Australian Grand Prix 2012 - Albert Park - Race 1

[Cemz85]

People wake up..... FERRARI F1 struggling to make Q3!!!!!!.........
FERRARI for goodness sakes!! The richest F1 team, The team with biggest history!! The team where F1 isnt without FERRARI.... and FERRARI isnt FERRARI without F1!!
FERRARI the team ALL drivers which to drive on day for!! Because its FERRARI!!
Now FERRARI struggling to make Q3!! Be realistic people, we are not looking like we are in a good shape, things need to change because we are FERRARI! We cant fight positions with torro rosso's and sauber's and Lotus's..
How can a team like ferrari be in this state, a team like ferrari.. Things need to change asap..

[sheikomatic]

We obviously had better race pace than quali pace last year, safe to assume that it'll be the same this year (or for tomorrow at least)?

We had better race pace last year? On soft we are ok, on hards we are like a backmarker giving way to faster car.

The F150 was too kind to its tires, we never get enough heat to the hards. Monza last year, even held-up by Schumacher and Hamilton, Button slowly catch-up with Alonso for the 2nd place. And at the end of the race, Alonso is under pressure from Hamilton that is also being held up by dangerous move by Schumacher before that. Half a second separated them. Not to mention Barcelona, from leading the race to being lapped

[Kyss4k]

And a good cheater

Honestly, it is hard in buisness, when you are a good person.

[Aussie]

Honestly, it is hard in buisness, when you are a good person.

Ferrari don't need to cheat to win

[Ferrarichamp]

This is exactly what I don´t like. We have been told every year thats its damage limitation for the first 3 or 4 races. These lines gets repeted every year: - We will have a BIG UPGRADE that will get us up fighting for victory by Barcelona. Then we say by Canada. Then by Silverstone.
And then we can´t lie anymore, so then we focus on next year.

Then the wintertesting beginns. Then we have next standard line. We understand the problem. Next year we will be up to speed by the first race. It´s crusial if we want to fight for the championship.
The first race comes and then we start this all over. Damage limitation for 3-4 races. Just wait for Europe....

agreed. Historically it's usually the teams that do well in the first 3 or 4 races that go on to win the championship.

[Kyss4k]

Ferrari don't need to cheat to win

Right now it looks like we do.

[Rosso Corsa]

The biggest concern for me is that the data we're using at the factory (wind tunnel, CFD, Simulator) doesn't translate to the real world. We had this problem last year, and now we've developed another car using bad data. How do we improve our car with the same bad data? It almost becomes irrelevant that we have the best engineers (and I'm sure we do), deep pockets and fancy facilities. You can't make orange juice from lemons.

[SashAlex]

Strange reactions ......car does not work as wanted, sack everyone! And then we have a car that works? Nope.
So better let them analyse and fix the problem. They are Ferrari, they can do that. And then we have a car that works!
Besides that, one bad qualy is not equal to a bad season is it??
Let's race tomorrow and see what happens.

Will you write that as well after like the 8th or 9th GP ?

They are Ferrari ? The name can't make out of Domenicalli a genius. It's not like in Malaysia they'll be right down quick and this was just one bad Q. They have promised a car that will be in there fighting for victories right from the start, but in the end ends up finishing 12th and 16th, with no balance, grip and coherence. Don't you see the irony ?

Of course I'll be waiting with hope that the situation will be improved as quick as possible. But I'm afraid that it's gonna repeat itself out again. A couple of mediocre week-ends, only brightened by Alonso's miraculous climbings, then some updates that will improve the car, while the other teams will be waiting for Ferrari to catch up ?! By the time these updates will be put in the car, the top 3 teams will have theirs too, probably that'll work much better on their cars. You never know what's going on with that broken wind-tunnel in Maranello.

Hope is the only thing I can rely on...

[sheikomatic]

The biggest concern for me is that the data we're using at the factory (wind tunnel, CFD, Simulator) doesn't translate to the real world. We had this problem last year, and now we've developed another car using bad data. How do we improve our car with the same bad data? It almost becomes irrelevant that we have the best engineers (and I'm sure we do), deep pockets and fancy facilities. You can't make orange juice from lemons.

We are also using Toyota's state of the art wind tunnel, so I don't think wind tunnel is major part of the issues. This all new car is hard to understand, we bite off much more than we can chew. They can copy ideas/parts from other team, but nver know whether it will bring us forward or backward.

[scuderiafan]

Marc gene said the wind tunnel was fine and alo so said that the parts brought worked well. I think the main thing is just a general lack of balance and porper setup, along with the other problems in testing amplified by the circuit characteristics.

[Grillo]

This is exactly what I don´t like. We have been told every year thats its damage limitation for the first 3 or 4 races. These lines gets repeted every year: - We will have a BIG UPGRADE that will get us up fighting for victory by Barcelona. Then we say by Canada. Then by Silverstone.
And then we can´t lie anymore, so then we focus on next year.

Then the wintertesting beginns. Then we have next standard line. We understand the problem. Next year we will be up to speed by the first race. It´s crusial if we want to fight for the championship.
The first race comes and then we start this all over. Damage limitation for 3-4 races. Just wait for Europe....

I agree with you, disappointment is there but

HEY, THE RACE
IS TOMORROW

If the engineers can make a competitive car for Europe we might be able to fight for the championship so the more points we grab now the better. If we don't see an improvement very soon in Europe it will be Game Over no matter what SD, PF or LdM say.

[scuderiafan]

Yep. I think there may be a step forward in China as well, as Gene also said that.

[arcabe]

Hi everyone, been a ferrari fan since 1999. It's been a hard qualifying result for SF, but don't be dismayed we still have a lot of races left and I still have faith that our f2012 will be developed to its full potential. Just be positive, (I know all of us have been following ferrari's development of the car since last year of June, we expect so much of it, so many speculations but Pat Fry has already told that it is not yet). I am not really into technicalities but through this thread/forum I've learn a lot of those terms being used and employed in each car. so have faith we still have the chance.


Forza Ferrari!!

[F2002]

Sorry to keep repeating.

But, clearly, there is a management problem.

It can't be that all the teams improve, even the ones running Ferrari engines, and we don't.

The fact that the car is slow is not the problem. It is the symptom.

[Rosso Corsa]

Marc gene said the wind tunnel was fine and alo so said that the parts brought worked well. I think the main thing is just a general lack of balance and porper setup, along with the other problems in testing amplified by the circuit characteristics.

Sorry. The balance comes from building balance into the car, using data. If the data is bad, the balance is bad. If Alonso and Stella and Massa and Smedley can't set the car up to extract what the designers expect, then the designers have got it wrong. We expected X, we got Y.

[FrankAlfa]

Blah, blah, blah............. Ok, replace Stefano Domenicalli, then what? The Engineers still have to Design and build a winning race car! I think people don't understand that Ferrari has a young child of a race car on their hands and it takes a lot of hours to make that New Design work. Unfortunately, they do not have days and days of endless testing like before and develop of this new beast and make it behave will take a long time. Alonso will most likely make it to points paying position these races unless he encounters rapid wear issues. As for Massa, he will struggle and will most likely be out of the points. McLaren and Mercedes are in the best position to excel this year in that their car's have changed the least. Red Bull with the Renault engine that was the allowed EBD last year, has that major component to gain their speed, taken away. Webber has qualified in a great position where his driver's skill clearly seen. Maybe Vettel is showing how difficult drive when a special enhancement to his race car is taken away.

"PATIENCE" has to still be the key word here to "ALL FERRARI FANS"!

Ciao!

Forza Ferrari!!!!

[scuderiafan]

Sorry. The balance comes from building balance into the car, using data. If the data is bad, the balance is bad. If Alonso and Stella and Massa and Smedley can't set the car up to extract what the designers expect, then the designers have got it wrong. We expected X, we got Y.

The way I see it, they haven't had as much time to get the car fully dialled in, as the other teams had a lot more testing days to do that, and then the rain yesterday.
If they had enough time, maybe they could have got it improved. It is because they were behind schedule, which is not right, but I believe that after a proper practise, they can maybe get both cars into Q3. I think the car could have done a lot better, especially feline pace wise if they just had enough time to get things right. All competitions had their base setup, but we didn't. That was a mistake, but we cannot blame the wind tunnel, I think.

The data looks okay, maybe, but they didn't have the time to implement it.

[ClaudiuCojo]

On Autosport forums they already have a nickname for the F2012 ... Clifford(the BIG RED CARTOON DOG )

Normally I would be upset but in a strange way I am actually amused by this hole situation ... the sad thing is that we are emberasing ourselves and our legacy in F1 with performances like this ... a couple of more season like this and I garantee you that you won't hear stuff like:

Ferrari indispensable for Formula 1.
Every driver dreams to drive at Ferrari at some point(yeah maybe we can become a safe haven for drivers before retirements since were paying so good).
And worst of all ... Ferrari, the most successful team in F1 history.

I would almost prefer not to see Ferrari in F1 anymore than this embarrassment.

We really deserve better than to become the laughing stock of the paddock.

[Kyss4k]

Blah, blah, blah............. Ok, replace Stefano Domenicalli, then what? The Engineers still have to Design and build a winning race car! I think people don't understand that Ferrari has a young child of a race car on their hands and it takes a lot of hours to make that New Design work. Unfortunately, they do not have days and days of endless testing like before and develop of this new beast and make it behave will take a long time. Alonso will most likely make it to points paying position these races unless he encounters rapid wear issues. As for Massa, he will struggle and will most likely be out of the points. McLaren and Mercedes are in the best position to excel this year in that their car's have changed the least. Red Bull with the Renault engine that was the allowed EBD last year, has that major component to gain their speed, taken away. Webber has qualified in a great position where his driver's skill clearly seen. Maybe Vettel is showing how difficult drive when a special enhancement to his race car is taken away.

"PATIENCE" has to still be the key word here to "ALL FERRARI FANS"!

Ciao!

Forza Ferrari!!!!

We are patient for 4th year now. I will stay behind mine opinion, that Stefano is a bad leader. From the day he is in the lead we are goin down. He is making an impression that he is just some kind of a press agent.

[Atrani]

This is not about doom and gloom, we are dealing with reality here. There's no excuse for a team like Ferrari to be in the position they are in right now given the time and effort that went into their new car. Luca must have broken another TV this morning when he saw what happened in qualifying.

[ferrari4life]

glad i did not stay up for that sham.. disappointing Ferrari.

[aroutis]

Ok.. I 've thought long and hard before posting something bout today ..
I can understand those that say that people should not complain (I usually am one of those) and that those that do are just whiners .. or act like whiners. But really, think about it, Ferrari have been the one team that has been working their butts off longer than anyone else, on this car, and yet , they're nowhere where they'd like to be. There's been talk about having problems collerating data from the wind tunnel -again, and apparently we seem to have problems with the aero package.

I really wouldn't like to be anywhere close to Luca D. right now. I bet he's mad and I doubt that any of you would like to call HIM whiner, right?

Also, I've been one of those that have been supportive, patient and of course have had nothing but faith to the team. And just so there's no misunderstanding, I do have faith to the team. But fact remains, the situation, painted as it is, is not a good one, it disheartens people and one cannot just go on blaming those that DO complain.

One has to accept that the fans, after a very bad year, want to see something, surely something more than one win in Silverstone. And the one thing the fans do NOT want to see is Hamilton and McLaren thrashing Ferrari..

[ferrari4life]

Dont think I am going to stay up for the race either...dont need any more dissapointment in my life..

[FrankAlfa]

Certainly a change at the top can drasticly stir the pot to get people to react differently. The question come up now, Who to Hire??? Brawn is at Mercedes for life, Flavio? Dennis? Who is a proven leader in Formula One to hire for the post???

Ciao.

Forza Ferrari!!!!!

[Meiga]

Dear all, a bit of faith! I am not saying it will be easy, but as an old Renault supporter I can tell you that we started 2008 in pretty much the same situation Ferrari is in now, and yet Alonso and the R28 were the highest scorers in the second half of the season. If the Régie could do it, I don't see why Ferrari won't, and even more. Come on, don't just give up!

[TheProdigalSon]

Ferrari better get themselves out of this mess thick and fast, the Italian press are going to absolutely murder them. But not before LDM slaughters them, I'm sure his head hit the roof after seeing this. Mama Mia

[Cheeseman]

We are patient for 4th year now. I will stay behind mine opinion, that Stefano is a bad leader. From the day he is in the lead we are goin down. He is making an impression that he is just some kind of a press agent.

Wow Ferrari owes you a lot. Do they know about you? I mean you have the correct answer for everything and your knowledge seems unrivalled. People like you should be at the core of the Ferrari team, you sound like you will be able to bring all the changes needed to put us 1 sec ahead of the rest of the field and you'll do it all in 1 week. Ferrari look no further, the search ends here

[EDIN MIKHAEL]

People wake up..... FERRARI F1 struggling to make Q3!!!!!!.........
FERRARI for goodness sakes!! The richest F1 team, The team with biggest history!! The team where F1 isnt without FERRARI.... and FERRARI isnt FERRARI without F1!!
FERRARI the team ALL drivers which to drive on day for!! Because its FERRARI!!
Now FERRARI struggling to make Q3!! Be realistic people, we are not looking like we are in a good shape, things need to change because we are FERRARI! We cant fight positions with torro rosso's and sauber's and Lotus's..
How can a team like ferrari be in this state, a team like ferrari.. Things need to change asap..

Shameful...matane asu...

[Hornet]

Dont think I am going to stay up for the race either...dont need any more dissapointment in my life..

Might be fun to watch Alonso and Massa fight their way up the order

I don't believe we're going to finish 12 and 16 tomorrow. We can certainly finish in the top 10. Pat Fry have said that he believe Alonso could have qualified into the top 10 today so there's more pace in the car.

[Nova]

After watching Alonso struggle to keep the car on the track, my opinion is that this chassis is basically undriveable at competitive race speeds.
Sometimes you try a radical idea and it works, sometimes not. Cant blame them for trying. If it worked, they would be genius's.
But so far, its not working.

Ferrari sometimes sack everyone only to make things worse. Could never figure that one out. They knew from the 1st test that this chassis isnt working.
I dont think any amount of "fixing" is going to help, or throwing this part or that on it is going to help. I dont look for it to get better thruout the season.
Whether they want to or not, they have to build a new car. You can see at speed that the chassis has an inherent design flaw. It doesnt work.

If after weeks of testing, that a driver of Alonso's talent level can not keep a car on the track, and I think he can drive anything fast,
then its time to make drastic changes, as there is something serious going on here.

I have watched Ferrari for many years..they seem to go thru this every once in a while. Last time it was Brawn, Costa n MS that saved them.
They are still doing it, the 3rd time now, only its with a different team.

You can see where RB is without the things they used last year, Ferrari, with the F150 beat them last year. Now they couldnt use that car this year, but if an inherent
design is basically good, you improve on it. I hope we do well in the race, we wont..but I hope.