Q and A with Paul Stoddart

When Sebastian Vettel took a surprise victory for Scuderia Toro Rosso at the Italian Grand Prix, few men were happier than former Minardi boss Paul Stoddart.

The Australian, who sold the team to Red Bull at the end of 2005, still has close emotional ties to the outfit - and was delighted to see them achieve something many thought was impossible.

Autosport.com caught up with Stoddart for his views on the race, Vettel and the future of customer cars in Formula One.

Q. Did you watch the Italian Grand Prix?

Paul Stoddart: "I certainly did, I saw it twice. I watched it live and I also watched the highlights."

Q. What were your emotions as it all unfolded?

PS: "I was just really, really happy for all the guys. One of the prime things when I sold the team in 2005 was who would keep it in Faenza and keep the majority of the staff. Seeing it all come together was fantastic.

"It was not as though it was a gifted win, he went out there and won that race. It was a good day in F1."

Q. Could you ever have imagined Toro Rosso winning this season when we spoke at the team launch in Melbourne?

PS: "Not really. But never take away the impact of an Adrian Newey car. The only two engines that have shone this year are Ferrari and Mercedes-Benz, so put those two things together with a very, very talented guy, and you can see what happened.

"Then give it a chance at, of all the places, at Monza. If you were writing the script you could not have done it better. I was just pleased for Giancarlo (Minardi), I was one of the first people to text him and Massimo (team manager). It was a day for them. Red Bull/Toro Rosso will go on to bigger and better things."

Q. Do you take some personal satisfaction from having kept the team alive?

PS: "You cannot take away what Red Bull have done and what Gerhard (Berger) has done. There has been an improvement in the budget. It was a justification for turning down offers to sell the team to people who were going to shut it. I could have taken more money from people who would have closed it down, but I didn't."

Q. Giorgio Ascanelli talks about the belief the team have got now. Can you see that?

PS: "He is certainly one of the people who has to be credited with the turnaround. You get times like this in F1, go back to Jordan in 1999 when the Mugen-Honda engine hit the sweet spot and the team could punch above their weight, it can happen.

"I believe in what they said, they have improved steadily. These are not gifted results, they have been earned results. And just look at the next four races. We have a complete unknown in Singapore, high potential for rain in China, Japan and Brazil, and they could end up anywhere.

"At the moment the car is performing to the max, it is down to a sweet spot of balance and being driven by two good drivers. Let's wish them all the best of luck."

Q. What can you see the team doing in future?

PS: "First of all you have to got to sort the customer car issue out, this is not going to make it easier for the likes of customer cars and not make it easy for certain other teams wanting to give them stuff. It is an issue that needs sorting out.

"Technically now, with Honda closing Super Aguri, you have really only got Toro Rosso and a decision has to be made about customer cars. My view of if it will be extended for a bit longer, but don't be too surprised to see them change the rules. If they have to funds the build their own car, that could be the difference between a successful future and a troubled one."

Q. Is it better for F1 to have successful customer cars than an old Minardi at the back of the grid?

PS: "I am torn on that question. The one thing that made me proud of Minardi was when we operated with a 10th or a 20th of our competitors' budgets and every now and again scored a few points when we punched above our weight.

"Toro Rosso have a world championship designer designing the cars, the resources of Red Bull, and one of the two top engines in competition this year and they made it all work, irrespective of what chassis is there, but part of me says is it fair?

"Is it fair for someone to spend 25 million compared to others spending half a billion, and be able to go out and win races? You can argue there is righteousness in both arguments and I am not taking anything away from the victory, but I do think F1 should be constructors only."

Q. And what do you make of Vettel?

PS: "It was a tremendous performance, but it was not just this one. It has been coming for a long time. We all saw him pouring his heart out and he has been popping up in difficult conditions. He will go on to tremendous performances.

"There are youngsters there in F1 who are babies and I don't mean to be rude to them. You talk about Hamilton, Kubica and Vettel, they are young, young guys who have a long future ahead of them.

"Vettel is world championship material. He had a car yesterday capable of showing what he could do, and he did it."

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Singapore preview quotes: Bridgestone

Hirohide Hamashima - Bridgestone Director of Motorsport Tyre Development: "The layout looks challenging and we have not seen any races on the circuit so teams will be relying solely on their simulations before cars take to the track.

"As with any street course, we expect finding grip to be the focus for many and the grip level to change over the weekend. The circuit layout looks interesting and this will be a very exciting, unique race track.

"We have looked at many different aspects regarding a race taking place at night and we have no specific concerns. Bridgestone have good experience in endurance motor races which run at night so this has been useful.

"The temperatures will be cooler than during the day and there will be no heat generated from the sun's radiation, but we predict an ambient and track temperature of around 27 degrees Celsius, which is warmer than some tracks we visit during the day. Ultimately, the way the tyre works at night will be the same as it works during the day."

McLaren happy with Kovalainen's second

McLaren F1 CEO Martin Whitmarsh says Heikki Kovalainen has no reason to be disappointed with his performance in last weekend's Italian Grand Prix.

He qualified alongside Sebastian Vettel on the front row of the grid at Monza, but was unable to challenge the Scuderia Toro Rosso driver at any point during the race and had to settle for second place.

Kovalainen looked disheartened on the podium but Whitmarsh defended the Finn's pace and claimed the team were not unhappy with the result.

"Heikki has no reason to feel disappointed," he said. "The reality is that he didn't put a foot wrong all weekend and he looked blindingly fast in dry, damp, and full-wet conditions. Fuel-corrected he would have been on pole position comfortably.

"He struggled a little with visibility in the early stages of the race and had a few difficulties with his tyres and brake temperatures, but we are not disappointed with his result. I think we recovered very well from Saturday, very consciously played the numbers correctly on Sunday, and secured a sizeable haul of constructors' points.

"Let's not forget that Heikki is fearsomely quick, but is still very much developing his approach. We have a clearly defined programme for him in the weeks and months ahead and feel certain that he will only grow stronger."

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Tost calls for customer cars rethink

Formula One should reconsider the decision to ban customer cars from the sport in 2010 in a bid to help make the sport more economically viable.

That is the view of Scuderia Toro Rosso team principal Franz Tost, who believes that the way Red Bull have managed to successfully run two teams shows how costs can easily be driven down in the sport.

He sees there being little benefit from forcing small teams like his to become constructors, because of the unnecessary financial outlay needed to produce a car.

"There are six manufacturer teams and 12 places, so I think there should be six manufacturer teams and six private teams, and each private team should work together with a manufacturer," said Tost, whose team will have to become constructors from 2010 unless F1's regulations change.

"The philosophy with Red Bull was always to have one engineering centre providing the two teams with the car. We have halved the costs, because our budget is a quarter of that of other teams and we are able to win.

"That means that what we have done so far from the efficiency and economic point of view is the right way to go. But the regulations are something different and therefore we have to change."

Tost believes in the current financial climate it is crazy to force teams to build their own cars, when manufacturers could so easily have the option to run their own works outfit and a customer partner.

"Look at what happens today in the economy," he said. "The great car manufacturers work together. Why do they work together? They do not want to spend so much money on development and research, which is exactly right because in the end the result nearly is the same.

"We are searching for a wind tunnel. I can tell you now with 150 people working in a wind tunnel, we will not bring a revolutionary car onto the starting grid because it is not possible from the regulation or the physics. All the cars look nearly the same.

"Colour them white and I will make a bet with you that there are not five people who can tell you which car belongs to which team. But regulations are regulations and we are pushing in this direction."

Toro Rosso are due to increase their staff numbers by 80 in the near future as they ramp up their preparations to become a constructor, as a lot of work is put in to finding suitable wind tunnel facilities.

"We are in negotiations with several wind tunnels and it's a tremendous job," said Tost. "I'm not convinced this is the correct way to go in Formula One."

In the shorter term, and despite Sebastian Vettel's shock victory in the Italian Grand Prix, Tost says he will be happy to finish the season with just a few more points-scoring finishes.

"We will move forward but we must keep our feet on the ground," he said. "If we score points in the last four races then I am quite happy. I don't think that we will be in the position to win another race this year because Ferrari, McLaren and BMW are still ahead of us. Not just a little ahead, but far ahead."

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Three teams kick off Jerez test

Three Formula One teams began on Tuesday the final testing session of the season at the Jerez circuit in Spain.

Only BMW Sauber, Williams and Honda were in action today, with another five teams expected to join the session tomorrow.

BMW's test driver Marko Asmer was the quickest of the three men on track, posting a best time of 1:20.189 after 79 laps.

Spaniard Dani Clos made his debut at the wheel of a Formula One car, the 19-year-old F3 Euro Series racer taking to the track in a Williams.

Clos completed 75 trouble-free laps as the British squad tested the KERS system for the first time on track.

Also testing the KERS system was the Honda Racing team, who used Briton Mike Conway for their first day of work. Conway, however, completed just 20 laps and finished nearly four seconds off the pace after being hit by a sensor wiring problem.

All three drivers tested thanks to the "Young Driver Day" allocated in the testing regulations.

Today's times:

Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Asmer BMW-Sauber (B) 1:20.189 79 2. Clos Williams-Toyota (B) 1:23.224 75 3. Conway Honda (B) 1:24.123 20 All Timing Unofficial

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Vettel tops the times at Jerez

Italian Grand Prix winner Sebastian Vettel continued to show his strong form by topping the times on the penultimate day of testing of the season at Jerez.

The German Toro Rosso driver, again at the wheel of the Red Bull Racing car, set a best time of 1:18.001 on a day that was disrupted by rain around lunch time.

Vettel covered just 37 laps after the team were forced to carry out an unscheduled engine change.

BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld was second quickest, the German having to alter his programme following the showers that hit the Spaniard track. Heidfeld was one of the busiest men on track, with 70 laps covered.

Lucas di Grassi was third quickest for Renault after 36 laps, the Brazilian continuing with an aero programme as well as evaluating various updates for the R28.

"It was quite cool today but the track conditions were good in the morning and there was definitely better grip than yesterday," said di Grassi.

"I'm also getting used to the car and the more laps I do, the more confident I feel. We didn't do any running in the wet, but we were able to test a few more parts this morning that the team will be taking to the race next week."

Spaniard Pedro de la Rosa took over from McLaren teammate Gary Paffett to continue with the British squad's preparations for the final four races of the season. De la Rosa finished fourth fastest, with Honda's Alex Wurz, the busiest man today, completing the top five.

The biggest news of the day, however, was the return of Takuma Sato, who drove a Formula One car for the first time since the demise of the Super Aguri team earlier this season.

Sato, seeking a seat for next year, was at the wheel of the Toro Rosso car, finishing as sixth fastest after 49 laps.

"At the start of the day we were collecting aero data. Then by the end of the morning we began timed runs, so I could really feel the car and I started to enjoy the laps," said Sato. "Unfortunately in the afternoon it started to rain so we had to stop, that was a great shame, as I was looking forward to proper running in the afternoon.

"Although I couldn't complete the day due to the weather conditions, I really enjoyed driving the STR3. I would like to say a big thank you to Red Bull and to the team for giving me this great opportunity."

Sato's compatriots Kamui Kobayashi and Kazuki Nakajima finished at the bottom of the times for Toyota and Williams respectively.

Today's times:

Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Vettel Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:18.001 37 2. Heidfeld BMW-Sauber (B) 1:18.167 70 3. di Grassi Renault (B) 1:18.999 36 4. de la Rosa McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:19.281 39 5. Wurz Honda (B) 1:19.499 79 6. Sato Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:19.574 49 7. Kobayashi Toyota (B) 1:19.863 47 8. Nakajima Williams-Toyota (B) 1:21.892 60 All Timing Unofficial

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Teams seek to equal engine performance

Behind-the-scenes efforts by teams to make Formula One engine performance more equal are set to be ramped up in the wake of Scuderia Toro Rosso's shock victory in the Italian Grand Prix, autosport.com has learned.

Sebastian Vettel caused a major surprise when he became F1's youngest ever winner at Monza, with a performance that highlighted the differences between his Ferrari-powered STR3 and the Renault-powered car of sister team Red Bull Racing.

The result has provided further evidence to those who believe that there is now a genuine performance gap between different engines on the grid. A number of manufacturers - especially Renault – have already spoken out in claiming that they have lost out by not developing their power-unit under F1's current engine freeze.

Although making improvements to the engines is not allowed, manufacturers can change parts as the FIA's discretion if it reduces costs or improves reliability. Such revisions can also have the added benefit of lifting performance. Further steps forward can be made from improved fuel and lubricants, and the airbox and exhaust design.

Sources have told autosport.com that a number of teams are so unhappy with the situation – which could leave them down on power until 2013 if the rules do not change – that they are now lobbying the FIA behind the scenes to try and level the playing field for next year.

"We just want to make things more equal between all the engines on the grid – as they were when the freeze first came in," said one source. "A number of teams share our feelings, and discussions are taking place with the FIA about resolving the situation."

It is understood that Fernando Alonso's decision about whether or not to stay at Renault next year will be influenced by if the French car manufacturer can address the engine situation to improve their performance.

Renault boss Flavio Briatore told Spanish newspaper AS at the weekend that the improvements made by Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz and BMW was being discussed by teams.

"We have discussed with the other teams to find a solution," he said. "The mechanical side was frozen and three teams took advantage of their reliability problems to move forward. I have met with Max Mosley a few times and by the end of the season all this might be solved."

Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner said he was fully behind moves to equalize the engines – claiming that it was inconceivable for the situation to continue unchanged with some manufacturers enjoying what could be as much as a 30bhp advantage.

"Renault give us a very good service," Horner told autosport.com. "Last year we had a competitive engine and this year others appear to be ahead of us from our analysis. And obviously there is no bigger example than between the two Red Bull teams, so for us it is very important that Renault address it in the appropriate way.

"I know that they understand where the issues are. The problem is they took the ruling of the freeze absolutely literally, and others took advantage more than they did. And Renault have paid the penalty for that.

"The problem is, being stuck with that for five years is an untenable position for Renault or any other team that has that kind of disadvantage."

Horner said that idea of an equality was not to free up development, as that would simply drive up costs, but just in ensuring that differences in engines were minimized.

"The FIA has all the information," he said. "At the end of the day we need to keep costs down. We don't need an engine formula to completely open up, but there should be a parity as much as possible among the engine suppliers – otherwise we will all end up with one engine at the end of the day."

Horner felt the Monza result said more about the engine performance of the two Red Bull teams than their overall capabilities of the respective outfits.

When asked if he felt Toro Rosso's win increased the pressure on Red Bull Racing to lift their game, Horner said: " It is a Red Bull win. We can see that Sebastian is a complete star of the future.

"As teams we share information openly and have done for two and a half years now and the only difference in the package is the drivers and the engine."

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