Ferrari: 'Better 2014 car is vital'

[vcs316]

http://cdn.images.autosport.com/editorial/1384867975.jpg

Ferrari thinks it is 'vital' that it finally produces a championship-winning car next year, regardless of the impact it could have on Fernando Alonso's Formula 1 future.

Alonso proved his qualities again this season after clinching second place in the drivers' championship despite having what was essentially the fourth quickest car.

On the back of mid-season frustrations from Alonso that the team's performance had fallen away over the campaign, there was intense speculation about his future, with McLaren in particular interested in luring him at one stage.

Alonso is likely to be targeted by rivals for 2015, especially if Ferrari's performances under the new F1 regulations are not up to scratch.

Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali does not feel that there is any extra pressure on the team for Alonso's sake though.

"For me, it is vital that we deliver a good car for all of us," said Domenicali when asked about the pressure of delivering a good car for Alonso.

"His frustration is our frustration - if you are not able to give a good car or a fast enough car to a driver who is always fighting like hell up to the right moment.

"It is very important that we focus on how we develop the car in the future. That is a priority I would say."

Domenicali said he had no doubts about the brilliance of Alonso again this season on the back of him finishing behind Vettel in the standings.

"It is a great achievement because being assured of second with the problems we had during the season, above all in the second part of it, means he did a great job," he said.

"This is a point of starting again. After so many years of being second it is the right moment to move up a position."

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/111461?

[paneristi]

How could it not be 'vital' not to produce championship-winning car? Especially at Ferrari where car is no.1 and driver is no.X.
I wonder what Domenicali has been thinking all these years

[Kingdom Hearts]

Is just PR, if they fail next year, they will say that 2015 is vital. Let's hope the car is amazing and we can finillay start a new Ferrari winning titles cicle.

[F2002]

"For me, it is vital that we deliver a good car for all of us,"

Just for having said that, he deserves a bonus this Christmas.

Who would have thought of a such a novel idea?

[stefa]

Wow! I am amazed with his conclusion! How come no one ever before come to such bright idea?!?!?!? :-)

[F2002]

And here is a collection of the highlights of what he said before the start of the 2011, 2012 and 2013 campaigns:

Start of 2011:
"This year was difficult for many reasons, but we need to look ahead," said Domenicali. "We know that it will be a challenging year for us and so we need to make sure that we are doing a good job. This is what the engineers are trying to do."

Start of 2012:
"If you look at certain tracks where the effect of the exhaust is less, I would say you see the car is competitive - in certain conditions very competitive. So that gives me good hope and good prospects for the future because as you know, the situation has been clear in terms of the exhaust position for next year, and everyone is trying to maximise what we understood this year to hopefully be ready for the beginning of the season next year."

Start of 2013:
“Our approach from the first race on must be the right one and we must be mentally ready to deal with very tense moments,” said Domenicali. “We definitely don’t want to find ourselves having to fight like last year to close down a 1.6 second gap to the fastest.”

At least now he's learnt to decorate his words a bit less, and just say we need to deliver a fast car.

[paneristi]

:doh:doh
Wow! I am amazed with his conclusion! How come no one ever before come to such bright idea?!?!?!? :-)

[Mile123]

Bravo Stefano!

What's next? Re-inventing the wheel!?! :-)

[wacc]

This is turning into Domenicali thread.

Ok, we can agree that from the outside he has been a bit too defensive politically.
Maybe he's been playing fair play too much.

But within the team he made quite big decisions to make the SF better - trying to get the best people - Newey refused to move to Italy several times, - possible precontract with Vettel, got best available drivers ALO, RAI, sacked Costa, got one of the technical heads of McLaren, Lotus technical director and other staff mainly aerodynamists to strengthen the aero department. Planning to build new facilities. Maybe the pieces of puzzle have not fit into each other, but they have been trying hard and under immense pressure. They are still beeing under reorganization that started too late to match the RB team which has the technical team build by scratch from Newey and around him from 2006.
Ferrari has quite an disadvatage in this: http://www.ikimap.com/map/f1-team-factory-2012. They can not exploit the synergy effect of the Britain’s Motorsport Valley – the home of Formula 1 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/23048643)

So sacking S.D. - why not, but what will change?

[F2002]

This is turning into Domenicali thread.

Ok, we can agree that from the outside he has been a bit too defensive politically.
Maybe he's been playing fair play too much.

But within the team he made quite big decisions to make the SF better - trying to get the best people - Newey refused to move to Italy several times, - possible precontract with Vettel, got best available drivers ALO, RAI, sacked Costa, got one of the technical heads of McLaren, Lotus technical director and other staff mainly aerodynamists to strengthen the aero department. Planning to build new facilities. Maybe the pieces of puzzle have not fit into each other, but they have been trying hard and under immense pressure. They are still beeing under reorganization that started too late to match the RB team which has the technical team build by scratch from Newey and around him from 2006.
Ferrari has quite an disadvatage in this: http://www.ikimap.com/map/f1-team-factory-2012. They can not exploit the synergy effect of the Britain’s Motorsport Valley – the home of Formula 1 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/23048643)

So sacking S.D. - why not, but what will change?

OK then, let's make a distinction between what SD says and what he actually does.

In the latter instance, frankly, none of us is able to pass real judgement, because supposedly nobody on this board works with him, and we cannot know for sure to what extent he is being effective or ineffective in moving the team forward. Plus, as I said in some of my previous posts, rumour has it that, considering the way Ferrari is structured, there is a lot of direct day-to-day influence from the very top, meaning that, on many occasions, what look like Domenicali's decisions are effectively LDM's direct orders.

What people, and some us, seem to be unhappy with it is the way he comes across with this rhetoric from the fantasies, continuously promising this and that, as though he is detached from the very reality he should be influencing. He seems to be waiting for an external factor that will turn his team's fortunes, be it the exhaust ban, or the new engine rules, or new tyres, etc., and that gives an impression, at least from the outside, that he has no clue of what needs to be done internally to change things. Yes he's made some important changes, and changes take time to yield results, but then why has he been saying for years that the car will be competitive from day one, and all that other stuff?

Domenicali may well be a good leader, but he certainly doesn't dress up like one.

[wisepie]

This isn't all down to Domenicali although he is the one in the firing line and trying to maintain a positive outlook. It's a combination of so many other issues and constantly changing key staff in chassis/aero/development direction just adds to the confusion. The other main problem seems to be Newey, who manages to out-think everyone else, something I still find uncomfortably strange given the technical regulations we've had. Let's pray that 2014 will shake things up a bit and put us back where we belong.

[bonzo]

"We have to stay calm", "our feet strongly on the ground", "unfortunately, the updates we brought for this race did not match our expectations", "track data did not correlate with the wind tunnel data", "...but on the bright side we learned a lot and have clear ideas of how to improve our performance for the next race", etc, etc, bla, bla.
And now: "better car for 2014 is vital".
Aren't we all just FED UP with his rethoric??
Hopefully in Brazil he takes his resignation in his pocket!:wave
Hopefully Ross Brown makes up his mind in the right direction towards Maranello.:thumb

[Silent Bob]

OK then, let's make a distinction between what SD says and what he actually does.

In the latter instance, frankly, none of us is able to pass real judgement, because supposedly nobody on this board works with him, and we cannot know for sure to what extent he is being effective or ineffective in moving the team forward. Plus, as I said in some of my previous posts, rumour has it that, considering the way Ferrari is structured, there is a lot of direct day-to-day influence from the very top, meaning that, on many occasions, what look like Domenicali's decisions are effectively LDM's direct orders.

What people, and some us, seem to be unhappy with it is the way he comes across with this rhetoric from the fantasies, continuously promising this and that, as though he is detached from the very reality he should be influencing. He seems to be waiting for an external factor that will turn his team's fortunes, be it the exhaust ban, or the new engine rules, or new tyres, etc., and that gives an impression, at least from the outside, that he has no clue of what needs to be done internally to change things. Yes he's made some important changes, and changes take time to yield results, but then why has he been saying for years that the car will be competitive from day one, and all that other stuff?

Domenicali may well be a good leader, but he certainly doesn't dress up like one.


What would you expect him to say when interviewed? Would you like to hear him say that Ferrari have no hope in hell of ever beating Red Bull because they're just too good? Or maybe just come out and tell all Ferrari's fans that they're actually just playing for second place, and first as never their intention?

It seems to me that so many people want SD sacked because he's doing what a person in his position is supposed to do... stay positive and represent his team. But you're right.. how good would it be if Stefano... instead of preaching calm and asking his team to work in a positive method to improve... would come out and say that they are panicking and have absolutely no idea what they are doing and should instead be racing Nascar rather than F1 because our engineers are crap and can't build a competitive car, and all the other employees are just so much dead weight and add absolutely nothing to the team.
That would really encourage loyalty and productivity.

[stefa]

Hopefully Ross Brown makes up his mind in the right direction towards Maranello.:thumb

Last what I have read somewhere, that Mr. Brown is going to Williams....

[F2002]

What would you expect him to say when interviewed? Would you like to hear him say that Ferrari have no hope in hell of ever beating Red Bull because they're just too good? Or maybe just come out and tell all Ferrari's fans that they're actually just playing for second place, and first as never their intention?

It seems to me that so many people want SD sacked because he's doing what a person in his position is supposed to do... stay positive and represent his team. But you're right.. how good would it be if Stefano... instead of preaching calm and asking his team to work in a positive method to improve... would come out and say that they are panicking and have absolutely no idea what they are doing and should instead be racing Nascar rather than F1 because our engineers are crap and can't build a competitive car, and all the other employees are just so much dead weight and add absolutely nothing to the team.
That would really encourage loyalty and productivity.

Not even RBR itself, conscious of its superiority, goes out to say that they will have a quick car straight out of the box from the very first race.

No, we don't expect him to preach doom and gloom, because you're right he needs to maintain a positive mood, but there comes a point when no bunch of nice words are able to mask the truth. And, rest assured, that if we are able to sense that from out here, the ones inside Maranello, who really need to be motivated, are even more aware of the true situation and are becoming more immune to his fancy discourse.

By the way, I never mentioned the word fired, that's certainly for none of us to decide. We can only discuss things on the basis of what we are told, and what we read, because as I said earlier, SD may well be a great team leader after all.

[scuderia_nano]

Aldo Costa is with Mercedes AMG now right? Aren't they 2nd and on course to seal 2nd this year? Can anyone tell me why the ef did he not help design a pole sitter while he was with us? Just curious..

[Alessandra]

............ The other main problem seems to be Newey, who manages to out-think everyone else, something I still find uncomfortably strange given the technical regulations we've had. Let's pray that 2014 will shake things up a bit and put us back where we belong.

+1

[wacc]

Stefano is not saying Ferrari will be quick. He says that they need a fast car and they want to build one. - nothing wrong, all but true. They want it for the whole team at first place not just for Fernando as the interviewer asked. - true. Than he praises Fernando - rightly so.
Only problem is this sentence: "This is a point of starting again. After so many years of being second it is the right moment to move up a position." - that is just another motivational statement that has no deeper meaning and will be hard to fulfill. He could just say that next season there will be a very good opportunity for all the teams and that Ferrari will do their best to take it.

[Nova]

As a Ferrari fan, I too look forward, to a championship season next year. That goes on year after year, irregardless of this, or last years outcome.
And as has been going on most of my life. You take the ups w/the downs, the winning years with the not so winning years...I get bugged
when we're not doing so good, but dance in the yard when we are. Thats racing, thats the way it goes. But being a Ferrari person has been part of
my life and a pleasurable part of it. I watch them, draw them, collect them, build models of them, race slots of them, collect books and pictures
of them. Its so much more than simply tuning in to watch a race. After all, there is a chance we may win in Brasil, and if we dont, theres the 1st race next season...
and the one after that...and so on. Its been great.

[Hornet]

I hope Ferrari improve their development program too. Tire problem aside, in Silverstone the car seem to gone backwards, and after that we had to revert back to older design. It's quite worrying when our upgrades were either not working or made the car worse.

[WS6TransAm01]

Can anyone tell me why the ef did he not help design a pole sitter while he was with us? Just curious..

http://cdn.ksk.uproxx.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/phrasing.jpg

[Nova]

I hope Ferrari improve their development program too. Tire problem aside, in Silverstone the car seem to gone backwards, and after that we had to revert back to older design. It's quite worrying when our upgrades were either not working or made the car worse.

Yes, this is vital, but when Allison mentioned that Pat Fry has been putting the correct people together, ie: building a strong core development and technical staff,
its what is needed to be done to be successful, and reminds me of what Todt did when he came to Ferrari. Its a process and it takes awhile to get this together.

[AfterLife]

Me too. After thinking a lot (Since middle of 2011 Chinese GP) I have reached to this conclusion that I prefer championship winning car for the next year. :-D

[Italian Spirit]

I just finish reading an interview of Arianna Huffington (yes, THE Arianna Huffington). Whether you like her and her products or not, you must admit that the HP is one of the most amazing success story of the last few years.

The closing phrase of the interview is revealing and very, very interesting: "I'm the oldest person at the Huffington Post (she's 63). Most of my closest staff is below 30".

I wonder if I should send the URL of the interview to Luca di Montezemolo... :-D

[Kiwi Nick]

With SD, it is the classic case of doing, or saying, the same thing over and over expecting a different result. Enough!

[FFFerrari]

Is it Groundhog Day? Cause I fell like living the same season over and over again with Stefano saying the same stuff over and over again.

[gvera]

I waited A LOT for a winning car during the years between Jody and Michael, hope this time the wait is shorter, but with a complete new engine/aero package I'm afraid it's the best situation for a guy like Newey to outsmart everybody else, I sincerely hope that I'm completely wrong.

[Italian Spirit]

Is it Groundhog Day? Cause I fell like living the same season over and over again with Stefano saying the same stuff over and over again.

:lol

[medeni73]

According to German site motorsport-total Alonso said: ""Red Bull currently has an advantage of about one second," said the Ferrari-Star to 'BBC'. "Therefore, it does not matter which engine or exhaust they incorporate next year, they will still be on pole position." The new turbo engines and the altered aerodynamics concept will therefore not change Vettel's superiority, he believes. Under the impression of Vettels eight victories in a row Alonso is not interested in the role of favorite for 2014."
Already playing our hopes down :) Sandbagging or does he know something we dont...

And here is Link to original BBC-Text http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula-one/25009362
Its obvious that the Germans "tweaked" their text a bit in order to give more credit to "unbeatable Vettel 2014"...

More concerning for me is following:
" Allison said that his predecessor as technical director Pat Fry, who has been moved into a different role as engineering director, had made "a lot of the changes necessary".
He added: "There is much more to be done but I'm a lucky chap to be picking up where I am."
Allison did not give a timescale for when he thought that might be, but insiders say he believes it will take more than one season - and that it will only happen if he is allowed to make the changes he feels necessary without interference. "

[AfterLife]

Some of RedBull's recent gains in performance will transfer to their 2014 car because i read somewhere that RedBull's recent advantage (Especially in second half of the season) is because of some upgrades or innovation that are within the 2014 rules but to be honest i am very optimistic about Ferrari chances especially with Rory Byrne working full steam on the project. ;-)
Not to forget that RedBull aero chief Peter Prodromou departure is another factor that would hopefully make the RedBull to lose some ground.

[diego_alunan]

I really hope we produce a fast and reliable car if we can close it down to .2 secs gap im sure our great drivers next year ALO and RAIK can give them bulls a good for their money all year long.

Hope the turbo reliability can shake things up for us next year.

[Hornet]

I really hope we produce a fast and reliable car if we can close it down to .2 secs gap im sure our great drivers next year ALO and RAIK can give them bulls a good for their money all year long.

Hope the turbo reliability can shake things up for us next year.
And fuel consumption too unfortunately. The engine has to be both reliable, and consume the limited amount of fuel allowed. Otherwise we're screwed.

[Liscia]

Silent Bob you're absolutely right. It's very unfortunate and disappointing to all here though that SD has to
find different ways to say what he's been saying after four trying seasons but there are only so many ways
he can rephrase what is imo the correct message.

[paneristi]

Send Stefano to Red Bulls. Then, perhaps we can have the advantage..

[ManFromMilan]

Send Stefano to Red Bulls. Then, perhaps we can have the advantage..




:rotfl

[Giallo 550]

Who would have thought it was important to be competitive?

[Tifoso]

If they don't stop making these self evident, repetitive, dumb --- comments, I am going to stop following F1. Really.

SHUT UP AND DEVELOP.

[vcs316]

If they don't stop making these self evident, repetitive, dumb --- comments, I am going to stop following F1. Really.

SHUT UP AND DEVELOP.

Agree 100% Lou.

Yeah, its frustrating to hear these comments over and over again like a broken record. Every Sunday/Monday after the race we hear this.

Either we develop a fast car or we don't. If we play catch up once the season starts, we better kiss 2014 good bye as well.

PS: Remember Ron Dennis and the Mclaren "quantum leap" phrase? We now have our very own "Keep Calm" phrase.

[Golfsmith]

what look like Domenicali's decisions are effectively LDM's direct orders.


Allison did not give a timescale for when he thought that might be, but insiders say he believes it will take more than one season - and that it will only happen if he (Allison) is allowed to make the changes he feels necessary without interference (from the top)

The first quote I think is true and hope it's not going to happen what's in the second quote

[pluto]

better 2014 car is vital huh? it was vital in 2011, 2012, 2013 as well.

[Ken]

That has to be the BIGGEST understatement yet from our team.

I have a dream,,,,,,,,we are on a new road ti success.

Please dont wake me up untill next year.