Q&A: Alan Jones - EXCLUSIVE.

by Russell Atkins

TO LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW IN FULL: CLICK HERE

Straight-talking Aussie - and 1980 Formula 1 World Champion - Alan Jones is never short of an opinion or two, and when Crash.net Radio caught up with him at the end of the 2007/08 A1GP season finale at Brands Hatch last weekend, he did not disappoint.

Read on to find out what the 61-year-old had to say about the current state of play in both F1 and A1GP in 2008...

Q:
Alan - 1980 Formula 1 World Champion - looking at the 2008 season, what are your thoughts so far?

Alan Jones:
Well it's early days, obviously. I think the status quo is beginning to take shape a little bit - Ferrari and McLaren are proving to be strong, and it's the same old pretenders and contenders up there. I think it's really going to be between Kimi [Raikkonen] and Lewis Hamilton.

Q:
With the Turkish Grand Prix coming up next weekend, McLaren have predicted they're going to struggle there in relation to Ferrari. Is that just gamesmanship, do you reckon, or are McLaren genuinely finding it tough to keep pace with Ferrari?

AJ:
I think it's a bit of gamesmanship, to be honest.

Q:
There have been a number of theories as to why McLaren have slipped slightly off the pace this year - do you think that has more to do with Fernando Alonso having left the team, or maybe the spy scandal of 2007..? What's your view on the subject?

AJ:
No, I don't think that [the spy scandal] will have affected them at all. They're not psychologically that tender, that a little thing like that is going to put them off their game. I think they've been around long enough and are now old enough and ugly enough that that's just water off a duck's back. I think they'll just get on with it.

Q:
Looking beyond the established 'top two', BMW-Sauber have surprised many so far this season given their poor pace in winter testing. Do you think they can win a race this year?

AJ:
They're knocking on the door. At the end of the day you really can't dismiss a company like BMW or Mercedes. They're giants, they have built the odd racing engine over the years and I think if anyone's capable of doing it BMW are.

Q:
Turning to the midfield, Renault seemed to take a step forward at the Spanish Grand Prix last time out. Do you think they can maintain that over the course of the campaign, and how far can they go with Fernando Alonso back again now?

AJ:
I don't know. They took a big step, didn't they? From being relatively uncompetitive to being up there on the front row is a big step. I don't know whether it was just a matter of circumstances for that one particular meeting - it will be interesting to see how they go in Turkey.

Q:
Your old team Williams obviously had a great start in Melbourne when Nico Rosberg got up onto the podium, but since then they've slipped off the pace somewhat...

AJ:
Once again I think that could be circumstantial. I never underestimate Williams. I know the people, I know the facilities and I know their capabilities. Yes, they have been off the pace of late and have had a quiet time over the last couple of years, but they're just too good to discount. They will bounce back.

Q:
Australia has not had a grand prix winner now since yourself back in 1981, but Mark Webber's habitually rotten luck seems to have finally turned in 2008, with three points finishes on the trot. What can he achieve this year do you think?

AJ:
I think he's proven that if he's in a reliable car he's capable of doing the job. He's had an enormous amount of bad luck and unreliability, but I think Red Bull are probably now making inroads in that area and I think Mark will take advantage of that.

Q:
Are there any other drivers or teams who have perhaps surprised or disappointed you so far this year?

AJ:
[Heikki] Kovalainen has gone a lot better than what I thought he would; he's jumped in the McLaren and really taken it to them. I think he's been very impressive. Other than that I think all the people are in the same spots where they deserve to be.

Q:
Obviously one of the biggest talking points recently is the scandal surrounding Max Mosley. Some of your contemporaries like Jody Scheckter and Nelson Piquet have spoken out on the matter, with some saying he should resign and others supporting him. What's your view on the subject?

AJ:
The only crime that he did was to get caught! At the end of the day I honestly believe that what a person does in their private life - providing they're not breaking the law or hurting anybody - should be up to them. He should be judged on the job that he's doing, not his out-of-work-time pleasures.

Q:
The FIA Senate are due to hold a vote of confidence on Max's future in just under a month's time. Do you think he'll survive that?

AJ:
I really don't know; that is a tricky one. I personally believe he will.

Q:
Changing tack a little, we're here now at Brands Hatch for the 2007/08 A1GP finale. Australia has had a tough season, hasn't it, but by the same token you've got a very promising young driver in the team in John Martin..?

AJ:
We've had a pathetic season! We started off with another driver, but John really impressed us as a rookie. He on more than one occasion proved to be the quickest rookie in the rookie sessions, up against some pretty talented people, but since then for one reason or another he just hasn't been able to put it together.

Q:
And like the weather in the end at Brands, it's been a bit of a damp squib climax to the campaign, hasn't it?

AJ:
Yeah; I obviously predicted Switzerland was going to win the championship, but it would have been really nice for Great Britain to have taken the event. He [Robbie Kerr] won the sprint race, but for them to have won the feature as well would have been a great finish to the season, particularly for England on home soil.

Q:
A1GP hasn't traditionally been part of the upcoming part of a driver's career like the stable Formula Renault, Formula Ford, Formula 3 categories... How good a training ground do you believe it is for young drivers?

AJ:
Well Formula Renault, Formula 3 and all the rest of them have been around slightly longer than A1GP, so give us time! Formula 1 has been here for 50 years - we haven't been here for 50 months, but already we've seen [Nico] H?lkenberg go out of here to become a Williams test-driver, and Neel Jani has done a great job.

On the other side of the coin we've actually seen a lot of so-called respectful names, big names or people who have achieved things come into A1GP and really have their eyebrows lifted a little bit. These things aren't easy cars to drive, and there have been certain people who have come into A1GP who people have thought 'well he'll just dominate, he'll romp home' and quite the contrary - they've had a bit of a hiding. I think that's been good for the other people in A1GP to have beaten some of these people that have come in with big names.

Q:
And looking finally to the future, there are Ferrari engines coming along for next season - is it onwards and upwards from here for A1GP?

AJ:
I think so. I happen to know for a fact that they've had a lot more enquiries from other nations - both to either host races or field teams, and now we'll have the Ferrari engines and more horsepower too. These cars are only going to have something like ten or 20 horsepower less than a Formula 1 car with no electronic aids - I think they're going to be a real drivers' car.

TO LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW IN FULL: CLICK HERE