Team principals: Ross Brawn (Honda), Norbert Haug (Mercedes), John Howett (Toyota), Frank Williams (Williams)

Questions from the floor:

Q: (Alan Baldwin - Reuters)

On the Super Aguri question, if I could ask Frank to start and then perhaps the others as well, with their departure, to what extent does it facilitate the path towards a new Concorde Agreement? I ask Frank first because obviously his team's stance was fairly uncompromising towards customer cars.

Frank Williams:

First of all, I would say, if I were Max [Mosley], what Concorde Agreement? There isn't one and there isn't going to be one, but if you mean there is, don't worry, there is one in place by… But at the end of the day it is only for the top ten teams and if they were to have finished at the end of this season in eleventh place, they would still not have been able to receive any of the starting money if you like, but not… they would not have been excluded from the opportunity of earning prize money.

Q: (Ian Parkes - The Press Association)

Ross, you've mentioned that on the one hand you are not too sad to see Super Aguri go, but on the other hand perhaps not unhappy given the drain they were proving on Honda's finances and what impact that might have had on your team's plans not only for the end of this season but for next season as well.

Ross Brawn:

First of all, I am sad to see Super Aguri go, but it had no impact on our team. I think Aguri Suzuki made the statement in Japan that he wasn't able to find the money and continue but there was no strong relevance for our team.

Q: (Alan Baldwin - Reuters)

Ross, if I could just follow up that question. It seems that Nick Fry has been labelled in some of the media as the guilty party in the Super Aguri exit. Do you feel that he has perhaps been unfairly targeted by some people and by Suzuki? I gather in the press conference he spoke out against him particularly.

RB:

Well, I'm sure it's a very difficult time for Aguri. He's worked for two years on this project and I think he realised that the end had come. I think probably when he reflects on the things he said he will reflect a little differently, because what I saw was that Nick was making big efforts at times to try and keep the project alive, far beyond any reason for us, personally. It was because of the connection of Aguri with Honda that Nick did a lot of work to try and find a viable solution for Aguri and it looked as though the Magma option, which I know Nick worked on very hard to put together, was a strong viable solution. And when that didn't happen, there were no other viable solutions.

Q: (Tomas Richter - TV Nova)

How big do you see the probability of other teams joining Formula One in the next two or three years, considering the technical regulation changes?

Norbert Haug:

Well, it's difficult to judge really. It's difficult to enter Formula One these days, if you need to build up from scratch and if you need to build your own car. It's not impossible and maybe there is a chance that more manufacturers are coming. I think there is a more intense fight due to the manufacturers' involvements and their teams. Most of the manufacturers have their own teams in the meantime, which is good for Formula One, but I think a complete independent team for the future has to try jump very very high to make it into Formula One. Not impossible, but maybe not very likely in my view, in the next couple of months, weeks, whatever.

Q:

John, can you imagine someone coming in and doing what Toyota have done?

John Howett:

Yeah, personally I can. I think if you look at tracks, basically I guess demand for grands prix is higher than supply. We're seeing a lot of countries, if you like, bidding for it and although economic hardship prevails for Western Europe, we still have to say that India is a booming market, China is a booming market, Russia is growing also, for us it's the biggest market now in Europe. I foresee that from these countries, where there is very strong economic strength, there is the potential for teams to enter Formula One. It is technically challenging and it probably also depends on what those backers or potential entries perceive as Formula One and the benefit it can offer. So it probably also has some relevance as to the future positioning of Formula One as a sport.

Q:

So you think there are manufacturers out there willing to invest as much as Toyota?

JH:

I believe there could be companies, very significantly resourced companies, interested to join and potentially other new developing manufacturers.

RB:

I pretty much go along with what John said. I think it's extremely difficult to see a privateer coming in because of the investment and the facilities needed, but it's viable for a lot of manufacturers at the moment, there's no reason why it shouldn't be viable for other manufacturers in the future, particularly the expanding market for Formula One. Different countries are now starting to establish our sport, I think there are a lot of opportunities from that direction in the future.

FW:

As a privateer, if a privateer was trying to enter, financially you would find it very difficult right now - assuming you read the Wall Street Journal and the FT (Financial Times) etc. - to raise money, to raise capital and I would imagine that's what Aguri's problem was. He just couldn't find the money. We have a Japanese driver, never yet found a penny of sponsorship for him in Japan, and that's much cheaper than actually creating a team.

Q: (Dominic Fugere - Le Journal de Montreal)

I would like to have your take on the significance of Danica Patrick's first win in Japan, and what it will take to have a woman back in Formula One as a driver?

JH:

Why not? I think it would probably be very good. We just need to see a driver with the capability that could deliver performance because we are basically all focused on winning and track performance. I don't think there's any discrimination in terms of anything within our organisation or team, so if we could find a suitable driver, we would be delighted. We have young driver programmes. Unfortunately most of the guys coming into karting at the moment and who are delivering performance are male, but I think it would probably be good but you would need someone who could be competitive.

Q: (Dominic Fugere - Le Journal de Montreal)

Does the fact that Danica Patrick has now won change anything?

LH:

I think it shows that it's possible for an extremely talented lady to be competitive, if you like, in what is historically seen as a male environment, so it probably opens people's eyes to the possibility of that happening, yes.

RB:

We can all see the commercial attraction, how exciting it would be to have a female driver in Formula One. I think the key thing is that they can be competitive, because it would be a shame if, purely because they were a female driver, they got put in the car and couldn't compete properly, but if they can compete properly, absolutely, it would be great.

NH:

We ran Sarah Fisher at Indianapolis once. I fully agree with what Ross has said. I think the key is to be competitive and if that is the case, I think motor sport is… it's certainly not possible in soccer to compete against these fellows. In various sports it's not possible but it should be basically possible in motor sports as the Indy Racing League has proven; or as, for example, DTM shows but the key is to be competitive. We had a winner in touring cars years ago - many years ago, 16 years ago, I think - with Ellen Lohr beating her team-mate Keke Rosberg at that stage, which was not very pleasing for my friend Keke, but anyway, it is possible and hopefully Formula One will experience that in the future.