Lothar,

The 'Matrix' may indeed be part of the issue. But ANY impact on the design and performance of the car is likely to result in the loss of the team's current position of strength. (Look at Renault to see the effect of individuals on the team's performance).

A 'minimal' impact is enough to put them in the position they were last season. They won nothing at all yet were still a very strong team. The percentage increase upwards has been very small, yet allied to a dramatic decrease in Renault's performance and a slight dip in Ferrari's this has resulted in a complete change around.

My contention is that these very small differences are the foundation on which the team's success is based. So MC leaving may result in a small percentage decrease in the potential performance of the car. Allied to a small % increase in A.N Other team's car and a gap is opened up. This is sufficient to make MCL feature consistently on the second and third rows of the grid with forays onto the front row... whilst others are consistent first and second row occupants. It is that close so regardless of a 'matrix' the individual contribution is still that small margin.

What the matrix will avert is the dramatic dip experienced by MCL after the TAG years...when they went from front row to mid field.

I would also study the departure of Newey from MCL. With the diversion created by the Jaguar issue (2001) there were years of Newey design being 'followed' closely by others at MCL. Afterall it was known that Newey was 'prepared' to leave the team. Any decent leader would ensure that they had a highly capable replacement to hand should he remake that commitment to leave. Which is what they did, appointing Mike Coughlan Chief Designer in 2002........whilst Newey was still in place. MC had that role for the next three seasons before Newey left.

His departure in 2005 was not a surprise event, so it could be planned for and anticipated. MC's was not and whilst there is not doubt that having Pat Fry and Tim Goss as ''Chief Engineers" on particular car designs is a very robust insurance policy against it their title reveals their primary job.

As regards the paper trail....in the entire process of desiging a car the actual recorded input from various people may only represent 5-10% of their actual input. Conversations are not all recorded when done over a screen or drawing, nor over a coffee in the canteen. It is at these occassions that the seeds can be sown, ideas launched and taken on board.

If somebody tried to 'quantify' by the paper trail the input I have on the designs I am responsible for then it would reveal very little. A few sketches done at the beginning would show the original ideas, but after that the record would be almost non existant, why?...because the sketches I do are on the drawings others produce, they are 'working' documents, not archived or stored, their usefulness is measured in minutes as the idea is translated from a sketch or conversation into a proper drawing, often done by one of my team on the CAD system. The conversations that take place are not recorded in detail and certainly not placed on a 'record' yet they guide the design both in general terms and in very specific terms. They are also where the design comes from...and it is 'my' design as the ideas, knowledge and experience I have is applied to the drawings, not in isolation but in open conversation.

The same applies to the guidance I recieve from higher up. The 'record' would show almost nothing, yet the conversations and work done to move it forward is there, it is present and yet carried out by others than the 'designer'. They do not have time to sketch out everything, they give direction and targets to achieve. The 'record' does not show that..it is verbal, a thumbnail on a napkin. And as we deal with a live process what was drawn yesterday had better have been drawn up properly by today in order to move it forward or we are moving too slowly.

So the 'record' presented will therefore only show that which is recorded, for various reasons and hence will show a certain facet of the process and its influences, not the whole thing. There are sketches and e-mails that cover the minor issues, they exist becuase I was out of the office or had an idea at the time that I wanted somebody to have, yet some of the big moves are totally unrecorded becuase they occured during a design session, they exisit in the deisng but their originator is unrecorded.

From that experience the 'record' as it exists at MCL is only a part picture, and even that has been highly edited in terms of what is and is not made public. Soem very very big moves may have been influenced by MC, and documented but as they are from say last year, before the incident there is no reason to disclose them, in fact there is every reason to keep then confidential as it could reveal just how influential MC has been, somehting at odds with the current problems.

All that is howver by the bye...MCL have lost their Constructors points, all they can salvage is the Drivers Championship and hope to retain the winner of that Championship as I do not believe they will retain their 'titled' Chief Designer next year.