De Ferran looking for challenges

BAR's newly appointed sporting director Gil de Ferran is not expecting to make an immediate difference to the team but is looking to take on a new challenge. De Ferran, who was appointed to the post earlier this month, has a wealth of racing experience but has not previously held a management position.

Gil de Ferran, BAR Honda Sporting Director.

Photo by LAT Photographic.

"One of the many challenges ahead is my lack of team management experience, and I'm sure there are some nuances about F1 that I don't know about," he told the BBC.

"Will I be successful? I don't know. But I don't look for things that are certain. I look for things that provide challenges and difficulties, are exciting things for me to do, and situations where I can develop and grow. And I think this fits the bill."

The role of sporting director was created for de Ferran and is to support technical director Geoff Willis, so Willis can focus on the design and development of the car. With de Ferran on board, BAR chief executive Nick Fry can also spend more time on company matters.

The team, which finished second in the constructors' standings in 2004, has not had a good start to this season and is yet to get a car to the finish line, never mind score points. It was by choice in Melbourne but in Malaysia and Bahrain engine failures and technical problems were the downfall.

De Ferran claimed he is not about to make any immediate changes; for the moment he intends to watch and learn, and aim for a more hands-on approach as time goes on. "In the short term, my role is not to disrupt the team, which is essentially very good," he said.

"The worst thing I can do is go in there guns blazing and make a mess of everything. I just need to open my eyes, prick up my ears and understand what is going on and learn the ins and outs of what they do, and hopefully over time my contribution will increase."