The V10 engine was proving to be a good move. As Barnard says, ‘I promoted moving from a V12 to a V10 engine for a long time. When Jean Todt arrived it made things easier, as he was also a fan of the V10. You have to pay a heavy penalty for the V12 in terms of the overall package. The cooling requirements for the V12 are very big; it is longer, it is heavy and it is fuel thirsty. Offsetting these negative aspects was the fact that the V12 should have a higher top-end power than the V10. However, I was always a bit dubious about this. Now we have the V10 we can see this is true. After limited development the V10 is proving to have nearly as good top-end power as the V12. The negative side of the V10 is the vibration problem, which seems to lead to the gearbox cracking. We are investigating this further.’
The next race was in Buenos Aires over the Easter weekend, but there were to be no celebrations for the two Ferrari drivers. Schumacher qualified in second place for the race, with Irvine 10th. Irvine brought the car home in fifth place, to gain two valuable points, but Schumacher was forced to retire when a piece of debris from another car hit his rear wing.
Even though we were only three races into the new season, the rumours were flying around as speculation mounted that Ferrari was going to build a new car to take the team through the rest of the season. Jean Todt remained firm and publicly stated, ‘We need more time testing before we can make a decision.’ Privately, he was less convinced declaring, ‘I’m not happy, I’ll only be happy when we win.’
The atmosphere was muted as everyone left South America and headed back to Europe. They had survived the first three races, but only just. The first European race of the season was at the Nurburgring in Germany and the fans would be out in force. Publicly, Schumacher was remaining calm; privately it was another matter. As Nigel Stepney says, ‘Schumacher doesn’t wash his dirty linen in public as our previous drivers did. He can give shit behind closed doors, but he does it in private, which is much better because if everyone knows our problems, they know our weaknesses. There is a much better atmosphere than last year. There will always be pressure on us, but it is more contained. If we lose a wheel nut in a race, the media will analyse it forever, but if Williams lose a wheel nut they are not put under a microscope like us. The difference is that now we look at the problem and rectify it with the minimum of fuss. That is a big step forward.’
Schumacher says, ‘There’s no point in criticising the team in public. I work with the guys and they all try to do their best. If we feel there should be some improvements then we have to discuss it between ourselves. I don’t think I’m particularly hard. If I notice a mistake, then I will point it out and try to improve it. I’m not harder on the team than I am on myself. If I make a mistake, I kick myself. You shouldn’t make a difference between how you treat others and how you treat yourself.’
Added to the problems of the South American races was a big prang that occured in Argentina, albeit after the race. Claudio Berro explains, ‘When I was sitting on the pit wall during practice, I looked at the start lights and registered that they seemed to be hanging lower than normal. Then it went out of my mind until the day after the race. The trucks arrived to take the cars to the airport, loaded them on and drove out of the circuit. There was a horrible crash and it was proved that the lights had been lower than normal, about four metres lower in fact. The result was they’d hit our cars on the trucks. Eddie Irvine’s car had been smashed, the suspension had been damaged and it had been pushed backwards into the spare car, which was loaded behind it. About 200 million lire’s worth of damage was done. That was all we needed with the work we had to do on the cars anyway.’
Work, work, work. There was a never ending list of modifications needed. When Schumacher was asked to discuss the improvements required on the car, his reply was to the point. ‘This press conference is too short!’ There was also another reason to feel nervous. Schumacher had received a death threat in the form of a letter claiming to come from a national liberation group, sent to two Belgian newspapers. It said that the terrorist organization would kill German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel… and Michael Schumacher.
BACK IN EUROPE
JEAN TODT’S THOUGHTS WERE ON HIS FUTURE
The beginning of the European season brought some respite for Ferrari. It is easier to work on the car nearer to home and also easier to transport equipment. In addition, more VIP visitors and new team members join the circuit.
The new press centre motorhome made its debut at the Nurburgring for the fourth race of the season. Shiny, bright red and constantly preened and polished, it is a focal point in the paddock and a home for the official team press conferences, as well as for guests.
In terms of the racing, Schumacher was second fastest on the Friday (even with, or maybe because of, an out of sorts stomach!), with Irvine wallowing down in 15th place. The cars were now fitted with the 1996 gearbox and a few new aerodynamic modifications after testing at Mugello (in Italy). Irvine’s car suffered a misfire, which remained a puzzle until a few laps before the end of the session. He was also suffering from a lack of testing. Most, if not all, testing had been done by the Number One driver, and it hasn’t been easy for the Ulsterman to sit back and watch. He has, to his credit, accepted his lot with his usual dark, dry humour. When asked how he coped with Schumacher’s supreme fitness, Irvine remarked, ‘I just call him up, ask him how many press-ups he’s done, then ask him to do a few for me.’
Schumacher was, once again, cautious about his prospects for the race. ‘I have tried many different solutions and although the car is quite good I did not manage to get it perfectly balanced. I will try and improve tomorrow [at the Saturday qualifying session] but the position I am in today is pretty much what I had expected. The testing at Mugello was positive but our progress can only be measured in 10ths of a second and definitely not in “a few” seconds.’
With the media hanging around waiting for a disaster and the Fiat hierarchy sitting in the background, the man right in the middle of the heat was once again Jean Todt. It was difficult to hazard a guess at what he might be thinking. However, talk to him and behind the diffident air is a sensitive and highly perceptive professional. To allow the team to work with confidence he is happy to delegate responsibility to his managers and allow them to get on with things. But that doesn’t mean he is unaware of what is going on. His quick mind picks up and tunes in to other people’s insecurities as well as their strengths and weaknesses.
At Nurburgring, his thoughts were on the team and his future. ‘It is difficult to find good people, and that is why we have been slowly building the team, until now, when we are at the point of having very good people on board. It is then difficult to get people to work together efficiently and difficult to build stability. I like to be aware of, and in control of, everything.’
The man whose job epitomizes the expression ‘the buck stops here’ is under relentless pressure, but he is unlikely to give it up until he has seen it through to the end and at least one World Championship.
You don’t build a team, take on the double World Champion as your Number One driver, then turn your back on it and hand success on a plate to another man.
The Mugello test had been of vital importance in more than one way. Nigel Stepney takes up the story: ‘At the moment we can win or lose a race on pit stops. We have to practise on the race car as each car is slightly different and there are 20 people to co-ordinate in seven seconds. After the South American races I analysed all the pit stops to see where we were making mistakes and losing time. Shell then came to our rescue by shooting an ad all day at Mugello, which required us to do endless pit stops. It was the best practice we have ever had.’
Back in England, John Barnard was wrestling with his desire for perfection
