"It was a combination of being willing to take the risk with an unknown piece of technology, and a little bit of naivety as well. I still don't think it was the wrong thing to have done."Ultimately we have set ourselves a long-term plan, and that is the sort of thing that we are going to have to do as a racing team in years three, four and five. You are always hopeful, you don't go in there thinking `we are going to throw away the first four races'."The suggestion of dissatisfaction on Ford's behalf is hurtful, but the Stewarts hide that well. "Of course there has been pressure from Ford," Paul admits, "and you can't complain about that My father and I are racers, and we want this team to win We're not going to get there just by being jolly about it The Ford proposal has been our constitution. It's not so much us saying, `What do we do now?' as `What did we say we were going to do in our proposal? Right, we'd better do that!' We've stuck by that.
I don't want it to sound like sales pitch, but when we did the deal with Ford, we wanted a long-term trustworthy partner for Ford Motor Company to work with. That's an important element."The problem remains of getting the second driver, Jan Magnussen, back up to speed. The Dane has long been a Stewart protege, but some have been critical of the decision to try to boost his confidence and pace while putting him on a race-by-race probation."I have no problem with that at all," Stewart says immediately. "Last season we gave Jan every opportunity to perform, with zero pressure until the last third, when he did perform And then this season it has slipped away again.
My response is that applying pressure is the right way to do things It's not a question of being nasty or rude or condescending. Just being realistic about it."That comment, and the fact that most other teams would have pitched Magnussen this time last year, tells you more about the way in which Paul and Jackie Stewart are tackling their Formula One programme than anything else.Paul Stewart has the air of a man not given to sparing himself. "I might still be naive about certain things," he says, "and I might say the wrong things at times, but that's the only way I'm going to learn.". THE object of any professional is to play their best golf on a Sunday afternoon. That is the time of the week that it matters most and the only proviso is that he or she has played well enough up to that point to be in the position for an inspired performance to bring the maximum reward. Playing your best golf on a Tuesday morning, therefore, can be frustrating.
