Jean Todt: "If you play lottery you want to win"
"If you play lottery you want to win," said Ferrari's
Jean Todt after the extraordinary Hungarian Grand Prix last
Sunday. Track conditions, grid positions and retirements had
played their part and initially it looked as if Ferrari had
lost out badly - when they might have capitalised on their
rivals' misfortunes.
However, Ferrari's results became less and less disappointing
as the weekend unfolded. Both Michael Schumacher and championship
rival Fernando Alonso were penalised for driving infringements
in practice which saw them start the race midfield, yet within
a few laps of the wet race, they were into the top four.
Neither driver would finish in a surprising race of overtaking
in changing conditions and fortunes, however, and initially
only Felipe Massa's eighth place secured a point for Ferrari.
But late on Sunday evening, after Todt had left the circuit,
came better news when newcomer Robert Kubica's BMW Sauber
was disqualified from seventh place as it was underweight.
Massa moved up a place and Schumacher scooped the final point
and suddenly Ferrari's Hungarian Grand Prix points haul had
grown from one point to three. That means that Ferrari is
now seven points behind Renault and Michael is ten points
behind Fernando Alonso with five races remaining.
Todt was initially downcast as he reviewed the race with
hindsight. "We are starting to digest the situation,"
he said before Kubica's disqualification. "But as I said,
it could have been much more disappointing. It's one race
less so there's been a very small variation. It could have
been a much bigger variation against us and a significant
improvement in our favour, but that's racing. It's the way
it happened. What does really count is that it's minus one
point of difference, compared to what it was in the Manufacturers,
and plus one for Felipe.
"Clearly, we have had some ups and downs in this race
and we finished with very little difference in the championship.
We were aiming for much worse at a certain period of the race.
We were too slow at the beginning. We were much quicker when
the track started to dry and we did not get the advantage
of it. It's always easy, afterwards, to say or to conclude
what would have been, but that's racing."
Tyre choice and the way they were used played a vital part
in the race. Massa ended up with fastest lap, and Michael
was very quick at one point, but at other stages in the race
they were relatively slow. "I think it's very important,
when you talk about tyre choice, to see which cars had which
tyres at certain moments in the race," explained Todt.
"If you see that, then you will understand quite clearly
that we didn't have the proper tyres for the start of the
race, and then when the track was drying, everybody was in
a better situation, at least, those with the same tyres as
those that we had."
Michael was ultimately sidelined when fighting hard to retain
his position late in the race - even if he was finally credited
with eighth place. Todt admitted that perhaps they should
have advised Michael to ease up. "We did not want to
disturb him but after seeing what had happened, probably we
should have told him something, but it's always easy to say
what you should have done when things are finished. He later
told us over the radio that the car had become undriveable
and he had to stop."
As for the penalty awarded to Michael Schumacher for overtaking
two competitors under the red flag, Todt said "I think
you have to watch the video. Everybody has his judgement but
really everybody can make his own judgement by watching video."
Asked if he thought Alonso, one of the two drivers, had deliberately
not accelerated, causing Schumacher to overtake, Todt said
"again, I don't want to comment because unfortunately
it would not change anything. I have a very strong opinion
about that, but it doesn't change."
The eventual winner was Jenson Button, securing his first
Grand Prix. Todt said "it was an obstacle race. He started
14th, won the race and he did a brilliant job. He deserves
the success." But whether Button was now one of the top
drivers today, Todt held reservations. "Before making
such a specific conclusion, after one race, we have to decide
that, I would be a bit more cautious."
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