Eddie and Taku.

Q: Why sign Takuma Sato and not Alesi or Wilson?
A variety of reasons. We needed to be sure how quick he was and when we established that and monitored his programme, we were sure. We were asked some advice by him and his manager Andrew Gilbert-Scott and we were absolutely clear that he should stay and dominate F3 rather than go chasing other formulae. And it's probably the biggest test, when someone is prepared to go back, as favourite, and then dominate that championship. It's probably one of the most difficult things to do.
He's been outstandingly quick in the BAR test programme, which we have monitored very carefully. We've known what fuel he's had, what tyres he's had, what time of the day it has been when he's done certain times. All of that. So we know exactly where he is against other drivers in F1. And the thing that really tipped me over was Zandvoort, what he did in the Masters was out of this world. He has also won more races in British F3 than any other driver. So there's no doubting his talent and I think the emphasis in F1 is changing to younger and quicker drivers.
We've always had our best success with youth and I feel we are stronger technically as a team now, so we can hone the youth.

Q: How much was Honda the reason to take a Japanese driver?
Honda had a very positive and strong position in terms that they made it very clear that driver choice was down to the team. They made no influence and no side deals or anything like that. This is quite unique in many respects because I think Taku is the first Japanese driver to my knowledge that has taken it on himself to suffer the pains - like Brazilians - to come to Europe and to fight in the junior championships, and to win. He's the first Japanese to win an F3 championship. I think he should be commended for that. He has got to F1 on his own ability.
I don't want to take anything away from other Japanese drivers but the others became stars domestically before they came to Europe. He has done it the other way round and I think he will gain from that.

Q: What are your expectations for him next year?
Well, the good thing is that he has the vital ingredient - speed. And he's articulate and bright and a lot smarter than me. He also knows how to negotiate, which is also very disappointing....!
But let's see. I can sit here and say he'll be the next world champion but let's give the guy a chance to breathe. It's not easy at the moment. But I think he's as good if not better prepared than most. He knows what it is to live on his own, to trek around Europe and learn a new language, both commercially and technically, and you'll be surprised how well he can talk to the engineers. He has honed himself into a very professional package.

Q: How much of a talent has BAR let slip through its fingers?
I wouldn't say that, because BAR has given Taku some vital testing time and provided a lot of good things. But I'm glad that they have given him some mileage, at no cost to us!
But they were in a contractual situation. I know it took a while to get them to release him. They really liked him but they declared at a very early stage that they were continuing with the two drivers they had and on that basis I suppose they counted themselves out of the programme with Taku earlier than we were in a position to because we hadn't made a final decision.

Q: Normally a new driver gets a one-year deal with an option whereas Sato's deal is two. Why?
It's not as if we've just seen him. We have been watching him now for 18 months and AGS (Andrew Gilbert-Scott, his manager) to this day still does a lot of our aero test work. He was an F3000 driver of mine and he works out here for Formula Dream. Andrew contacted me about two years ago and said: 'I think I've got a real gem here, have a look', so we followed and watched him. One year gives you no chance to do anything. All it does is pile on extra pressure that is not necessary.
He knows he's in the team on talent, so why create another question mark against something you already believe strongly in.

Q: How much of a political difficulty was the BAR contract to overcome?
That was something that Taku and his manager had to resolve. I wasn't involved at all.

Q: How did you tell Jean Alesi?
Jean left to go to Japan on Friday, we only received the clearance on Friday from BAR, and I think Sunday was the first time I could get to him.

Q: What is the likelihood of Jean staying on with Jordan in some role?
I have to speak to him and he needs to get this out of his mind. It's a pretty difficult thing to realise you are no longer going to be doing what you want to do.
When that all dissipates we will talk. Jean has made it clear he doesn't want to drive for anyone else. He came into F1 through Jordan and he wants to go out through us. I think he would be a valuable asset. He has done over 200GPs and Taku could learn a lot from him, maybe in a testing and understanding situation. Jean has strong Japanese ties and in a social situation he's probably closer to me than any other driver in F1. We lived together, he learned his English in Oxford, my children have gone to Avignon to learn French there.
It's a strange situation. Let's not put ourselves under too much pressure by making promises but if there was a possibility of Jean being part of Jordan, either in an ambassadorial role or whatever, it would be good. He has a wealth of knowledge, he's an unbelievably nice person and F1 would do well keeping him inside its company.