OK, so, yes, that headline doesn’t exactly scream, “Come read this story.”
But it’s the truth. The official Formula 1 site has a Q and A with Christian Horner and it doesn’t talk about Mark Vebber/Sebastian Vettel.
I mean, what the heck?
I’m going to pull from the interview what I think is the most interesting stuff. I’m not sure if it strikes me as pretty thin because the huge elephant in the room isn’t addressed or for some other reason.
But here you go:
Q: You now have the F-duct on the car and it’s working well. Are there any more major developments coming?
CH: We try to get something onto the car at every Grand Prix which we’ve managed to do so far this year. We are managing to add performance to the car at every race and the guys are doing an incredible job in maintaining a very rapid development process against bigger teams. Let’s not forget that both McLaren and Ferrari have considerably more resource than we do, so it means we have to think smarter and more innovatively to make sure we get the most performance possible from the car.Q: When will the team switch their development focus solely to 2011? How far along is next year’s car?
CH: The 2011 car will inevitably be an evolution of this year’s car so I’m sure we’ll be pushing development late into the year as we did last year.Q: You’ll keep the same drivers next year. How important do you think a stable line-up is to the success of a team?
CH: I think it’s very important. I think both drivers are well known to the team and they are a very competitive line-up. They push each other very hard and extract the best out of each other, so from a team point of view it’s a very positive partnership and we’re delighted they’ll be going into a third season together.Q: If Vettel and Webber were suddenly unavailable, which drivers would you be trying to sign?
CH: Gosh, that’s an interesting question. I’d be hoping they both wouldn’t suddenly become unavailable. I can’t think of any other guys we would want to have than the two we do have, so I’m not going to go near that question.[snip]
Q: Regarding next year, are you pleased with the choice of Pirelli as the new sole tyre supplier. Do you have any concerns about the amount of testing and development you will be able to do ahead of the 2011 season?
CH: I think it’s great a brand like Pirelli has come back into Formula One. They obviously have a great motorsport heritage and it’s fantastic to retain a common supplier for all the teams. They have enough racing experience and have a big enough competition department to deal with the challenges of Formula One. The most important thing will be that it is the same for everyone, so we’re delighted Pirelli have decided to come into Formula One. I’m sure they’ll do a very good job.Q: There has been mixed reaction to the moveable rear wings the FIA plan for next year. Combined with KERS, don’t you think we are introducing too many artificial elements to the driver experience? Surely Formula One is meant to be motor racing at its purest…
CH: We need to be a bit careful we don’t create a WWF scenario. It’s important that all these changes are carefully considered. I think the racing this year has been excellent. Since Bahrain we’ve had some really exciting Grands Prix. It’s important we don’t mess around too much with the DNA of what is Formula One.Q: Do you think they’ll be more effective than the arguably negligible success of the adjustable front wings?
CH: Potentially it’s a very powerful tool. It’s also quite dangerous if it was to fail in any way, so it is important that all things are taken into consideration.
You tell me if I’m missing some great bombshell. I guess the Pirelli discussion is worth something, and his talk of the moveable wing is interesting, albeit pretty much in line with what others, such as Ross Brawn, already have said.
Seems like a big-time missed opportunity by F1.
