FEBRUARY 3, 1997
Mike Gascoyne on the 025
RACING cars are very simple. If you press down harder on the tires, put stickier tires on the car, give it more horsepower and put in a driver who gets to full throttle earlier, then the car goes a lot quicker."
"We think we have drivers who can press down on the throttle; we are producing more downforce, we think we have the right tires and even if the engine is not a Renault, I think we might surprise a few people.
"The car is an evolution of the design concept. I believe that is the way to go. Anyone who says they are designing a car which is totally new is on the wrong track. A lot of the 025's parts are new because they have to be. If you put a different engine in a car you have to have new radiators, new pipes and so on but the concept has been carried through even if 2200 of the 2500 parts have been changed. I believe you design quick and reliable racing cars by sorting out problems but keeping to the same philosophy.
"We think that last year we had a good car and we have improved the parameters on it. There is nothing radically different. We have spent about the same amount of time in Southampton 40% windtunnel but that is only because we cannot get any more time. If we could we would use it. The aerodynamics are certainly an improvement but the visual differences are probably greater than the aerodynamic ones.
"We need more money but that is not the answer. We need more windtunnel time; we need a test team; we need lots of things but they are coming. Tyrrell has made a huge number of improvements in the last few years even if they have been masked by other things. It's frustrating that things have not come right. It could have happened last year.
"If it doesn't happen this year it will be incredibly frustrating but when it does happen it is going to surprise a few people."