Question: Niki, do the current championship standings reflect the true balance of power in Formula One at the moment? Mark Webber and Red Bull Racing leading the way…
Niki Lauda: Of course. The driver with the most wins and the team with the best team results hold the top spots in the respective standings. It’s as simple as that. Mark won four races while his pursuers Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel, Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso only have two under their belts. Winning a race indicates that you were able to react to every situation to your benefit. Sometimes there is luck involved, yes, but there is also the saying that fortune favours the bold…
Question: Putting the standings to one side, who do you see as the outstanding driver of 2010 so far?
Niki Lauda: Still Sebastian Vettel. What he showed again in the Budapest qualifying in terms of sheer speed outclasses everybody - especially as team mate and race winner Mark Webber has the same material. Behind him I see, of course, Mark and the other usual suspects in this year’s championship - Hamilton, Alonso and Button.
Question: What do you make of the rivalry between the Red Bull drivers. In the end could it cost them the title?
Niki Lauda: You have two models of how to race in Formula One as a team. If you approach it politically then you are in the Ferrari mould. Or you try to give both your drivers equal opportunities and the fans an exciting sport, as Red Bull are doing in letting their drivers compete with each other. That is what makes this sport a crowd puller because they see the best guys in the best cars racing each other with a ‘may the best man win’ philosophy - and not mocking the fans with a collusive result. But I am aware that this is a topic where opinions differ.
Question: From the outside it appears that McLaren have the most balanced driver line-up…
Niki Lauda: Both Hamilton and Button know what it takes to win a championship and that every DNF is a little blow to any aspirations. So they wisely keep a respectful distance and until Budapest it had paid off with the top spot in the drivers’ and constructors’ standings, despite their car not being as competitive as the Red Bulls.
Question: How would you judge Michael Schumacher’s comeback so far?
Niki Lauda: Very mixed to say the least. Nico Rosberg is constantly outperforming him and he definitely has to work on that. It will be interesting to see which road he will take to get back on the podium again.
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