Interview with Martin Whitmarsh02/06/2010

McLaren Team Principal talks to Hiroshi Yasukawa

Martin Whitmarsh [MW]: Well, I think the key factors were that our drivers have done a great job this year. It’s a very competitive season, and you’ve had to make the right calls during the races and I think the drivers have certainly played a part in that and they were well deserved victories. But, we know it’s a very tough, tight season. There’s a lot of competition.

McLaren proud of its two drivers this season

HW: What in particular does McLaren want to demonstrate this season? What would make you proud?

MW: I’m proud of the team and how they work hard to develop the car and how they conduct themselves. I’m very proud of the two drivers and the relationship they have with one another, and obviously people questioned, challenged, the decision to hire Jenson. I think he’s proven people wrong by his performance this year and it’s great to see that Jenson and Lewis are working so well together.

HY: So it hasn’t proved too challenging to get two top drivers both vying for wins to work well together?

MW: Well, inevitably Jenson wants to beat Lewis and Lewis wants to beat Jenson. That is something that we’re used to in our team. It’s something very natural. And in fact, if you ask any driver in the pitlane who they most want to beat it is actually their teammate because they are most directly compared with their teammate. In China where we were fortunate enough to have a one-two at the end of that race, and it was clear we were in a strong position. We had the first and second. There were those in the team who felt we should have backed off but we allowed them to continue to race. Now, there’s a risk in that because if they fall off in pushing very hard, or there’s the worse case [scenario] when teammates take each other off, particularly if they’re first and second in the race and trying an overtaking manoeuvre, you feel very foolish but I think we felt vindicated. We trust our drivers. I think they’ve got respect for one another and they push very hard.

MW: I think Formula 1 still remains a global sport. It has huge television coverage. So there are people who invest in F1 for the media exposure that it generates. It is really, as a sporting series to invest in, the strongest series to create media exposure in the world.

McLaren is a technology business and our strongest, best partners tend to be technology partners. They are people who contribute technology to the business but also are interested in the technical differentiations and means of showing their customers what they can do, how they can be involved in their partnerships. Most businesses these days rely upon partnerships to achieve their marketing goals, their operational goals. So F1 is an environment in which you can demonstrate all of those things in a very public way.

HY: I would fully agree with that point of view. Bridgestone has been able to utilise its own involvement in Formula 1 to develop its technical expertise, to generate deep and close relations with automobile manufacturers and teams with whom the company can achieve great things.

MW: We try to be strong technical partners: we’ve enjoyed our relationship very much with Bridgestone. Bridgestone is a great company and has great technology but also has the passion to race and to win. And those are qualities that we have. We’ve learnt a lot from Bridgestone over the years and I hope it’s been interesting and stimulating for Bridgestone to work with McLaren.

McLaren pleased with Bridgestone's spirit for racing

HY: Obviously we have progressed from a period of competition to sole supply. Are you satisfied with the service and the quality of the tyres you have received from Bridgestone?

MW: We like competition so we enjoyed the tyre competition [era], as indeed I think so did Bridgestone but circumstances arose where Bridgestone became the sole supplier of F1 for a number of years. It would have been very easy for Bridgestone to have backed off, to have rested on its laurels, to have not continued to produce the good technology products for use in F1. But I am delighted from our perspective that Bridgestone still had the spirit of racing and the desire to have new technologies within F1. The tyre is a very, very significant performance component in F1. The teams need to understand those tyres, even if there is a sole supply situation, and I think we have learned and continued to learn from Bridgestone as to how we operate those tyres, how we get the best out of those tyres and we still have more to learn. And that’s what makes it interesting and challenging for both companies.

HY: What is your best memory of winning with Bridgestone?

MW: In 2008 in Brazil we won the world championship. We didn’t win the race but we needed a particular result. It was tyre choice that was very significant and at the end of that race we were in a situation where it started to rain again. We chose to come in to fit wet tyres and others didn’t. Naturally there had been a number of safety cars so the field was quite close together. Those who took the gamble to stay out were in front of us and had they stayed in front, which they very nearly did, we wouldn’t have won the world championship. You couldn’t get a better example. Lewis overtook the car he needed to overtake which was on different tyres and had taken the gamble in those conditions, so tyre choice was very key and significant.

Lewis has gone from strength to strength

HY: When a young driver like Lewis wins a championship title, we are particularly pleased as we have seen them come up through the ranks and have watched as their talent has been nurtured.

MW: Indeed, it was very satisfying to me to win a world championship with someone like Lewis with whom we have worked since he was 12. He has come through various formula, and incidentally a lot of those junior categories were with Bridgestone as well who know Lewis very well. So if I had to pick a moment I would pick that one for this particular discussion.

HY: Changing the topic a little and looking more broadly. The environment is very much a hot topic. What is your opinion on how Formula 1 views this subject and what lies ahead in the future?

MW: Firstly, F1 is much more about efficiency than people realise. So in fact, from the power that we produce, the engines are very efficient, because if you’re trying to be competitive you have to be efficient. But, none-the-less, it’s a high profile activity and it’s important that F1 demonstrates its interest and its passion.

In 2013 we will introduce a range of new technologies, downsized, turbo charged, direct injection engines with advanced energy capture systems and we will have within the regulations requirements which focus on the efficient use of fuels.

Racing is the heart and soul of the McLaren Group

HY: And finally, can I ask what your dreams are for the future of the McLaren Group?

MW: For the McLaren Group, racing is very much the heart and sole of our business and we will continue in racing. Over the years we have diversified from being merely a racing team. We have an electronics business, which we are very proud is providing all the ECUs in this paddock today. It’s providing telemetry solutions to the majority of the teams. We’re doing the same in IRL in the United States and in sports cars too so we are very proud of that company.

HY: You are making great contributions to motorsport!

MW: We are also exploiting the technologies in other fields, in medical fields, and other sporting events through another company called Applied Technologies. But, I guess the most obvious manifestation of our diversification is automotive and we have a new range of products which we are starting to launch. They will be best in class in terms of CO² emissions, and there will be quite some surprises there. We believe they will be very high performance but also very responsible products. I want to see the McLaren Group grow into being recognised for it clever and most advanced road vehicles in the world. We’ve gone some way to creating that, we’ve been involved in, and designed and developed, some iconic road cars and we will build upon that as we develop our business.

HY: Martin, many thanks not only for your time today but especially for your cooperation over the years. It has been a pleasure to work with the McLaren racing team. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank you for your work as chairman of FOTA too.

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