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An amusing editorial at planet-f1.com Extract: "If anyone had offered them second place in the Constructors’ Championship after scoring nothing in Melbourne they would have said they were mad" Me: Although we may have a sneaking suspicion Michael will be back on form in the next race and they won't be so excited about Ralf, I'm enjoying the moment... Malaysia: Ted Kravitz's personal notebook at ITV F1 When Ralf Schumacher told us in the ITV-F1 Preview show that podiums were on the cards for Toyota in 2005, we nearly fell off our edit suite chairs. But well done Mike 'Gazza' Gascoyne and all in Cologne, a new front wing package delivered true pace in Malaysia. Now they have to prove it wasn’t a flash in the pan. When I went to check on Toyota’s progress with 15 laps to run, I found a bunch of nervous team members chain-smoking round the back of the garage, chewed bits of fingernail lying on the ground, unable to keep their eyes on the closing stages of the race. Jarno Trulli drove well, and was pleased to be cheered onto the podium by his old Renault mechanics. Toyota were also chuffed to be the only engine manufacturer to have four cars finish the first two races. Luca Marmorini will be wondering if he made the powerplants too strong. What about your own experiences in the first two races of 2005? "There wasn't very much I could do about the opening race of the season in Melbourne. I got a bad break with the weather in qualifying and there was no way back from there. I was stuck in traffic for much of the race but, encouragingly, when I was finally able to run in clean air my lap times were competitive. There was clearly a balance issue on Jarno's car and we couldn't find the reason for that after the race. He was still doing reasonable lap times towards the end but he didn't feel happy with the balance in the middle" And at Sepang? "Our third driver, Ricardo Zonta, set competitive times on Friday and then Jarno and I were fighting at the front for the whole meeting. Unfortunately I had a little bit too much understeer and lost time in sector 1 on my first qualifying lap. It meant that ultimately I qualified behind Mark Webber. I had more race pace than the Williams but I couldn't get by. When I tried, at Turn 15, we collided and after that my car lost some aerodynamic performance. In the end, four points for fifth place was what I came away with, but it helped to put us into second place in the constructors championship as we head for the third round in Bahrain. I think that if anyone had offered us that scenario at the beginning of the season, we'd have taken it" How tough did you find Malaysia physically? "The Malaysian race was not a problem physically, to be honest. You see some of the mechanics with beads of sweat framing their faces and you can feel for them. The humidity is pretty extreme but the problem is being stationary with fireproofs on. At least in the car we have some airflow, even if the air is pretty warm! If you have trained, you are in good condition and you acclimatise, then you should be okay. Dehydration can be a problem and you must keep your fluid levels up. For instance, normally a driver might lose a litre of water through sweat during a race. In Malaysia at its worst, you can lose almost four times that. Your muscle strength suffers as a result and then your concentration goes. But as long as you are in good shape and properly prepared, it's okay" Is the Sepang result an accurate reflection of where Toyota is? "Talking about the competitiveness of the car, well, you can't make performance up. It's definitely there. I said in winter testing that although it wasn't obvious, the baseline of the car is good and its progress depends on the developments we do. We knew that the testing period in the beginning could be difficult, but we did that intentionally to be out early and to have all the problems sorted out mechanically. Then, with the first few aero package changes the potential came. That will continue from here. We have a good plan and if we stick to it, there is no reason why we shouldn't be in decent form for the whole year" How would you rate the aero package? "Whatever aerodynamic solutions we have come up with so far have worked and improved the car. Everyone is doing a good job at the factory, with modern facilities. The car is well sorted and heading in the right direction. Coming out in January with the TF105 we knew that aerodynamically it was going to be compromised initially, which is why it was no surprise that the first aero package made a big impact. And you shouldn't forget that we had extremely cold winter testing and some cars do stress the tyres harder than others. Although the rumour was that we stress our tyre harder, that's not the case. Sepang proved that. With the low downforce that we had at first, to get a one-lap time, which is all the media tends to look at, was difficult. That's maybe why we looked worse than we were. But there's no such thing as a winter world championship" Are you surprised at the rapid progress seen in Malaysia? "Since Mike Gascoyne joined (December 1, 2003) he made improvements to the chassis department and the TF105 is basically the first real new car since then. There is still plenty of scope to work at getting back some of the downforce that the '05 rules took away but it's definitely heading in the right direction. 12 points from two races is a very good start, but there is more to come" Ralf blasts Ferrari "arrogance" Mon Mar 21: Ferrari's poor start to the Formula One season is down to the Italian team's arrogance, according to Ralf Schumacher. "Ferrari have brought this on themselves" Ralf told Germany's Bild newspaper. "How can they be so arrogant as to start the season with the old car? On top of that, they're going it alone with their own tyre contract". And on whether Michael will secure an eighth drivers' championship in 2005: "No - they're too far away now" (from homeoff1.com) Team quotes at thestar.com.my After the Malaysian GP, Toyota are in a surprise second spot with a total of 12 points. Ralf was relieved to get among the points after his scrap with the BMW Williams cars of Mark Webber and Nick Heidfeld. “Firstly, I am very happy for my teammate and the team. But I am also very happy with myself. It was a good but difficult race today. I could not overtake for the first 10 laps and then I had blistering in the tyres” said Ralf. The clash with Webber also affected the aerodynamics of Ralf's car. “There were some big vibrations and it slowed me down in a way”. formula1.com has an article titled Toyota the new force. There's an article on Toyota at Malaysia at yahoo.com Mike Gascoyne: I don't see why we shouldn't have this level of performance (at the next race) in Bahrain. There's another article at formula1.com After starting 5th on the grid, Ralf finished in 5th place (and even had the commentators discussing his overtaking with enthusiasm - I'm not used to that) Ralf's son unwell 19 March 2005: It's believed Ralf contemplated returning to Europe to be with David. But, instead, wife Cora flew back to Austria when information arrived that their son's only problem was a bad cold. "Hopefully he'll be better soon" Ralf said at Sepang. sports.yahoo.com Ralf had a competitive debut for Toyota, although few outside of the team even noticed. An unscheduled extra pit stop to tighten a loosened seat belt ended his chance of points, but in the process of making up positions to an ultimate 12th place, he set the ninth quickest lap of the race, just 0.6s from the race winner's best lap. Before Malaysia Ralf said: "The Australian Grand Prix was full of mixed fortunes for me after sheer bad luck with the weather in qualifying, followed by an unexpected extra trip to the pits in the race. All in all, it was a missed opportunity to score points. My race debut for Toyota was extremely encouraging in terms of car performance and team operations. It can only be a matter of time before we finish in the points. Malaysia will be interesting because most cars will start the race with the same engine that finished in Australia. In Sepang, with the stifling heat, we could see some teams with technical issues. I think we should be confident in our TF105 car and RVX-05 engine and if our excellent reliability continues, points are by no means out the question" Melbourne 2005 at sportinglife.com Ralf, having qualified 15th due to suffering the worst of the wet conditions in Saturday's first qualifying session, found himself stuck in traffic for much of the first stint. He then had to make an extra unscheduled pit stop when his seat belt came loose and ultimately finished the race in 12th position. For another article, go to itv-f1.com Hope you don't mind if I don't quote from it. Toyota drivers talk before last weekend's race at planet-f1.com Ralf said: Here at Toyota we have been testing a lot and very hard, so I think we are well prepared for the first race. At the moment we have to expect a good, solid finish in the points. That is what we must aim for, but we will have to wait and see where we line up against the other teams. Until we hit the track, no team really knows their comparative competitiveness. Toyota unveils new speedway with a view to hosting F1 (From an article at msn.foxsports.com) Ralf was on hand to test drive the new circuit. "It's a very good course. The changes they have made are great and the long straight is very interesting. It will be a good place for fans and drivers". The Fuji Speedway could spell the end of F1 racing at the aging Suzuka circuit in central Japan. There's an article about it at foxsports.news.com.au Toyota upgraded the track with an enlarged paddock meeting F1 specifications. "I have known it quite long, it's been almost 10 years" said Ralf, who enjoyed great success by winning the Formula 3000 title in 1996 as a rookie to get a chance to step up to F1 series the following year. "But while obviously the changes have been great, the long straight is still there so the character of the circuit is still there. It's great. It's obviously a bit difficult... but I was enjoying it" Ralf speaks at yahoo.com: The one and only reason why I have joined Toyota is, first of all, I believe in the strength of the team, the future of the team... In order to come closer or overtake other people, we have to do a better job than anyone else. I think if everything runs up to plan later this season, we should have a real strong car compared to anyone else. Ralf on Ferrari at planet-f1.com "I doubt they are going to win 15 of 19". In 2005 engines will have to last for two race weekends instead of just one. "I will be listening to my engine because I hope that's going to stay alive for two races. For me, it is to just finish the first two races and I'm sure if we achieve that, we're going to score some good points" There's also an interview at homeoff1.com Ralf on the FW27: a great disaster. They'll do badly. |
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