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Last night Stefan GP posted an extraordinary message on its website in which it attacked the ‘dreamers from the USA who will have to explain their actions’ and who have dreamed about ‘fairytales of success.’

The post also said that ‘somebody should be in a trouble  explaining what is happen to all of us [sic]’ – a clear reference to the FIA.

The team also posted a note from DHL which claims to show that its freight has arrived in Bahrain.

The post is the latest volley in the team’s attempt to find a way onto the Bahrain GP grid, and seems to support my story of yesterday which indicated that Ken Anderson and Peter Windsor are blocking a merger.

However it would seem unwise to rock the boat at what is clearly a critical time in terms of the FIA’s reaction to the US F1 situation.

The full post reads as follows: “StefanGP would like to inform the public that the containers we sent on the beginning of February arrived in Bahrain. In the corner of the page you will see official check from DHL and the confirmation that freight arrived. During next week we will show our Stefan Formula 1 car to the press as the final evidence that should put us on the grid in Bahrain.

“If case we don’t receive the chance to compete in Bahrain, and also when some of the teams fail to show up, somebody should be in a trouble explaining what is happen to all of us.

“And dreamers from USA will have to explain their actions, because they are deliberately weakening F1 with dreaming of perfect world and fairytales about success. And success doesn’t come by talking but with hard work and lot of guts.”

Stefan has issued a copy of its Bahrain freight documents

US F1 shareholder Chad Hurley and Stefan GP boss Zoran Stefanovich are trying to put together a deal that will see their teams join forces and make it to the first race in Bahrain, sources have confirmed.

Hurley has given up on a possible deal with Colin Kolles and Campos to pursue the Stefan talks, and thus the logical scenario of a team with no car linking up with a team with no entry finally appears likely to unfold.

The FIA will in theory have no problem in allowing Stefan onto the Bahrain grid if such a deal takes place before the start of the season. It would also support a name change, although other F1 stakeholders would also have to agree.

Life will be much easier for the FIA and its new president Jean Todt if a merger does go ahead. The alternative scenario – the cancelling of the US F1 entry and a new bid process – would be far more complicated legally.

Meanwhile Jacques Villeneuve is on standby and will be willing to sign up as team mate to Kazuki Nakajima, should the team get an entry.

However we understand that US F1 founders Ken Anderson and Peter Windsor are not amenable to such a deal, and still wish to pursue their dream of fielding an American car. However, since Hurley owns a significant stake in the team – and has more funds to put in – he is presumably in the driving seat, and that may ultimately enable him to push the merger through.

In addition the visit of Charlie Whiting to Charlotte on Wednesday has given the FIA a clearer picture of what is going on there, and the governing body may now be in a position to force the issue and perhaps give Anderson and Windsor no alternative but to do a deal.

There could be more for Stefan GP to gain than just an entry. Stefan already has a base in Belgrade, Serbia and also has a foothold at the Toyota factory in Cologne. However the US F1 facility in Charlotte could still be of use as a manufacturing base. It may prove more economical to have parts made in the USA than by Toyota.

Ultimately there’s also a question of the 2011 car, which won’t necessarily be a Toyota product. US F1 also has access to the Windshear wind tunnel facility. If the Charlotte facilities are of use to Stefan then clearly jobs could be secure there.

Sources say that one Toyota/Stefan chassis is ready in Cologne, but the second is not yet complete, and a total lack of spares back-up will make the early races difficult, to say the least. Not surprisingly Stefan has not been in a hurry to encourage Toyota to build a lot of spares until the entry is confirmed.

The engine will not be badged as a Toyota, although the company will send a handful of fulltime staff members to races to support it. They are likely to be the only current Toyota employees to travel to the races with Stefan.

As the clock ticks down towards Bahrain we are still awaiting firm news on what’s going to happen to US F1 and Stefan GP.

Basically there now seem to be two main scenarios. Based on Charlie Whiting’s findings after yesterday’s visit, the US F1 entry could be revoked by the FIA, or more specifically the World Motor Sport Council. 

A 13th entry bid process could then be re-opened, to which Stefan GP can apply. But will that be rushed through for 2010 – when Stefan will obviously be the only candidate – or given the time constraints will it be delayed until 2011, allowing time for others to bid? 

The alternative is that Stefan acquires the US F1 entry in the coming days, and thus legitimately gains access to the Bahrain grid. Can investor Chad Hurley make that process happen, assuming that he’s not already committed to Campos? Or is Ken Anderson still fully in control and digging his heels in?

Whatever happens, we can expect new FIA President Jean Todt to play things by the book, with the minimum of exposure to criticism – or possible legal ramifications – for the governing body. For some more thoughts on the possible scenarios check out:

http://formula-one.speedtv.com/article/cooper-will-fia-revoke-usf1-entry/

A source close to US F1 tells me that the factory staff in Charlotte are in the process of making the toaster immortalised by a series of satirical cartoons on YouTube in recent months. And yes, I am serious…

Short of anything else to do related to their F1 car some team members are said to be working on the composite moulds for the prototype toaster, which if true at least demonstrates that the guys on the shop floor have a sense of humour.

Incidentally Peter Windsor has not been seen at the US F1 factory for several days, and apparently was not present when the FIA’s Charlie Whiting paid a four hour visit yesterday.

Meanwhile there are suggestions that following Whiting’s visit the FIA could formally revoke the US F1 entry and re-open the entry bid process – and if that applies to this season rather than next, then of course Stefan GP is the only team in a position to present a 2010 car. It’s a possible scenario but I stress that it is just one of many that are being rumoured at the moment.

It’s also been suggested that negotiations between Chad Hurley’s representative Parris Mullins and the new Campos management have not led to a satisfactory resolution. When asked for a comment, Colin Kolles told this blog, ‘We’ll see…’

If Hurley has given up on Campos then a deal with Stefan – which could yet involve a merger with/takeover of the US F1 entry – could yet come to pass.

As previously reported, a deal between Campos and Indian GP2 graduate Karun Chandhok looks likely to be confirmed soon.

PS: Perhaps it will look a bit like this: The US F1 Toaster Could Be About to Pop Up

At the Valencia test three weeks ago Rubens Barrichello was asked if he had any advice for Nico Rosberg, Michael Schumacher’s new team mate. ‘Get out of there!,’ he told us with a grin.

He tempered that remark by saying that Nico was a talented driver, adding that if he could become World Champion alongside Michael, then he could do it alongside anyone.

The incident inspired me to write a feature on Michael and his relationships with his team mates, which appears in today’s February 25 edition of Autosport (you can check out the new digital version at www.autosport.com). In the story Ross Brawn gives his thoughts on how various drivers have tackled the job of sitting alongside Michael – and he makes it pretty clear that some have taken a more constructive approach than others.

As a sort of postscript to that story I thought it would be interesting to revisit a telephone interview I did with Rubens in September 1999, a day or two after he was confirmed as a Ferrari driver. He was to replace his former Jordan team mate Eddie Irvine, who at the time was battling for the World Championship – Schumacher was still recovering from his broken leg. Ironically Irvine had signed up to take Barrichello’s vacant place at Stewart/Jaguar, just as this year the Brazilian has done a direct swap with Rosberg.

It’s clear that at the time Rubens was absolutely convinced that he could take on Michael, and that he could win a World Championship for Ferrari. Team orders? Won’t happen to me…

In the mean time he still had four races to do for Stewart GP. He scored a fourth, a third and fifth, taking his season total to 21 points – beating the target he’d set himself in this interview. However, much to Barrichello’s frustration it was Johnny Herbert who was to give the team an opportunistic win at the Nurburgring.

Rubens Barrichello Signs For Ferrari (September 1999)

Q: How long have you been dreaming about going to Ferrari?

“We talked every other year, you know. I talked to them in ’95, and we never lost contact. I think after the good first two or three first races that I had this year, it was like, ‘Wow, Rubens is in a competitive car and he’s doing a better job,’ so then we started to talk seriously.”

Q: Was it a childhood ambition?

“It’s definitely the biggest dream of everyone to drive for Ferrari. On top of that I must say I went for a competitive car. The last 10 years Ferrari made nine good cars, and having Schumacher there, the chances of making it right is even higher.”

Q: Do you know that the only Brazilian to drive for Ferrari was Chico Landi, who did one race in the 50s?

“I think he rented the car! It’s definitely going to be crazy in Brazil. They are already writing that I’m favourite for the World Championship next year. Let’s wait and see – it’s not going to be an easy task.”

Q: Can you believe that Fittipaldi, Piquet and Senna never drove for Ferrari, or even came close to driving for Ferrari?

“It was really nice to see what Emerson said: ‘We didn’t drive for Ferrari, and we wish him good luck. He’s definitely carrying our dreams.’ It was fantastic to hear from him, actually.”

Q: It will be seven years since Ayrton last won a GP. What will it mean in Brazil when you start winning?

“When Emerson was finishing, Piquet was starting, when Piquet wasn’t doing very well, Ayrton was there. It would have been the same hopefully. What would Senna be doing today? He was still going to be winning, and I’m sure he would have helped myself to go into a top team. But all of a sudden the disaster happened and I was left alone. I had 150 million people saying come on, it’s your time. It’s something I won’t like to experience again.”

Q: But of course there was nothing you could do with a Jordan-Peugeot…

“At that time, no. If I can win for them, it will be fantastic. Now there’s no excuses, and I hope I can do it.”

Q: Some people don’t understand why you want to be Michael’s team mate, but basically after seven years you just want to get in a winning car. Is that how you see it?

“Exactly. It’s a chance of doing what I want, which is winning.”

Q: We heard that you told Brazilian journalists that you wouldn’t go to Ferrari if you had to let Schumacher past. Is that true?

“I never said that. To be honest with you what I said is I don’t know what Irvine has in his contract, and I don’t care. What I meant was that it all depends on my driving, it’s all on me. You ask me if I have a clause in my contract with Stewart saying that I have to follow instructions, I do, and I think everyone does. That’s the same with Ferrari. If I’m in front and by chance Schumacher is behind and is coming faster and he has a chance to win the race, I don’t need any instructions to let him by. But on the other hand if the other guy, who is me, is coming faster – I’m sure it’s going to be a surprise, and I hope it will be – it’s in the best interests of Ferrari that both drivers have a chance to win.”

Q: Obviously after four years there Michael is very established, we know that everything revolves around him in terms of development, and it must be difficult for anyone to come in and make a name for themselves. Do you agree?

“Seriously it would be arrogant for me to go to Ferrari and say, Look, I want number one status, I want the same thing as Schumacher, and blah, blah, blah. It would be too rude, and I’m sure they would say who do you think you are? If I have the same equipment, which is the case, if I have the same testing, which is the case, I hope I can surprise. When I came into Jordan, I was number two. When I went to Stewart I was number one, but Jan Magnussen was the next Senna, and made my place again. I just want to have the opportunity to do what I know. I don’t want to go into politics. I’m sure if I’m doing fantastically well in the race, and the team has the chance to win the race, I don’t see the team asking me to switch places.”

Q: There’s so much pressure at Ferrari. Can you imagine what it is going to be like?

“It’s going to be a new experience. I don’t know what to hope for, but I feel prepared. I have to face it. If I want to win the championship one day, I have to face all the pressures probably. I’ve had the whole Brazil pressure on my back, and for sure the pressure that will happen now is going to big. I will try just to be me. I will try to be the same with everyone, I will try to have time for everyone, I’ll try to do whatever I did this last seven years. I won’t change on that. I don’t want to hide because I’m a Ferrari driver.”

Q: How well do you know Michael?

“I think Michael has a good heart. I don’t know him fantastically well, but whenever we talked I think he respects me as much as I respect him. In the GPDA I’m one of the guys that talks quite a lot, and I think he likes that. But I’m going there to learn – I’m not going there to say yes, I’m going to beat him. I’m going there as someone who wants to learn, and who wants to surprise some people. I’m sure I’ll be able to do that.”

Q: This season started well, but are you disappointed with the way it has turned out?

“To be honest I think we’ve been more reliable than we thought at the beginning of the year. But it was very frustrating going to Barcelona and Spa not knowing why we lost performance. That was the two occasions when I was disappointed. But everywhere else we’ve been quite competitive. You can say a puncture at Silverstone wasn’t that great, and a suspension failure in Monaco – we lost a lot of point. But we finished a lot of races. Last year the car wasn’t competitive at all, and we finished much less than that.”

Q: Was Spa more a case of other teams coming up and you staying the same?

“It’s hard to say, because we test new things all the time. We gain a little bit here and there. You can see that Jordan is really consistent, they’re doing a fantastic job. Williams is pretty much like us. They go very well sometimes, and then they lose pace. Jordan has kept progressing, and we didn’t as much.”

Q: Are you now going to concentrate on pushing hard in your last races for Stewart?

“Oh yes. I really do hope I can score as much as 20 points. I think it’s going to be a hard job in the constructors’ because Williams is doing a bit better than what we expected. I want to leave the team on a high, I want to be as close as possible to a win, if I can.”

Q: Will your last race with the team in Suzuka be an emotional one?

“It’s been fantastic to drive for them. Last year’s car was bad, bad, bad, and they treated me the same as they do now. I think I never lost my temper, I always knew that whenever the car was good I could perform, so motivation wise it was very good. So Suzuka is going to be very emotional, and I hope I can score more points for them.”

Q: You and Eddie were team mates for two years. Can you believe the co-incidence that you are involved in this swap?

“People say that I don’t get on well with Eddie, but it’s bullshit. It’s funny because most of the problems with him were on my side. At first I was trying to beat him and I forgot how to drive. I forgot that I was there to enjoy it. I was just trying to be better than him, and I really forgot. And secondly, I wanted to be someone that he wasn’t. He wasn’t like a normal team mate. He didn’t care much about things, but that was my problem, it wasn’t his. At that time a lot of bad luck was happening to me. I went to congratulate him in Melbourne. I wish him the best success at Stewart, and I’m sure he’s going to get on well with Gary Anderson there.”

Q: Finally, how do you sum up your thoughts on next year?

”I just took the chance. Sometimes you need a change in life, even though I’m very happy there. People help me and I help people. After three years, with a lot of changes going on, the chance came at Ferrari and I felt I must take it. It’s going to be the hardest thing that I’ve done in life, but at least I’m prepared. I just go as a young boy, trying to learn at school, that’s all. I’ve got to do it. The chance is there, and it’s the best challenge of my life.”

FIA F1 race director and technical department head Charlie Whiting is believed to be paying a call on the US F1 facility in Charlotte this morning, having travelled to America yesterday.

Although FIA sources could not confirm the trip, it’s assumed that he’s making the visit in order to find out exactly what the state of play is at the beleaguered team.

US F1 boss Ken Anderson recently asked the FIA for dispensation for the team to appear at the fifth race of the season in Barcelona. The governing body has recently issued a clarification insisting that teams cannot miss any races, despite suggestions from Bernie Ecclestone and others that the Concorde Agreement allows teams to skip three events.

Whiting will be able to determine whether the team has any chance of competing even by Spain, and will presumably submit a report back to FIA President Jean Todt.

In the past ACCUS boss Nick Craw – who naturally has been keen to see the project take off – has visited the team on behalf of the FIA.

The Bahrain GP is getting ever nearer, and still there are questions to be answered about who we will see at the first race – and there has been no updated entry list from the FIA since November 30, before Sauber was confirmed.

For some thoughts on that and the confusion surrounding Stefan GP and US F1 check out: http://formula-one.speedtv.com/article/cooper-two-weeks-and-many-questions-remain/

Three weeks from today the F1 teams will be packing up in Bahrain and preparing their freight for the trip to Melbourne. And yet still we don’t know the exact composition of the entry list for that race.

We do at least know now that Campos Meta will be there, albeit with a pair of Dallara-Cosworths that are likely to be finished in the Bahrain pit garage, and will thus run for the first time on the Friday of the race weekend.

Fortunately all the FIA crash tests were completed in November, so that’s not an issue.  We still await confirmation of the drivers, and it remains to be seen whether Bruno Senna’s meeting with Colin Kolles today leads to an announcement.

Meanwhile the US F1 saga rumbles on. Ken Anderson told the New York Times that he’s still hoping that the FIA will allow his team miss the opening four races and show up for the Spanish GP, but it seems like another desperate attempt to buy time, and the team has had plenty of opportunity to get its act together.

It seems unlikely that the FIA – which recently denied suggestions that teams can miss three races – will waive its own rules. Having said that, the FIA approved the entry, after US F1 passed all tests of due diligence, so there perhaps will be some loss of face if it fails completely. Not to mention a few comments from those whose entries were rejected last June.

The question is at one point does the US F1 entry pass the point of no return? When will Bernie Ecclestone (or Jean Todt) make a call and take appropriate action?

Zoran Stefanovich continues to put his plans in place, but logic suggest the only way he will get in is if Stefan GP formally takes over the US F1 entry and paperwork, rather than slips into a vacancy created by the American team’s failure or withdrawal. The legal fallot of the latter scenario will be extremely complex.

Stefanovich has finally confirmed Kazuki Nakajima’s role in the project, and of course his presence keeps Toyota happy. Jacques Villeneuve says he’s interested, but contrary to what the team boss is saying, he insists that he is far from doing a deal. JV says that most of the talking has been done by third parties.

“I had a chat some time ago with Stefanovich just to find out where everything was at,” he told me on Saturday night. “It was not about everything that has been written recently, it was prior to that. I’m not involved directly with anything.”

However, he admits that the seat could be a competitive one: “If it happened I would be very interested because it looks like a serious outfit. If they are allowed in, seeing how he’s been talking and moving forward even though he didn’t have an entry, he is quite serious in getting the thing going. He’s done more than some teams with licenses.

“The Toyota car wasn’t a bad car last year, and it has been developed. It would definitely be ahead of all the other new cars. Now the problem is they won’t get any testing, they won’t get anything, which is a bit problematic. But a good base is always a good base. So it wouldn’t be a bad proposition – it would be exciting enough to work on.”

Stefan certainly has a strong hand at the moment, and the fact that two cars are sitting in Cologne and waiting to run cannot be ignored. However most of the key Toyota technical guys have left – many of them for Lotus – and that suggests that the package might not have much long term value…

Bruno Senna is discussing prospects for 2010 with Colin Kolles today

New Campos Meta F1 team principal Dr Colin Kolles is meeting Bruno Senna today to discuss prospects for this season.

Senna signed a contract late last year to drive for Campos in 2010, but in announcing the takeover of the project on Friday Kolles and new owner Jose Ramon Carabante said that the line-up would be confirmed ‘in due time.’

Meanwhile Karun Chandhok has now emerged as a clear favourite for the second seat. Kolles knows both Chandhok and his father Vicky well as they are close to Vijay Mallya, and were regular visitors to the Force India motorhome when Kolles was running the team. Chandhok Sr is a well-connected FIA insider, and a friend of Bernie Ecclestone.

Co-incidentally Chandhok and Senna were team mates in the iSport GP2 outfit in 2008, when the Brazilian finished series runner-up, and the Indian was 10^th.

Intriguingly it seems there will after all be a role in the organisation for founder Adrian Campos, although it’s not clear what it may be yet.

It’s now been confirmed that all the employees of the original project in Valencia will stay with the team in its new guise as it moves ahead with plans to get ready for Bahrain. For the opening races the team will operate from Dallara in Italy, before moving to a new base in Murcia.

At this time of year all F1 teams are full of optimism, sure that they have the pieces in place and that that this will be their big chance. Meanwhile, we all look at testing times for guidance on the season ahead.

Sometimes, as last season, those times do give us a pretty good clue as to what’s going to happen. Folk who watched Brawn GP’s early testing pace and quickly placed bets were laughing all the way to the bank. Testing doesn’t always tell the full story, and neither do team principals, as the following cautionary tale from early 2001 indicates.

At the time Alain Prost was relieved to have finally split with troublesome Peugeot, and had instead forged a new engine and gearbox (and rear suspension) supply deal with Ferrari. The package look impressive in testing, with Jean Alesi setting quick times, and to team insiders it seemed certain that good results would achieved, the sponsors would come knocking, and all would be fine.

Some experienced people had joined, while Pedro Diniz – now retired from driving – had taken a commercial interest. Extra support came from an Argentinian driver with backing from a Latin American TV company (sound familiar?) in Gaston Mazzacane.

There was an elephant in the room, however. In those days private teams faced crippling engine bills, perhaps four or five times higher than the Cosworth fees of 2010. Towards the end of the previous season someone had given me a copy of a provisional contract between Prost and Ferrari, and it indicated that he would have to pay $28m, $30m and $32m for the privilege of using the Italian engines over the next three years – and it was weighted so that he was always paying well in advance.

Once the season started, the AP04 proved to be less than stellar. There were no results, and the sponsors didn’t come. Test driver Pedro de la Rosa defected to Jaguar Racing even before the first race, while Mazzacane soon disappeared and was replaced by Luciano Burti. A frustrated Alesi eventually fell out with Prost, and swapped seats mid-season with Jordan’s Heinz-Harald Frentzen, who actually didn’t do too badly.

But it was all to no avail. The numbers just didn’t add up, and that winter Prost GP folded seemingly without any serious attempt being made to rescue France’s only F1 team. It had all seemed so promising just months earlier…

Alain Prost looks ahead (First published February 2001)

Last week I asked a Williams man how Bridgestone and Michelin were comparing in testing. “Well, Barrichello’s done an 18.6s at Barcelona in last year’s Ferrari,” he remarked, “and Alesi’s done an 18.6s in what is basically last year’s Ferrari. So I’d say they’re about the same.” This I might add was said with a straight face, and barely a hint of irony…

A miracle appears to have taken place these last few months in the Paris suburb of Guyancourt. After finishing last season in a dire state, Prost Grand Prix is heading towards Melbourne with unbounded optimism. The team boss looks like a weight has been lifted off his shoulders, and there’s talk of podium finishes, and of a revitalised Jean Alesi. The oldest driver in F1 has been topping the testing times, and cannot wait to get to the first race.

It’s all very different from last season, when the relationship between Prost and engine partner Peugeot imploded, and the team failed to score a point. “On the human side I think it was the hardest season of my career,” says Alain Prost of 2000. “It was very, very tough for many, many races. When I was a racing driver I won races and I won the World Championship, and I knew that it was difficult, and when I bought the team I knew that it would be difficult. I always had a plan of five years before we could manage to build a decent racing team.

“Anyway, even with that we managed to build a new team almost, with a new spirit and philosophy, in the last few months. It’s been a lot of work, a huge amount of work. We have a good base with the Ferrari engine. The car is performing very, very well. We know it’s far from what it could be, and far from maybe what the top teams are going to do. We are not in the same category, but it’s really a good start.”

Ferrari is the key to the revival. Prost somehow persuaded Maranello to release a second customer supply alongside that of Sauber, and he later added a separate arrangement for gearboxes, instantly removing a good 75% of any team’s potential new car gremlins.

But it’s come at a huge cost. The engine deal alone totals $90m for the years 2001-2003, which represents a monthly bill this season for $2m [a large chunk had been paid in late 2000], while an extra $5m down payment on next year has to be found in September/October. And the gearboxes cost extra. That’s a massive financial commitment, and the deal includes obligations to Ferrari that some team bosses would not accept.

But with access to the engine that won the 2000 World Championship, plus the bullet proof transmission that partnered it, Prost now has credibility. And that has already paid dividends, not least when Pedro Diniz provided much-needed funds at a critical time, and got a stake in the company. The Brazilian is taking his new role very seriously.

“It was very complicated, a pretty complex operation,” says Pedro. “But in the end it was a good deal for both sides, for me and for Alain. Of course my father helped me to do this deal, but it’s my business and I’m going to take care of it. I have a good relationship with him, and we talk a lot. He’s a very good consultant that I can use. He’s given me some tips on how to run my stuff, and it’s very good that I can have them for free!”

Diniz has been hard at work on raising funds: “Definitely the Ferrari engine costs us quite a lot of money. Our budget is pretty high, so that’s why we’re still working on selling our packages of sponsorship. I can say that 80% of our budget is already committed.

“We’re working hard on that. We have this sponsorship from PSN which is signed already, which is quite substantial for us. We’re working on some other deals and hopefully they’re going to be concluded soon. We have two other sponsors that are already concluded, but we’re going to present the whole car with the full package in Australia.”

Nobody’s pretending that Prost is suddenly a contender for victory, and Alain admits that quick testing times have been deliberately sought to boost the confidence of both the team and the driver. And of course any potential sponsors.

“You never know if the teams are running with more fuel or less fuel,” says Diniz, with tongue firmly in cheek. “But it’s important to know the potential of the car, and it’s not bad. Even on the long runs Jean was very competitive compared to the other teams. He was much quicker than Jaguar, and that gives us good confidence, and I think it’s a good start already.”

With so many of the top teams pushing the boat out on development, reliability in the early races could pay dividends.

“With Peugeot we broke 59 engines last year. In the first test at Magny-Cours we did already 60 laps on the first day, and everybody was very impressed. Even Jean said, ‘This car never stops – I’m not used to that!’ Last year they couldn’t do 20 laps until May, so that’s a big change. I think everybody’s very motivated and that’s very important.”

One of the biggest boosts to morale has been the arrival of Joan Villadelprat. Prost’s mechanic at McLaren in the eighties, the Spaniard was operations, team or factory manager at Benetton for a decade, right through the Schumacher years.

“He’s organising the team very well,” says Diniz, “and I think the team is much much more efficient too. Our production is working very well. We said we’d run the car for the first time on January 15, and we did, without having a delay.”

Another new arrival is former McLaren aero expert Henri Durand. He was too late to have much influence on the new car, but is working on an update package for Imola. And only last week the team confirmed that Pedro de la Rosa had joined, amidst speculation that he will eventually oust second driver Gaston Mazzacane.

“We signed him as test driver, and that’s it really,” says Diniz. “We thought it was a very good opportunity to have a test driver with good experience, and we couldn’t miss that opportunity. So we signed him. Gaston is our Grand Prix driver, and it should stay like this for the whole year. But of course if we have any problems with any of our drivers, Pedro is our reserve driver, and he will take the car.”

Might that include Mazzacane being too slow?

“You’re saying that…”

Don’t expect Alesi’s place to come under threat, however. His faith in Alain’s ability to put the deal together has been repaid, and by all accounts he’s raring to go.

“I think Jean is very good when the car is going well and when everything goes well,” says Prost. “He’s a more than Latin person and character, and he likes it when everything goes well around him. So we’ve managed to have a new structure, a new sprit around him, and it’s a new ambience.

“I must admit that he didn’t fit very well last year, but not too many people fitted very well in our team last year, and with the atmosphere being different he really is new born. He’s lost about 6kgs, done a lot of sport, and he’s very motivated for this year. So I think he’s going to have a good season.”

And are podiums a serious possibility?

“I’m quite sure. One hundred per cent sure. With reliability we could have maybe done one or two last year, so why not this year?”