Katie Clements Q&A

Great Britain's team principal gives a pre-season progress update ahead of the new A1GP campaign.

Great Britain's team principal Katie Clements gives skysports.com an update on their pre-season preparations... There was a two-day test at Donington Park recently but A1GP Team Great Britain weren't one of those taking part? "The entire build schedule (for the new 'Powered by Ferrari' car) is several weeks behind. Then they've been sorting out safety issues and making sure the car is as safe and competitive as possible, so we've received our car and we're having it built at the moment." So you haven't done any testing as yet? "No, we haven't but we're going to be testing at Snetterton before Zandvoort (the season-opening race on October 4-5)." So it's really too early for A1GP Team Great Britain to give a verdict on the new car? "We haven't actually raced our own car or tested it so we're unable to comment on that side. But we have seen it and we're very excited - particularly with the new Ferrari engine. We think it's going to be a great race car." Have you made a decision regarding A1GP Team Great Britain's driver this season? "Basically we've had a lot of interest from a number of drivers over the course of the summer, so it has been a fairly tough decision. But we're going to test a couple of drivers and move forward with one or two. "Ideally it was going to be one but it depends on various schedules. But I know who these guys are and I can say we are definitely in with a chance of winning the title with these drivers. We've got a good couple of drivers lined up." But you can't name names? We saw Oliver Jarvis at the recent Donington test... "I think Robbie Kerr was up there as well. In fact a number of British drivers just came along to see the new car, get the feel and understand it. But I can't confirm at the moment." You said earlier in the summer it was your intention to use just one driver in the coming season. Is that not necessarily going to happen now? "That's the ideal situation but some drivers have different commitments and may not be able to make a race, for instance. Ideally, we're going to have one main driver for the majority of the season. That's the plan, but either end of the season we might have a different driver." Different teams seem to have different theories on this. The Netherlands recently announced their driver line-up and they seem to be going the other way: having only had one driver before, they're now going with two... "In my opinion, having one driver in the car is definitely the way forward. I think it was obvious with Switzerland and New Zealand (who finished first and second in the Championship) last year. Also, looking at other teams at the top of the table. You have all the teams that won, like India, Ireland and South Africa as well. "So most of the teams that were in the top 10 all had one driver. Not all of them - Great Britain had two. But we finished third and I think the way forward in order to win the title would be having one driver for the majority of the season." So the driver who doesn't get the nod...will they still remaing a team member? "Absolutely." Is there any word on rookie drivers for the upcoming season? "Again, that's to be confirmed. In Zandvoort we won't actually be having a rookie because there isn't a rookie session - there isn't a Friday practice session due to noise restrictions. But, as of China, we will have our rookie out there." Team Great Britain has finished third in each A1GP season so far contested. You're changing your approach this year with regard to driver selection...are you making any other changes in your approach to try and improve? "We're keeping with the same team. We've got the team in-house - we've got an excellent team. We work very well together, work very well with our drivers. It's a good formula and, as they say, 'if it ain't broke don't fix it'. I think that way we're moving forward. "But also we're going to be focusing on our pit stops because last year I don't think we were as competitive as some of the other teams. So that will be our major focus of change." I suppose you have to concentrate more on that anyway because there's a new mandatory pit stop? "Yes, a third pit stop. In the first and second seasons it was quite easy in comparison because we only had one. Last year we had two in the Feature Race and now we also have one in the Sprint Race. "But that's just going to make it more exciting and lot more competitive."