• 5 minutes with... Mike Gascoyne

'We're here, we're racing … f*** you'

Adam Hay-Nicholls March 24, 2010

How's it going (at Lotus) Gaza?
Good, it's nice to be here. Six months ago there were just four of us working in an empty factory. To be here as a proper F1 team is an achievement. We couldn't be in better shape, given the time that we had. We always said we'd be here, be professional and reliable, and we've done what we said we'd do. Now we'll get on and make it quick. For those who said new teams shouldn't be here, when you saw Heikki fighting with Hulkenberg, well… we're here, we're racing … f*** you!

Was there ever a time you worried you might not make it to Bahrain?
No, there were times that I worried what state it would be in, but never a worry that we wouldn't be here. Perversely, what you might think was the difficult bit - the car - was always on target. It was the ancillary things - getting the people in time, the 25 tonnes of freight… When you're an established team, you don't notice it. But when everything turns up via the back door in one go, you realise there's a lot of it. I mean, all of that turned up in the last month. At Christmas we were still only 20 people.

How did you go about staffing-up?
Any place I've gone since Tyrrell I've always built up teams using existing people. One of the joys of this new start is we didn't inherit any baggage or politics - it was all new. I could bring in people I knew before, from other teams, who I know are not only good at what they do, but they're characters who will work well with each other. They have the right spirit, and that's the great thing about this team.

Does Tony Fernandez give you complete freedom?
Tony is putting a lot of his own money into this team, and anyone who does that doesn't give you complete freedom. We have to justify and stick to very tightly controlled budgets, and that's right and proper. He obviously has his hat on as a Malaysian, as a businessman, and what he wants to get out of it commercially. He backs us technically, but he has his input.

Should USF1 be allowed to compete next year?
The FIA have to be fair and open a tendering process, and in that process you have to view people's past performance. I think it could be very important for F1 to have a team based in the US and raise the sport's profile in the States. Therefore, I think it's a great shame [that USF1 were unable to make the grid this year], because we know better than anyone how difficult it is. But it doesn't reflect well on the sport. I'd like to see [representation in the US] work, but I'd like to see it done properly.

Are you for or against the re-introduction of the 107% qualifying rule?
F1 is very close and any new team is going to start at the back. You've only got a couple of months to make a car, so you're not going to catch up with teams who have been doing it for years. I personally would vote no because the season's started and it wasn't in the rules. But we're well inside 107%, so we don't give a shit! There's no testing. So how the hell are HRT meant to get on the pace if you say 'no you can't race'? It shows that the entry process needs to be longer. I mean, we got it done very professionally, but I'm sure if we'd had a year we'd be racing Sauber and Toro Rosso in the midfield. And you've got to have new blood, otherwise F1 will wither and die. And besides, cars race at Le Mans which have massive speed differences, like a minute per lap, and they race at night and in the rain.

Are you happy?
Yeah, I've enjoyed the last six months immensely. It's been exciting and challenging, and I get to work with my partner Silvi who was one of the original four. You could say Toyota and Force India were very difficult and unhappy years. The only difficulty now is, having moved to Norfolk, I only get to see the kids every other weekend. They're very supportive, though. I got an email from my daughter before quali in Bahrain saying she was watching on the TV and cheering on Lotus. She's 13 and proud of her dad - and she was never interested before.

And you've gone back to your roots …
Norfolk boy comes home. Lotus were five miles from where I went to school. All we have to do now is persuade Tony to buy Norwich FC and away we go.

Talking of your youth, you've got some arcades on the shop floor, apparently?
Yeah, we've got a pinball machine, and some of the old retro upright games. And you remember those old coffee table ones in the pubs? I've actually got one of them in my office. And there's a PS3 with a racing seat. Tony wanted it to be different …to do something for the guys to relax …

Was Colin Chapman a hero to you?
We had the Lotus 88 with the twin-chassis in the workshop and I really like that … that was clever. A great innovator, and more than just an engineer. He was a character. He was someone I massively look up to. It's wrong to draw comparisons between him and me, because he's head and shoulders above anyone in the sport for what he achieved.

Would you have liked to work in that era?
My first love was aviation, and I would have loved to work in that, or the space industry in the 50s and 60s, as they were great eras for innovation, and in motor racing it was the same. You can always think 'what if', but I'm very happy the way my career has turned out. And when I decide it's time, Silvi and I will be off sailing.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.