly stronger, as a pairing, the other way around, it means that we’re able to put our respective shoulders to that wheel slightly more effectively, and help it turn just a little bit faster. I hope that that shoulder that I’m placing on that wheel will help from this point forward, and not a W14/W15 thing. But it is just a big team effort, the whole thing.
Q: (Jon Noble – Motorsport.com) Another one to James. What’s your assessment on the W14? Do you think it provides the platform for the long term and can develop into a world champion winner? Or do you think you need a wholesale clean sheet revamp for next season to go down a different path?
JA: I don’t think any of us would ever consider a wholesale revamp clean sheet, a good or prosperous approach. If the rules change, then of course, you have to change with them. But engineering is about iteration. And in all likelihood, if you tear things up, you are going to… I’m going to mix metaphors horrifically here… but you are going to just throw away an awful lot of baby along with a small amount of bathwater. Because all of these cars, from the top to the bottom of the grid, are unbelievably good cars. It’s merely a question of how competitive are you? Are you the best in the whole world? And necessarily, you are going to use the platform you have, and you’re going to choose the paths forward that allow it to get better in the fastest possible way. And almost never – in fact, never – would you ever tear things up and say ‘enough with that, let’s change and do something completely different.
Q: (Edd Straw – The Race) One for you, James. There’s obviously been a lot of talk about the development direction of this car since Toto talked about the need to change it in Bahrain. Can you just explain a little bit what we’ll see, in broad terms in the upcoming races? Obviously, we know Imola, there’s going to be a bit of a change of sidepod, because Mike talked about that in Bahrain. But how do you see these upgrades phasing-in over the coming races? And how big a difference can actually be made in terms of the direction? If you can somehow define what’s meant by that?
JA: Well, I won’t attempt to define what’s meant by that! This is often discussed out in your world, but we’ll just be trying to add downforce to the car, trying not to add too much drag for the downforce we’re adding to the car. We’ll be trying to improve the balance of the car, I think probably there isn’t a car out there with a perfect balance, and ours is very much less than perfect. And we’ll be trying to work on that aerodynamically, and in terms of platform control with the suspension. But you know, there’s no great revelations there. All the things that will make our car faster would make every car on the grid faster. And the trick is to try to make sure we’re bringing them quickly enough that we make a relative improvement on our competitors. But there’s no magic to that. So it’s not particularly mysterious.
Q: (Adam Cooper – Motorsport.com) Can I ask all three of you about the fourth power unit? How much of a welcome bonus is that, getting that partway into the season? Obviously, it’s partly being done because of the shootout and so on? And can you now make it to the end on four, or have you now switched your plan to assuming you’re going to use a fifth somewhere towards the end of the year?
JA: It’s sort of one of those things like the tide, it just lifts most of the boats equally. I don’t think anyone’s got horrific problems with their PU reliability this year. So I think mostly it will land evenly across the teams. So it doesn’t change a huge amount from a team perspective. We need to now just figure out how to deploy the extra PU in the best way through the year to get the best effect from it. But not a huge effect.
Q: (Ian Parkes – New York Times) Another one for yourself, James. In your previous role as CTO, you oversaw a number of projects, including Mercedes’ involvement with the Americas’ Cup, which I know you were very proud of. In switching back to TD, are you allowed anytime to focus on that particular type of project or other things that you were involved with?
JA: I’ve still got a small involvement in the boat project. And something which a TD would ordinarily not have the space for, but the fact that Mike and I are sharing work between us – him looking more at the long term, me fighting in the season – actually gives me a slightly smaller space than a traditional TD has to work in. It gives me a little bit of room to keep some continuity with a project that I put some effort into previously.
Q: James, can we just get your thoughts on this, because Lewis isn’t the youngest driver on the grid anymore. What do you put the longevity of these guys down to?
JA: I think in the case of Lewis… I haven’t worked with Fernando for a bit, but I can speak for Lewis, I guess. The main thing I put it down to isn’t the sport or the way the sport has gone, but just the slightly freakish nature of the gifts that Lewis was handed. He is dedicated in the way that Tom described Fernando being, self-critical in the way that Tom described Fernando being, and still able to pedal the car like a young man. So I think that’s more to do with the two end visuals than it is to do with the sport.
Source: FIA.com
