Q: This was quite an antagonistic relationship early on, what was the breakthrough to bring you both together?
MM: The big breakthrough came with our meeting in Nice on August 7 where we went through all these issues. The key thing was to appreciate that what we needed to do was to define the objectives and then worry about the rules. Whereas previously, the discussions had all been about the rules without any real attempt to define the objectives. I think once we defined the objectives of road relevance, lower cost and social relevance, after that the discussion got easier.
BG: That's true, and in our opinion it was also a breakthrough. Coming to a solution but to have common ideas for the future, that is the right way to go forward. So we made the shift in Nice. It is a real breakthrough to shift the mindset between the manufacturers and the FIA because we are looking at the same areas of what to solve.
Max pointed out those areas and I also want to point out another area we have to look at: is the education of our engineers. It is interesting to make an engine capable of 22,000 rpm, but there is no interest within the car industry to have such an engine. So in the end our young engineers are operating in the wrong area. For us at BMW and at other car manufacturers F1 is an area to train our engineers to take decisions and in developing future technologies. It will keep car manufacturers in F1 if F1 is focused on future technology for the car industry. If F1 takes this route then there is a future for each manufacturer in F1.
MM: You can see from that, when we are all accused of trying to dumb-down F1 when we froze the engine, in fact it, is the exact reverse because making the engine go faster and faster is completely pointless as Professor Goschel has just said. Whereas the sort of technologies we are talking
about – energy recovery, heat recovery, re-use and fuel efficiency, bio fuels and so on – all of those are directly relevant to the industry. They are also the latest high technologies as opposed to the technologies of the past.
When people talked of dumbing down, what we were really doing was moving away from the technology of the 20th century towards the technology of the 21st. It is only by doing that that we can prevent Formula 1 starting to be labeled as a dinosaur. Whereas what will happen, as these things develop, will be that it will be seen as the cutting edge of technology relevant to the car industry.
BG: And it keeps the interest of the manufacturers to stay in F1 and also for others to step in. If as a car manufacturer you are spending money on F1 it should be done in a way that has an effect on our normal technology of our core business. If we are shifting to this route Formula 1 will also become the leading edge of technology for our normal car business. That is the important shift we have to achieve. We can do it and F1 will still be an emotional event.
Q: Obviously you are speaking on behalf of the GPMA but is there 100% accord among the other members of the group?
BG: It is the same idea for all the manufacturers because they want F1 to be integrated into their future business. If you are talking to, say, our Japanese friends, it is the same idea.
Q: Was it just the two of you at that breakthrough meeting in Nice?
MM: Dr.. Reul (BMW) was there as well.
BG: After this meeting, Jurgen Reul and I thought we had made a big shift. We were so excited we went to the beach in Nice in our suits and ties and with our briefcases in hand, it was very warm and everyone was sitting in their bathing suits, so on the beach we both had a glass of red wine.
