EUROPEAN SEASON ROUND-U
Q: AT&T Williams scored points in all but one of the European races. How satisfied were youwith the team’s performance?
SM: We were quite good in terms of consistency and pulled in a lot of points. The only exception wasMonza, where the car was uncompetitive, but we expected that because we hadn’t put a lot of effortinto our low drag aerodynamic configuration. We chose to focus our development on the highdownforce tracks that make up 90 percent of the calendar and that decision cost us last time out, butwe didn’t lose any ground to our nearest rivals in the championship
Q: Which have been the team’s best races in Europe?
SM: They’ve all been pretty good, except for Italy. The races that stand out are Germany andHungary, where Nico [Rosberg] finished fourth, but Istanbul, Silverstone and Valencia were good aswell.
Q: How much has Nico impressed you this year?
SM: He’s been doing a good job and driving really well. This has been his most impressive seasonsince he started driving for AT&T Williams in 2006; he’s shown he’s a capable driver and worthy of aplace in the team.
Q: What sort of job has Kazuki done for you so far this year?
SM: He’s had a frustrating year because he’s done a better job than in 2008, but he’s yet to score anypoints. He deserves to have some points to his name and if he had just half the points of Nico, we’dbe in a much stronger position in the Constructors’ Championship as well. But F1’s very close thisyear and a 0.3s gap to Nico in qualifying places Kazuki a lot further back on the grid than it did lastyear.
Q: What can we expect from AT&T Williams at Singapore this weekend?
SM: Singapore sees Formula One return to a maximum downforce street track. The FW31 has beengood on this type of track already this year, so I hope we’ll be back in the points on Sunday.Q: There’s been a lot of speculation in the press about AT&T Williams’ engine supply for 2010.What can you tell us about it?
SM: It’s definitely going to be a 2.4-litre V8, but I can’t say much more than that! All the engines on thegrid are pretty similar in terms of power and weight, although fuel consumption will take on addedsignificance next year with the ban on re-fuelling. I hope we’ll be able to announce our plans soon.
Q: Is AT&T Williams continuing to develop KERS for 2010?
SM: We fully support the use of KERS and always have done. Given the environmental andsustainability pressures that Formula One is going to face in the future, KERS is a positive step for thesport. It’s in next year’s regulations, so we’re continuing developing our system with a view to using iton next year’s FW32.
