Thread: Ferrari F2012 Development News Thread

  1. #3241
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    Please Please Please Let it be true...

  2. #3242
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    Fernando Alonso's consistency key

    Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel closed in on Fernando Alonso's championship lead by winning in Singapore on Sunday - closing the gap to 29 points - but I don't think the Spaniard needs to be too worried about it.

    Alonso is doing a good enough job to finish in the top three in every race, as he did in Singapore, and all he needs now is to maintain the consistency he and Ferrari have had all year.

    At the beginning of the year, during pre-season testing, everyone was asking who was going to win the championship, and no-one knew because they were not even sure about the potential of their own cars.

    But it was quite clear that we were heading into a season where everything was going to be so close, between team-mates and car performance, and the important part was going to be to maintain consistency and stay as close as you could to the top five positions in every race.

    Fernando Alonso, right, needs to stay on the podium to win the drivers' title

    The one who would make least mistakes and maintained that consistency of finishing would be the one who won the championship, and that is the case with Alonso so far.

    He has done great to score points so consistently, and he is still in a very strong position.

    The Red Bull does not look like the most reliable car - they have had a number of failures, including the alternator problems on Vettel's car in Valencia and Monza - and the same goes for the McLaren.

    But the Ferrari finishes all the races. It never breaks. Alonso's only retirement was caused by an accident at the start in Belgium for which he was completely blameless.

    Then they have Alonso, who is driving incredibly consistently, and never making mistakes. This is the best package.

    It doesn't have to be the best car or even perhaps the fastest driver. It just has to be the most consistent package between driver and car, and this is what Alonso and Ferrari are and it's what Red Bull and McLaren lack.

    That's why I think Alonso, if he finishes the races in the top five from now on, will definitely take the championship.


    Lewis Hamilton was in excellent form in Singapore and his gearbox failure cost him a certain victory.

    Hamilton was the man to beat all weekend. He was the favourite and he not only had the pace to win but also the best tyre wear.

    I saw his McLaren's tyres on Friday afternoon, after the teams had done their race-simulation runs in second practice, and he looked in the best shape by far.

    Not only was he the fastest both on the lower-fuel run and the high-fuel run, but he also had very good tyre degradation. In fact, I was thinking they would be the only team and driver out of the whole grid who would be able to do just two pit stops.

    Hamilton was very confident in his car's set-up from the beginning. He had great traction out of the slow-speed corners, and I could see the balance of the car was almost perfect throughout the weekend, while his team-mate Jenson Button was struggling a little bit more with the rear end.

    They were looking really good, and I still believe McLaren has the fastest package on the grid.

    Red Bull looked good in Singapore - Vettel was the closest to Hamilton - but I suspect that was a bit of a one-off.

    I don't believe they can have closed the gap to the McLaren that was obvious in the previous four races; it was down to the characteristics of the Singapore track suiting the Red Bull car.

    The integration of the Red Bull's exhaust system, rear aerodynamics and engine control system is very well suited to that sort of slow track, with short, tight corners.

    The Red Bull always runs with high downforce and short gearing, and they don't have great top speed, so Singapore is a perfect track for them because it is just cornering and slow speed - like Monaco and Valencia, where they were also very competitive.

    I don't think Red Bull will be as competitive at the next two races in Japan and Korea as they were in Singapore.

    I think they can be at the level of Fernando Alonso's Ferrari, more or less, but the McLarens are a step ahead.

    In Japan, Hamilton will be the favourite for the win and for pole position, and then we will see what happens - there are still six races to go

  3. #3243
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    MH is right to an extent. Valencia, Monaco, Singapore, Bahrain have all been good races for RB. they are all 'pointy' cornered tracks.
    But since RedBull were good at Silverstone, they might be good round Suzuka as well.


    In Stefano Domenicali, we have a team boss who has proved to be a leader. - Luca diMontezemelo

  4. #3244
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    Quote Originally Posted by scuderiafan View Post
    MH is right to an extent. Valencia, Monaco, Singapore, Bahrain have all been good races for RB. they are all 'pointy' cornered tracks.
    But since RedBull were good at Silverstone, they might be good round Suzuka as well.
    They will be good, but so will Ferrari and McLaren. Remember last year? It was pretty equal stuff in the race and I suspect this year will be the same. It's going to be a a great RACE, not so sure about qualifying though.
    I suspect Red Bull will be very good at Korea, just got a hunch.
    "The client is not always right." - Enzo Ferrari

  5. #3245
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    I just hope the Lotus guys can take a win or two....if Alonso can finish ahead of Seb in atleast 3 of the 6 races,then its a done deal. Even if he doesnt,and concedes only 3-6 points per race,he will still probably start the final weekend as championship leader.....we simply need somebody other than HAM or Seb to win atleast 3 of the remaining races.

  6. #3246
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    Well if Ham reads the news and finds out his girl friend is going out on him, he may not be in a good frame of mind for racing...know what I mean?

  7. #3247
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    Quote Originally Posted by SoumyaBanerjee View Post
    I partly disagree. The F2012 did sport a new floor at Singapore. McLaren have brought even fewer new parts since the summer break(they brought 2 circuit-specific low DF wings to Spa and Monza,perhaps a refined version of the former will be run at Suzuka). And barring Mercedes,nobody really has made any changes to the exhaust detail in the last half a dozen races or so...im no expert,but to me,Ferrari did bring a very big package to Singapore. What they need is not more upgrades,they simply need to improve the correlation between the WT and the track imho....

    I don`t think Ferrari brought any new floor at Singapore...they were suppose to bring but they did not...
    AKROCKS

  8. #3248
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    Fernando Alonso: Ferrari risk blowing my drivers' championship dream

    Fernando Alonso has told Ferrari they risk blowing his shot at the drivers' championship this year if they don't step up their efforts to improve his misfiring car.

    The Spainard currently tops the leaderboard after the first 14 races of the campaign, with his three wins giving him a 29 point advantage over world champion Sebastian Vettel.
    But despite the positive start, Alonso is winless in his last four outings, and is only maintaining his lead because of mechanical problems with his opponents in the last two races.
    Lewis Hamilton was the latest to suffer during the Singapore Grand Prix at the weekend, but Vettel's win means he is pushing Alonso hard at the top.
    The pressure is on, and a clearly furious Alonso is urging Ferrari to fix up his struggling car as soon as possible, or risk blowing any ambitions they have of claiming this year's title.
    'We definitely can't go on like this,' 31-year-old Alonso told reporters.
    'It can't be the case that we rely on my closest rival to retire, as has happened in the last two races, and we can't think of carrying to the end of the season with bad qualifying sessions like on Saturday, when our performance was almost a second off the best.'
    The comments have since been echoed by Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali, who is well aware that improvements need to made quickly, especially given the remaining races all contain tracks more suited to a nimble car, just like the Red Bull driven by Vettel.
    'Clearly we need to make a step forward in terms of performance, because we cannot rely purely on the misfortune of others,' added Domenicali.
    'Having said that, we mustn't over-react as it's better to bring a few updates that work rather than bringing too many. This is the area where we need to improve and it will be one of our priorities in the coming days.'
    Ferrari are expected to undertake extensive testing of a number of tweaks over the weekend, ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix on October 7th.
    AKROCKS

  9. #3249
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    'Telling Ferrari', 'clearly furious'- they all know very well what they have to do, and i doubt Fernando has to 'tell' the team anything. I also don't see any kind of 'fury' here:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?featur...&v=6tBOssAhvNU

    or here:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?featur...&v=6tBOssAhvNU

  10. #3250
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    Quote Originally Posted by Hermann View Post
    'Telling Ferrari', 'clearly furious'- they all know very well what they have to do, and i doubt Fernando has to 'tell' the team anything. I also don't see any kind of 'fury' here:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?featur...&v=6tBOssAhvNU

    or here:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?featur...&v=6tBOssAhvNU

    Fernando has to tell the team because back in 2010 Ferrari caused him the championship and he don`t want that to happen again....
    AKROCKS

  11. #3251
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    Quote Originally Posted by anupa2k View Post
    Fernando has to tell the team because back in 2010 Ferrari caused him the championship and he don`t want that to happen again....
    Rubbish and I wish you would stop posting this, did Alonso not cost himself the title with a jump start, spin at Spa and crash at Monaco?

    Or maybe we do not need to blame anyone for not winning the title and realise it's a team sport and we win and lose together. Ferrari know they have to improve they do not need to be told that by Alonso or anyone.
    Forza Ferrari

  12. #3252
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    Quote Originally Posted by Greig View Post
    Rubbish and I wish you would stop posting this, did Alonso not cost himself the title with a jump start, spin at Spa and crash at Monaco?

    Or maybe we do not need to blame anyone for not winning the title and realise it's a team sport and we win and lose together. Ferrari know they have to improve they do not need to be told that by Alonso or anyone.

    He has full rights to tell the team.....He has done all the hard work till now and Ferrari needs to support back by giving him the car that can fight for the championship...
    AKROCKS

  13. #3253
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    Steffano
    Clearly we need to make a step forward in terms of performance, because we cannot rely purely on the misfortune of others.

    Having said that, we mustn't over-react as it's better to bring a few updates that work rather than bringing too many.
    That's such a curious sentence. Rather than bringing too many what? The implication is that our team can't produce quality when working on quantity.

  14. #3254
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    Quote Originally Posted by anupa2k View Post
    He has full rights to tell the team.....He has done all the hard work till now and Ferrari needs to support back by giving him the car that can fight for the championship...
    He has grown up from his Renault days of throwing his dummy out of the pram. He has said before, he loves driving for Ferrari and even if he doesnt win its abit easier to accept as he driving for Ferrari, still hurts. The team and Fernando will be working around the clock to improve the car. The team have done a fantasic job all year, considering where we were at the start. The car is fine, well not Mcaren or RBR fine, but come Suzuka that will suit us more than Singapore did.
    CAVALLINO RAMPANTE PER SEMPRE

  15. #3255
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rosso Corsa View Post
    That's such a curious sentence. Rather than bringing too many what? The implication is that our team can't produce quality when working on quantity.
    Think, if bring to many update and put them all on, and it doesnt work, just harder to to find which update. Better to bring few ones, then can see which ones doesnt work. Then over couple races can progress in the development curve and see the benefits.
    CAVALLINO RAMPANTE PER SEMPRE

  16. #3256
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rob View Post
    Think, if bring to many update and put them all on, and it doesnt work, just harder to to find which update. Better to bring few ones, then can see which ones doesnt work. Then over couple races can progress in the development curve and see the benefits.
    I can't buy that. We worked out very quickly that the new rear wing was the bogey update at Singapore. The programme of installing and testing the components was very well structured, so I'm not convinced that's the 'quantity' issue that Steffano seemed to be inferring.

  17. #3257
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rosso Corsa View Post
    That's such a curious sentence. Rather than bringing too many what? The implication is that our team can't produce quality when working on quantity.
    These days, bringing updates means testing them on Friday and decide by Saturday if its working or not. A lot of time is being wasted testing these new components and the more components you have, the more different combination you have. If you throw everything in then you won't know which component is not working. Instead you have to swap them in and out for different combination.

    In the past, when teams bring huge updates, it means huge working updates that have been tested during one of the many test session the team conducted.

  18. #3258
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    I see your argument, but there's no actual evidence to suggest that we struggle to work out which particular update isn't working. As spectators it's easy for us to assume that it's a problem, especially when we have a busy workload, but the team deserve more credit that that. We seem very accomplished at quickly working out which update doesn't work. We're also very good at optimising any given setup/components at any time. Look at how quickly we can dial in our car to a competetive race spec when so often we've not had time to collect good long stint data. Technically, we're a very strong team in these departments. And testing new components is never a waste of time. Stefano's sentence still seems to infer that we can't produce quality when working on quantity. It doesn't to me imply that our weekends are compromised by bringing too many updates. How will we know that updates are ineffective if we don't bring them and test them?

  19. #3259
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    Quote Originally Posted by anupa2k View Post
    He has full rights to tell the team.....He has done all the hard work till now and Ferrari needs to support back by giving him the car that can fight for the championship...
    he can tell them all he likes, they already know, and telling them won't change a single thing. So how about you stop trying to cause division, we are a TEAM.
    Forza Ferrari

  20. #3260
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    I think Stefano meant that they are better to work on areas that give a clear improvement rather than just changing everything in the hope that it might improve something, that's what I took for his interview. Say the exhaust, if they are working and they can see no clear way to gain from updating them then better to focus on another area.
    Forza Ferrari

  21. #3261
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    Quote Originally Posted by Greig View Post
    I think Stefano meant that they are better to work on areas that give a clear improvement rather than just changing everything in the hope that it might improve something, that's what I took for his interview. Say the exhaust, if they are working and they can see no clear way to gain from updating them then better to focus on another area.
    Well, I'm sure they didn't try and update the rear wing 'in the hope it might improve something'. It's a pretty important part to be playing around with 'in hope', and I'm sure they thought they could see gains to be made.

    In the end, I was picking on what was an unusually worded sentence from what was otherwise a clear interview. Perhaps he just got a bit tongue tied translating his thoughts to English. But if we take the wording and inference for what it is, then it's an odd sentence indeed to hear from the team boss. I'll stop splitting hairs now. Shouldn't be over-analysing on-the-hoof journalist interviews.

  22. #3262
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    No I am sure they didn't either but it was just not working, all the other updates worked they said. His interview was in Italian so maybe just something lost in translation
    Forza Ferrari

  23. #3263
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    My bad, I missed that

    It will be interesting to see if all of the other updates we ran with do actually run on our Suzuka car. I'm sure Ferrari saw something in the data to suggest they were an improvement, but it was a difficult weekend for us spectators to actually see an improvement. Fingers crossed we're still on the upwards curve.

  24. #3264
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    Thumbs up

    Quote Originally Posted by Rob View Post
    He has grown up from his Renault days of throwing his dummy out of the pram. He has said before, he loves driving for Ferrari and even if he doesnt win its abit easier to accept as he driving for Ferrari, still hurts. The team and Fernando will be working around the clock to improve the car. The team have done a fantasic job all year, considering where we were at the start. The car is fine, well not Mcaren or RBR fine, but come Suzuka that will suit us more than Singapore did.
    That does mean he does not want to win the championship..don`t go by words...and lets see how ferrari performs at suzuka because it will show the true performance of the car over-there...
    AKROCKS

  25. #3265
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    this article is four days old and Alonso never said anything against Ferrari. The author of this article wrote himself things about Ferrari blowing it for Fernando.

  26. #3266
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    Quote Originally Posted by radosav View Post
    this article is four days old and Alonso never said anything against Ferrari. The author of this article wrote himself things about Ferrari blowing it for Fernando.
    Its the usual media polemics, at least here nobody should fall for that. Felipe, Fernando and the team are like the musketeers: one for all, all for one.

  27. #3267
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    Anyway, Ferrari have been pretty discreet about recent upgrades, I wonder what they'll be looking to bring to Suzuka.
    Also can someone confirm whether changes were made in the side pod area at the Singapore GP?

    Thanks.
    "The client is not always right." - Enzo Ferrari

  28. #3268
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    Stefano
    ''Clearly we need to make a step forward in terms of performance, because we cannot rely purely on the misfortune of others.

    Having said that, we mustn't over-react as it's better to bring a few updates that work rather than bringing too many''.

    To me that means don't design half a dozen winglets and a couple of little Gurney flaps in the hope of gaining a couple of tenths.
    Go for something worth while like the floor or rear body work that will improve the car more and in a shorter time at the track.
    Also,i think the new rear wing will not show up at the next races,it was only a last effort for the Singapore track

  29. #3269
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    Reading it again, it makes more sense now for some reason. I think he's suggesting that we mustn't over-react by (for example) pushing 10 components through the limited wind tunnel testing we've got, when we'd perhaps be best pushing fewer components through but giving them more time in the tunnel to make sure they're working. Would that make sense? 10 components made poorly are worth less than a few components made well.

  30. #3270
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dino View Post
    Stefano
    ''Clearly we need to make a step forward in terms of performance, because we cannot rely purely on the misfortune of others.

    Having said that, we mustn't over-react as it's better to bring a few updates that work rather than bringing too many''.

    To me that means don't design half a dozen winglets and a couple of little Gurney flaps in the hope of gaining a couple of tenths.
    Go for something worth while like the floor or rear body work that will improve the car more and in a shorter time at the track.
    Also,i think the new rear wing will not show up at the next races,it was only a last effort for the Singapore track
    The rear wing was meant for high downforce track..
    so i think it will show up again at korea or abu dhabi..

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