Ferrari F2012 Development News Thread

[Jose-Lorca Fan]

So at the moment the car is behind the Lotus, Mercedes, McLaren and Red Bull, i hope by Spain we are ahead of Lotus at least and not too far back behind the others.

[scuderiafan]

So at the moment the car is behind the Lotus, Mercedes, McLaren and Red Bull, i hope by Spain we are ahead of Lotus at least and not too far back behind the others.

You could argue that based on today, with Felipe ahead of Kimi both stopping the same number of times, and Alonso publicly saying that he could have dispatched with Grosjean with ease, that maybe Ferrari is at least level with Lotus. Mercedes pace was very good, but maybe they had just hit the sweet spot.

[burak karakutuk]

So at the moment the car is behind the Lotus, Mercedes, McLaren and Red Bull, i hope by Spain we are ahead of Lotus at least and not too far back behind the others.

I imagine that we overtake one by one front rivals.Firstly in Spain starting with Lotus and then Red Bull.4races later we must be on the top or head to head.It may comes to you nonsence but for me reasonable

[Hornet]

Marc Gene said Ferrari will have Sauber style exhaust's for Mugello/Spain.

Oh. So we've already abandoned that acer duct style then

[burak karakutuk]

Oh. So we've already abandoned that acer duct style then

please no it must be the best solution according to the team because we have been working on it for a long time.

[scuderiafan]

not necessarily.

“I think there’s a number of different issues that we’ve had, the most obvious one from the early testing was the exhaust system where we were struggling with what that was doing to the rear tyres. I think we now understand that and are on top of that

http://adamcooperf1.com/2012/04/13/p...golden-bullet/

why would they spend so much time understanding the concept, then bin it, once they do???

also, there must be some kind of confusion and miscommunication at Ferrari.

There are a lot of talk about the new 'Ferrauber' being launched in Mugello. How far is it true?
Very far...

Is it true that we will see in the Chinese GP a new sidepods and exhaust layout in the F2012 like Sauber C31 has? #AskFerrari
not at all!

e' vero che la F2012B avrá un retrotreno simile a quello della C31 della Sauber?
no, non è vero

http://twitter.com/#!/InsideFerrari/...28685486145536
http://twitter.com/#!/InsideFerrari/...25823406346243
http://twitter.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2...19625785311233

[burak karakutuk]

not necessarily.



http://adamcooperf1.com/2012/04/13/p...golden-bullet/

why would they spend so much time understanding the concept, then bin it, once they do???

also, there must be some kind of confusion and miscommunication at Ferrari.



http://twitter.com/#!/InsideFerrari/...28685486145536
http://twitter.com/#!/InsideFerrari/...25823406346243
http://twitter.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2...19625785311233

someone is hiding the truht from us fans then?Why they dont accept if they decided to bring another exhaust and abondoned the current one?Is this hard to say really

[Grillo]

Sauber style, acer duct, etc. Any solution is fine for me as long as it makes the car go faster. The faster, the better. I'm afraid the revolutionary concept won't work any time soon so the other possibility is a cleaner and more traditional one like Sauber's.

[Nova]

Its still all hearsay..no one knows if a new exhaust will transform this car. Methinks the problems lie deeper than that.

[scudvirgin10]

ferrari dont need a sauber design ferrari needs to have a designer that can fight will Ross brawn and Adrian newey pat fry needs someone to support with new idea i dont care what place his from but i hope they hire one now before its too late that can replace stefano position we need a engineer this is the result of the 2009 season being weak and weak i hope they fix this up i know ferrari is a weak car but if they hire a person to make a b spec car maybe we will can fight with the mercedes and renault engines

[Ferrari Man]

What are we supposedly bringing to Spain in terms of updates... Surely to be in with any chance of keeping in touch with the top teams we need a upgrade bringing a 0.6 - 0.8 sec increase in performance considering we're a second behind plus every other team will be bringing their own major upgrades...

[Hornet]

There are so many contradicting stories of what Ferrari will try, we'll have to wait for the mid season test in Mugello and see what Ferrari brought there.

[sagi58]

There are so many contradicting stories of what Ferrari will try, we'll have to wait for the mid season test in Mugello and see what Ferrari brought there.

The question has to be: Are these contradicting stories being used as a smokescreen for some ultra-super-fantastic development which will be putting Ferrari at the front of the grid?

Or are they hiding the fact that Ferrari doesn't know what to work on "first" and is working of everything at once? Kind of like throwing the baby out with the bathwater?

I'm hoping it's the former and not the latter!!

[Nova]

^ I think its a matter of just how far Ferrari really want to go.
I dont believe in smokescreens..if you can make it go faster now, you do it.

[mark p]

^ I think its a matter of just how far Ferrari really want to go.
I dont believe in smokescreens..if you can make it go faster now, you do it.

Seems like we had our worst result with what looked to me like our best relative race pace for both cars. Who says today is the true picture? Australia could have been or Malaysia, just because we had our worst result why was this the true picture. Hitting the sweet spot on tyres is the biggest factor. Mercs were knowhere 1st 2 races then a dominant victory. The world champion this year may only win 4 races this year consistency will be all important cars will vary race by race this is why Hamilton is winning with 3 thirds. We have every chance this year.

[Kyss4k]

Seems like we had our worst result with what looked to me like our best relative race pace for both cars. Who says today is the true picture? Australia could have been or Malaysia, just because we had our worst result why was this the true picture. Hitting the sweet spot on tyres is the biggest factor. Mercs were knowhere 1st 2 races then a dominant victory. The world champion this year may only win 4 races this year consistency will be all important cars will vary race by race this is why Hamilton is winning with 3 thirds. We have every chance this year.

Because it was the first dry race on a "normal" circuit. Australia is kind of special thing and Malaysia was wet.

[Jas]

http://totalf1.com/full_story/view/4..._on_rear_wing/
minor updates from china!

[mark p]

Because it was the first dry race on a "normal" circuit. Australia is kind of special thing and Malaysia was wet.

Australia not normal? The winner in China the last 3 years hasn't been close to the championship. Australia is no different to China. There won't be a clear hierachy for a long time this year if at all.

[sagi58]

Oh, boy...

Failure of the Ferrari F2012 causing a revolution at the Maranello factory

Apr.13 (F1 Media) Speaking on the opening day of the Chinese Grand Prix weekend in Shanghai, Ferrari technical director Pat Fry said that an overhaul at Maranello is currently underway and targeting more than simply fixing early season problems with the F2012...

“It’s not just a case of us trying to build a quicker car, we need to fundamentally be changing the methodologies that we use to select, design and manufacture so that we are competitive long term,” he said. “There’s work on all fronts, not just work going into what we’re taking to Barcelona (where Ferrari are expected to bring a big upgrade) there’s also a huge amount of work in just trying to change the fundamentals of what we do so we can actually take a step forward and be competing with everyone else...”

http://totalf1.com/full_story/view/413253/Failure_of_the_Ferrari_F2012_causing_a_revolution_ at_the_Maranello_factory/

[FrankAlfa]

It seems that Fray is somehow suprised with what the behavior of F2012 and he looks sort of lout of the loop in the design process. I am not happy he is so out touch with the Design and Engineering Staff at Ferrari. He seems very disconnected and more of a Manager rather than a Technical Director like Aldo Costa was or Ross Brawn before him. I think the Tombazis if the biggest weak link in the equation. He is the actual Chief Designer and his direction & review of the data collected dictate the design of the race car. Just as Newey is the strong design force at Red Bull leads the team, Fry is not as strong to lead and pressure is on him. Stefano Domenicalli seems to be silent and is letting Fry take the burden of failure. Fry seem desperate to change things the way he feels they should be done. The teams seems to be following his lead in this but we do not yet know if his direction is correct. The Engineers have to work on solutions and someone must be the strong point person to direct the work. Fry seems frustrated and overwhelmed at this point. The only thing to aid the pressure on him and Tombazis is success! They have to get the car faster and figure out why they are so very slow. downforce and drag are the issues!

Ciao.

Forza Ferrari!!!!

[Alonsofan2002]

Fry is correct in what hes doing,he needs a team of people that he can have confidence in.

[wacc]

Fry:

...Next week in Bahrain we won’t have any particularly significant updates, so we cannot expect a miracle: we must try and squeeze the maximum out of what we have to work with...

Ferrari.com

[steelstallions]

Can I make a suggestion for those of us who have not got all day to read 1600 posts. Can we have another thread that merely states the progress or the part that's being fitted etc but only discuss on this thread. Therefore the leaner other thread will be like a quick start menu for those of us who really don't have the time to scan hundreds of posts?
I would really only like to know, what new parts will be on next race and what Ferrari say about it. We can then post on here with personal opinion.

[scuderiafan]

Can I make a suggestion for those of us who have not got all day to read 1600 posts. Can we have another thread that merely states the progress or the part that's being fitted etc but only discuss on this thread. Therefore the leaner other thread will be like a quick start menu for those of us who really don't have the time to scan hundreds of posts?
I would really only like to know, what new parts will be on next race and what Ferrari say about it. We can then post on here with personal opinion.

They officially say some small parts, nothing massive.
But then Dom said they will be looking to bring the original acer exhaust as soon as possible, maybe even next race (Bahrain).
So we shall see.

[F1NAC]

i think they should ran on Massa's car Acer ducts original so they can collect lots of data's

[Nick Singer]

Bet of the day: nobody outside Ferrari really knows what is going on there in terms of rescuing the car/ season etc..

:)

[Hornet]

Bet of the day: nobody outside Ferrari really knows what is going on there in terms of rescuing the car/ season etc..

:)

Hopefully the same is not going on INSIDE Ferrari

[c-man]

what are the dates for the in season tests?

[FerrariF60]

what are the dates for the in season tests?

i think is the first week of may, but not exactly shure the EXACT days

[diesel08]

Ferrari is among the teams likely to develop a Mercedes-style Double DRS (DDRS) now that the system has been declared legal by the FIA.

The Mercedes device improves top speed by stalling the front wing when the DRS is activated, providing a specific advantage in qualifying when DRS use is unrestricted. Lotus protested the DDRS, which works by channelling air from inlets in the rear wing endplates to the car's front wing, but had its argument rejected by the FIA at the Chinese Grand Prix.

Lotus technical director James Allison led the unsuccessful protest, but after the FIA ruling he admitted the rest of the paddock would have to consider introducing a similar system.

"Well they'll certainly need to decide whether or not the opportunity-cost of doing that system is higher than developing the things they had in mind otherwise. And that's exactly the same choice we'll face in our team."

Ferrari technical director Pat Fry, who currently has several problems to solve with the F2012, said his team had been considering the system for some time and is likely to push forward following the FIA ruling.

"We've been looking at it for a while," he said. "I think it's just a case of weighing up what the performance is on our car. It's bound to vary differently from car to car and particularly if you've had that system in mind and developed your car to work around it, you're further up the development curve.

"It's not just a case of applying it to our current aerodynamic characteristic, it's then trying to exploit it further after that, so I expect there will be a two-fold thing: we will know instantly - or we know instantly - what it's worth in terms of lap time and we can weigh that up in the cost performance and the effort needed. And then we also need to look at what's the ultimate potential of that device. We've been looking at it for a month or two. Now it's clear we can at least start working for sure, weighing up everything properly."

McLaren technical director Paddy Lowe said one major consideration is that the DDRS has limited use in the race.

"In these days of really very limited capacity - whether that's people or time in wind tunnels - to develop aerodynamics, you do have to carefully select where you put your effort to make the most profit in performance, so this will fall into that camp," Lowe said. "We have to decide how much we can get from it, how it ranks compared to other areas we may work on. It does have the immediate downside that it really is only a qualifying benefit as far as we can see, so immediately it has to earn quite a lot to make that worthwhile."

Meanwhile, Sauber, which has made a strong start to the season, is not likely to throw its resources at the system.

"We're looking into the system to try and assess it fully, to work out the lap time, or qualifying lap time gain, versus costs," chief designer Matt Morris said. "I think at the moment for us it doesn't balance out. We're probably better off spending our money on more conventional lap time."

© ESPN EMEA Ltd.
Feeds: ESPNF1 Staff