'GP2 cars are for GP2 races' - di Montezemolo

[Ferrari_Fanatic]

Ferrari Chairman Luca di Montezemolo has once again condemned Formula 1's new teams, claiming that the cars in question are both too slow for the sport and can negatively affect the race at the front of the field.

The claims follow Sunday's Canadian Grand Prix, in which Fernando Alonso lost both first and second places to the McLaren drivers after being held up in separate Turn 7 incidents involving the Lotus of Jarno Trulli and Hispania of Karun Chandhok.

"Cars which perform at GP2 levels shouldn't be allowed to take part in Formula 1 races - they usually race on the Sunday mornings," Italian di Montezemolo is quoted as saying by Gazetta dello Sport, adding that Ferrari's raw pace was strong enough for victory on the semi-street Montreal circuit.

"Let us just hope that, in the future, we won't see lapped cars causing us a disadvantage - because we've had enough of that already," he summed up.

credit gpupdate

[Asphalt_World]

I don't really agree with this. Yes I was as gutted as the next Ferrari fan about what happened with FA. However perhaps they should have seen it coming. After LH made his stop FA set a new fastest lap something like a second faster than before but then chose to do another lap which meant having to pass the Lotus. He was blocked and therefore came out behind LH. He could have pipped him again had he stopped after the single lap.

I am not convinced about 3 car teams. Seeing a dominant car take all the podium spots would not be great for the sport imo. Also, no matter what budget you have (look at Toyota, Honda as recent examples) there is no guarantee that you can come in and be close to the midfield teams in terms of pace. Therefore we would never see new teams coming in to F1 if they could not race because of something similar to the old 107% rule.

Part of a teams strategy call and a drivers ability is to deal with back markers. It's the same for everyone. FA just got a bad break in Canada. Next time in Valencia where backmarkers will again be tricky to pass it could be reversed.

[Effone]

I dont agree either, yes Alonso did lose out but also Massa did gain from it. so its swings and roundabouts.

[Asphalt_World]

What is beginning to worry me is that LdeM only appears to be making statements that are negative about F1 and F1 teams of late.

I know the media pick and choose what stories to run and it may be that some things he has said over the past year that are positive have been ignored but people I speak with and read on other forums tend to think of Ferrari as being a bullying type of team.

I'd quite like Luca to come out with a few positive things that make the press.

[coolrunnings_99]

He should know best, that its only fair in the end to grasp the fact, that we re the only cause of our "disadvantages".Also its much more effective in terms of race results.

Such a stance is despicable, and poetic justice may come a long way around to bite back with a vengeance, since as most paddock shiny happy people, he might have lost grasp on certain aspects of reality.
Reality being consisted of nuts and bolts, difusors, pitsops, race strategies, car designs, tire wears, if racing is your DNA.

In the meantime, instead of adressing our issues lets be complacent and spit form a high ground on other less fortunate teams.
Oh sorry, I must ve jumped the wagon, since we ARE busy adressing our issues, by mercileslly and fruitleslly copying other people ideas.Ideas that apparently work, in original.

One can wonder why such coments were not raised after Turkish GP?


I am being more and more gutted, and am of the opinion that I wont be plaguing these boards no more.



Sincerely, and from the bottom of my heart, I am wishing the best for Scuderia Ferrari and its entourage.


bye cool...

[Hermann]

Next time there will be a Ferrari coming from behind all those 'GP2 cars' will group together and make a wall, while letting all other cars pass....no really, this won't make things any better, it will only make them worse.

[Rookie]

I can't understand why he's so bitter about it. If these teams never get the chance to make it in F1 then there will be a time where its just Ferrari and Mclaren on the grid. F1 needs to evolve and bring in new blood.

[Hornet]

F1 needs serious team who are in to win it, not just for the sake of being in a glamorous sport and run two mobile billboard every weekend

I'm not clear about this, but Star Sports mentioned something last weekend about Force India legal action relating to Lotus, something about Lotus copying their design or whatever. Thing is, these teams aren't making it easier for new teams anyway. Without any help, these new teams are just out of place, trying to get the most basic stuff right while other teams continue to pull ahead.

They should work out a way to bring new teams up to speed among the current more experience team who already have years of development. Then again who wants to help raise a potential competitor, right? F1 is really a tough place to be in, money alone won't lead a new team to success, and it becomes a problem when every tom--harry with lots of money can join whenever the mood strikes.

IMO, they should not allow new teams to simply "buy" their spot in F1

[hogo]

If you dare to disagree with a guy who has history like this http://www.ferrari.com/English/about_ferrari/Ferrari_today/Management/Pages/luca_di_montezemolo_en.aspx you are a fool. period.

[Nova]

You cant understand why he's bitter? Hmm, lemme see, we lost a victory by the speed and drivers of these slow cars,
they couldve got out of the way..theyre supposed to get out of the way when the leaders come up...

Why else? Hmmm, I think Massa was held up by some of these cars, and actually taken out of the race by..yes...a backmarker..

Im all for new teams, but geez..have the brains or the pit communication to know when you are about to be passed by the leaders..run your race,
but dont take out the leaders or alter the outcome of the race....

[Asphalt_World]

You cant understand why he's bitter? Hmm, lemme see, we lost a victory by the speed and drivers of these slow cars,
they couldve got out of the way..theyre supposed to get out of the way when the leaders come up...

Why else? Hmmm, I think Massa was held up by some of these cars, and actually taken out of the race by..yes...a backmarker..

Im all for new teams, but geez..have the brains or the pit communication to know when you are about to be passed by the leaders..run your race,
but dont take out the leaders or alter the outcome of the race....

Please do let us know how teams are supposed to come in to F1 in future if they have to be on the pace with the midfield cars.

[Grinsomx]

Please do let us know how teams are supposed to come in to F1 in future if they have to be on the pace with the midfield cars.

maybe by preparing to join F1? all of the "new teams" where set up and made ready in less than a year.....Bernie had a dream, suddenly a few teams popped up out of nowhere.
they allmost go bankrupt before the first race, a few of their cars actually fall apart if someone tries to drive it around a track.
how can that be good for the sport?

now dont get me wrong, i dont agree with LDM in that article, we dont need such comments from him because we got held up by the new guys.
it only comes across as sour grapes IMO

[Red_Diamond]

New teams should come from lower formulae, where they have accumulated experience and are sufficiently talented enough not embarrass F1 like Virgin and HRT are doing. And F1 should relegate teams who don't score any points. Has there been a race start these season where all the cars have lined up at the start?

[Nova]

Please do let us know how teams are supposed to come in to F1 in future if they have to be on the pace with the midfield cars.

As suggested by RedDiamond...new teams should come from a lower formula where they have the "racing" understanding and team members to do a better job in
preparing themselves for the "big league"...Mabey there should be tests of these new teams to insure their preparedness and experience....
Lotus seems to be doing a decent job, but hrt and virgin simply elstinko...

[Asphalt_World]

So are we to believe that all the new teams this year that are so far behind are made of of engineers, technicians etc etc etc that have no previous experience in F1. I don't think so.

Also, F1 teams only start to get returns on the massive financial input required by racing regardless of how fast they are. Having any kind of rule that means a team has to be around for longer would cost them millions with no return. The only recent example of how this happens is with Toyota. They had a massive budget, probably as big as anyone else's in F1, AND they spent a year testing all the time with a development F1 car that was never designed to race but as a test mule. How did they do in F1 when they entered? Not that well considering the time and money spent.

Teams need a chance and if they are that much slower they should be passed by the faster cars just as easily as the mid field cars. in fact it could be argued that a midfield car pushing for the minor points would not want to give up a few seconds allowing a faster car past whereas a car well out of the points does not have as much to lose by moving over and backing off a little.

Sports car racing manages to have multiple classes in races and some of these races are only a couple of hours long, not much more than a number of F1 races. They deal with it.

[Asphalt_World]

As suggested by RedDiamond...new teams should come from a lower formula where they have the "racing" understanding and team members to do a better job in
preparing themselves for the "big league"...Mabey there should be tests of these new teams to insure their preparedness and experience....
Lotus seems to be doing a decent job, but hrt and virgin simply elstinko...


Who held up FA prior to one of his pit stops in Canada!!!!

[mandzipop]

New teams should come from lower formulae, where they have accumulated experience and are sufficiently talented enough not embarrass F1 like Virgin and HRT are doing. And F1 should relegate teams who don't score any points. Has there been a race start these season where all the cars have lined up at the start?

Virgin are from a lower formula. Both Kimi and Lewis drove for them. Their real name in Manor Motorsport. They are only called Virgin to attract more sponsors.

I dont agree with what LdM has said. Everyone had to start somewhere, even Ferrari. Its not like it is a new situation in F1. The last few years have been an anomally.

[Suzie]

LdM's comments come across as bitter and it doesn't reflect well upon the team. We need to be concentrating on the performance of OUR cars rather than complaining about others.

[Hornet]

Please do let us know how teams are supposed to come in to F1 in future if they have to be on the pace with the midfield cars.

What do you want to see, new team fumbling on track every other weekend because they are allowed to treat race weekend like a kindergarten for them to build things up? You can't build a F1 car overnight when other team have done years of research, if not decades. They simply can't catch up in terms of pace, let alone conduct themself properly during a race event.

New teams either have to acquire the tech and expertise from other team from buying over former team put on sale, or go through a period of testing and building up, 1 year or so for them to be prepare, where they have to work closely with FIA. Such preparation period should be mandatory. Let them test their cars and all other system, let the entire team practice whatever they need to do, and be prepare as a whole team.

What is happening right now is a bunch of new teams with no experience being thrown into F1 races with little to no preparation.

Even in our working life, we're put through a training period before we're given actual responsibility, no? Hell we even do it for new software, we don't deploy something new into the productive environment. We deploy them in a test environment, where it can screw up all it wants with no affect on the company's operation.

This is not what's going on in F1, new teams are immediately thrown into the actual season, and their perpetual screwup have real consequences.

[Greig]

I say kick them out and have 3 Ferrari's, McLaren's etc :-D

[Ferrari_Fanatic]

I say kick them out and have 3 Ferrari's, McLaren's etc :-D

26 ferrari's would suit me :lol

[epiclyaddicted]

I kind of agree with Luca di to be honest. I mean, just looking at the last 20 years or so (may be even longer), how many of these small privateer teams have really made it big and successful in F1? Ok, Red Bull bought the former Jaguar team, and Vijay Mallya bought the former Jordan team, now Force India. Both of these teams are now owned by billionaire entrepreneurs, plus the backing of major sponsors and companies. But so many other teams have just come and gone. How much have they realistically contributed to the sport, apart from taking advantage of gaining publicity to about half a billion people every fortnight or so (which is all what Richard Branson seem to want)?

Why have teams just for playing the numbers' game? What's wrong with having just 8 or 9 strong to relatively strong teams, each running 3 cars? I mean 3 car teams work fine in Le Mans for instance. Just look at the LMP1 class this year. The factory teams - Audi, Peugeot and Aston Martin - all ran 3 car teams, plus a couple of privateer teams. I don't think anyone would say Le Mans doesn't provide exciting racing.

I know people will say - but everyone has to start somewhere! But F1 is meant to be the pinnacle of world motorsport, only for the best and the fastest. It's not a testing bed for GP2 cars to get up to F1 speed!

[Nova]

Who held up FA prior to one of his pit stops in Canada!!!!

Mmmm, not sure..One of the Virgins?
Mabey Manor MS needs a little more experience...Im sure they will get better, then again....

[justjesper]

As suggested by RedDiamond...new teams should come from a lower formula where they have the "racing" understanding and team members to do a better job in
preparing themselves for the "big league"...Mabey there should be tests of these new teams to insure their preparedness and experience....
Lotus seems to be doing a decent job, but hrt and virgin simply elstinko...

But even with the tests these teams would not be able to go 3 sec faster anyway. It's a hard question to answer, cause I think it's great for the sport with the new teams. You never know in 2 years you might see a Lotus on the podium. Lower GP's doesn't have what it takes in terms of building the cars at F1 level.
I think we have to live with these teams, but of cause make sure they get Blue flags.

Who was it that said that Blue flags were to be banned :-D

http://www.planet-f1.com/news/3213/6166100/Fernandes-wants-the-end-of-blue-flags

Tony Fernandes wants the end of blue flags

[mad_ani]

Well Luca di m didnt complain when Super Aguri's,Minardi's Prost's were there, and now it becomes an issue suddenly??...there were slower cars before and there are now..Lotus have improved well as compared to Sauber(powered by Ferrari engines)..

Massa did take advantage of the situation and passed Sutil...who was held up by backmarkers...its racing and we live with that...we go out and perform well in next few races.

and the irony is that Ferrari wants to collaborate with a new US team and I'd doubt if they would be as quick as the front next year or so

[killer]

LdM's comments come across as bitter and it doesn't reflect well upon the team. We need to be concentrating on the performance of OUR cars rather than complaining about others.

I'll remove "bitter" and agree with everything else you said. Let's just make our cars go faster and trust Felipe and Fernando to handle the slower cars on track.

[raylinds]

A lot of the blame has to go to the FIA. They decide they want new teams but they ban testing. How is a new team supposed to develop their cars without testing? Also, the new teams don't have the resources to be competitive. Having new teams just to have more cars on the track makes no sense. If a team has the resources, let them join and let them test and develop their cars.

[AP_]

Is Rossi already secretly signed in the third car or why Luca is constantly crusading behalf it?

[arunkshrestha]

You do realise that it was the teams that recommended getting rid of in season testing? In fact most things that fans accuse FIA of are usually done by FOTA.

[hogo]

You do realise that it was the teams that recommended getting rid of in season testing? In fact most things that fans accuse FIA of are usually done by FOTA.

what teams? def not Ferrari, they were ALWAYS against this. This was done by FIA. It couldn't have been done by FOTA cos there all teams have to agree with changes and they could not cos Ferrari (Toyota also) was against this.

[Asphalt_World]

Mmmm, not sure..One of the Virgins?
Mabey Manor MS needs a little more experience...Im sure they will get better, then again....

I think you will find it was Trulli in the Lotus, lap 28. It basically stopped FA getting past LH in the pits as he was 2.5 seconds slower on that lap than the previous lap. They are the fastest of the 3 new teams.

[Hermann]

I'm just waiting for that to happen to Hamilton- i bet CW is going to have a word with them then. But for Fernando- no.

[REDARMYSOJA]

These guttersnipes should feel honored that Luca stooped to slap them. They are rabble and aren't worthy to be on the same track with a grand team such as Ferrari.

:ferrarifl:ferrarifl:ferrarifl

[mad_ani]

These guttersnipes should feel honored that Luca stooped to slap them. They are rabble and aren't worthy to be on the same track with a grand team such as Ferrari.

:ferrarifl:ferrarifl:ferrarifl

The new teams are slow, one wouldnt expect them to come to speed for quite a while..But if you do have seen Lotus, they have greatly improved.
Force India are now a midfield team. They need time and with limited testing, these teams have no actual track data. Ferrari area grand team, but they have also had their fair share of bad times....

Luca didnt criticize Super aguri or Prost or Arrows in early 2000's, they were slow too...why now?? Massa beniftted from Backmarkers in cannada...This is a problem since racing was around....

and Ferraari want to collaborate with a new US team...sorry what did u call them...guttersnipes...

[Nova]

Mabey doing away w/in season testing was a good thing cost wise, but all of the teams are feeling it now...and Im sure the new teams would also benefit from testing..
I did read that it was fota's call on that, and mabey they really did need to save the $$$, but I'll bet they vote to bring it back...everyone except mac n rb, as they are the quickest..

[Hornet]

IIRC, before Toyota came into F1, they did a whole lot of private testing. Thats how it should be done.

Some of these new teams came in last minute. :ouch

[Ant Raikkonen]

:rotfl again @ LDM (again)

I think he's got a point though.