The Red Bull-Renault technical director, talks about the championship fight.
How do you see the development race between yourselves, McLaren and Ferrari?
It's impossible to forecast. We are now more than 18 months into a very new set of regulations. There were obviously some significant changes last winter, with regard to the refuelling ban and smaller front tyres, but the aerodynamic regulations have been more or less fixed. On that basis it is likely that the rate will gradually slow down.
As long as your rivals try and copy things on your car they are not trying new things. What other areas can you explore before they get there?
If I told you that they'd be doing it! McLaren pioneered the F-duct this year, but I find it very difficult to forecast what new features will come along, as opposed to incremental development of wings or whatever.
Is it reassuring to see your main rivals trying things already fitted to your car?
Only if we stay ahead. You can look at it two ways. It's complimentary, but not necessarily reassuring because if they do a decent job our advantage might be eroded.
How do you rate your two drivers Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel?
Mark is very sensitive in some areas, Sebastian in others. That gives us two things to look at, but their driving technique is sufficiently similar that it doesn't give us the headache of having to develop the car differently for the two of them.
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Common OCD symptoms and how they manifest
Checking: the obsession or thoughts focus on some harm coming from things not being as they should, which usually centre around the theme of safety. For example, the obsession is “the building will burn down”, therefore the compulsion is checking that the oven is switched off.
Contamination: the obsession is focused on the presence of germs, dirt or harmful bacteria and how this will impact the person and/or their loved ones. For example, the obsession is “the floor is dirty; me and my family will get sick and die”, the compulsion is repetitive cleaning.
Orderliness: the obsession is a fear of sitting with uncomfortable feelings, or to prevent harm coming to oneself or others. Objectively there appears to be no logical link between the obsession and compulsion. For example,” I won’t feel right if the jars aren’t lined up” or “harm will come to my family if I don’t line up all the jars”, so the compulsion is therefore lining up the jars.
Intrusive thoughts: the intrusive thought is usually highly distressing and repetitive. Common examples may include thoughts of perpetrating violence towards others, harming others, or questions over one’s character or deeds, usually in conflict with the person’s true values. An example would be: “I think I might hurt my family”, which in turn leads to the compulsion of avoiding social gatherings.
Hoarding: the intrusive thought is the overvaluing of objects or possessions, while the compulsion is stashing or hoarding these items and refusing to let them go. For example, “this newspaper may come in useful one day”, therefore, the compulsion is hoarding newspapers instead of discarding them the next day.
Source: Dr Robert Chandler, clinical psychologist at Lighthouse Arabia