Australian GP 2014 Team news&Quotes [Archive] - TheScuderia.net

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Rob

8th March 2014, 19:48

Operation Melbourne underway.
http://i62.tinypic.com/k3naqr.jpg
Maranello, 8 March – Scuderia Ferrari’s Melbourne operation is underway. The two F14 Ts are on the way to Albert Park with Friday’s Australian GP free practice just six days away. The two cars for Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen will get to the track on Tuesday, where they will be handed over to the team led by Diego Ioverno, Head of Track Operations and Car Assembly. By Thursday they will be ready for the usual FIA scrutineering. There’s a lot of interest in the start of the 2014 season, most of it surrounding the many new aerodynamic regulations, but causing the biggest stir are the new engines. Ferrari’s first ever hybrid F1 engine is known as the 059/3. The power unit as it’s called consists of a 1.6 litre V6 turbo internal combustion engine, with turbos making an F1 comeback after an absence of a quarter of a century, combined with two energy recovery systems, providing around a quarter of the total power output.
We can expect a different type of racing compared to the past, with greater performance gaps between qualifying, when all the car’s potential can be used and the race, when fuel and energy management will be key, whereas up to 2013, tyres were the only main variable.
The new power unit can use no more than 100 kg of fuel over the course of the race, which requires the power unit to operate at maximum efficiency and in Australia, the engineers will face the challenge of combining the use of the internal combustion turbo engine with the electrical power accumulated in the batteries on each lap. Drivers will have to pay more attention than usual to instructions from the pit wall if they don’t want to end up having to coast round for the final laps in order to see the flag. Clearly, all this new technology means reliability will be key and the pundits are predicting a very high retirement rate in Australia. In six days time we should have a better idea of what to expect.

- See more at: http://formula1.ferrari.com/news/operation-melbourne-underway#sthash.KmWEcRdk.dpuf

Rob

8th March 2014, 19:49

Kimi: “It’s wide open in Australia”
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Maranello, March 5 – There are now only a few days to go to the start of the 2014 Formula 1 season and this year, like never before, there is a great sense of anticipation to see the cars take to the track on Friday in Albert Park. For Kimi Raikkonen, there’s an extra reason why it will feel special, because he will be starting his second stint at Ferrari. Most recently, the Finn won this race in 2013, but he also did it back in 2007, when he made his Ferrari debut, thus joining a select band who triumphed first time out for the Prancing Horse, drivers of the calibre of Juan Manuel Fangio, Mario Andretti and Nigel Mansell. Only one other driver managed it after Kimi and that was his current team-mate, Fernando Alonso.

“I remember very well my first win with Ferrari,” Kimi told www.ferrari.com. “it couldn’t have been a better start to my seventh year in Formula 1, with a dominant win from pole. Winning always feels great for me. Nothing could be better. Last year, we also managed to win, which certainly surprised people because unlike 2007, at Lotus we weren’t favourites. So, if I had to compare the two Australian wins, somehow, winning it last year for the second time felt even a little bit nicer after such a difficult pre-season testing period.

“Australia is a great place to start the season, Melbourne is a wonderful city and, for us Europeans it always feels a bit special to be in this different part of the world. Only the weather is not always that nice,” added Raikkonen. “I can remember only one GP here where there was sunshine all the time. Of course, I’d prefer dry and hot weekends, especially this year with a completely new car and so many technical aspects still to be understood completely.”

Kimi ran the Albert Park track programme on the simulator today, to try and anticipate unusual situations that could arise because of the characteristics of the 2014 car. “The track is not that difficult and it’s a combination of a street circuit and a permanent race track and the event is very well organised. Sure, if your car is not well balanced then life can get difficult because you can lose a lot of time compared to those have got it right. If it rains, then the track is very, very slippery and the white lines can be really treacherous.”

The Espoo man won’t be drawn into what could be the possible outcome of the race: “Making predictions has never been my habit and this year there is even more reason not to. We are heading Down Under with brand new cars and I reckon it is wide open and anything can happen. In Maranello, we have worked hard and the F14 T seems to be a good car, but the track will tell who is quickest. When we start running to see where we are, we will at least have some data to give us a starting point.”

- See more at: http://formula1.ferrari.com/news/kimi-its-wide-open-australia#sthash.YVfoWLOr.dpuf

Rob

8th March 2014, 19:51

Alonso: “A lot to test on Friday in Melbourne”
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Maranello, 6 March –With a week to go until free practice gets underway in Albert Park, Alonso is training hard to be as well prepared as possible when the Ferrari F14 T makes its race weekend debut. Fernando has tackled an all-encompassing training regime including running, cycling, karting and even football, which is a particular passion of the Maranello driver. One of these sessions was filmed by Prancing Horse sponsor Santander, and a clip can be seen in the attached video.

However, his mental focus is already on the Melbourne track and all the unknown factors that involves. “We come to the start of this championship with the team having had twelve days of testing, while as a driver I’ve had six. A few more days would have been useful given how much has changed for this season. With every lap of testing we learned something and improved pretty much constantly. I think that will still be the case in Australia, especially on the first day and then actually in the first few races.”

There are the usual unknowns because the cars are still new, but there are also those linked to the rule changes. “The new Formula 1 rules are very different to what we were used to. I think the concept of what constitutes a Grand Prix will actually change this year, with Saturday and Sunday being very different from one another. In qualifying, one will be able to get everything out of the car, pushing the new power unit to the limit, trying to get the absolutely best result. But in the race you won’t get anywhere near that level. Last year, towards the end of the races, on new tyres, you could do very quick lap times, whereas in the closing stages this year, you will have to bear in mind how much fuel you have left, the state of the batteries and that of the tyres. You will need to be very clever to manage these parameters and the new race strategies could see drivers being unable to go flat out to the end.”

Alonso also had a thought for those watching the races at home. “As drivers, we will get used to it quickly and so I hope these rules aren’t immediately overturned and that they stay unchanged for a few years. Otherwise the spectators could lose confident in this new Formula 1 which is very complex, even for the viewer.”

- See more at: http://formula1.ferrari.com/news/alonso-a-lot-test-friday-melbourne#sthash.gDkLJe3A.dpuf

Rob

8th March 2014, 19:52

Australia preview quotes - Sauber, Mercedes, Marussia & more07 Mar 2014..

Jules Bianchi, Marussia
2013 Qualifying - 19th, 2013 Race - 15th
“I am very excited to be starting the new season finally. It has been a very interesting winter preparing for this and I can’t wait to see where we stand versus the competition. The car feels good to drive and, especially in Bahrain last week, we saw a little more of its true potential. There is a lot of work still to do to start getting the most from it, but I feel quite optimistic about our chances to improve this year. It has not been easy for a small team like ours as we do not have the same resources as the bigger teams, but I think we can be proud of the job that we have done in comparison and now I am looking forward to delivering some reward for that hard work. Our first objective for Melbourne is to enjoy a reliable race but I hope we can create some opportunity for ourselves along the way.”

Max Chilton, Marussia
2013 Qualifying - 20th, 2013 Race - 17th
“I didn’t think much could come close to the feeling I had making my Grand Prix debut last season, but I’m every bit as excited one year on as we head to Australia for the first round of the championship. There have been some very positive signs in testing, which lead us to believe that we can have a good season. Until we get though the first race it’s difficult to expand on that, but the performance is there and we haven’t even scratched the surface yet. Of course, it would be great if we could match last year’s fantastic reliability record, but that is likely to be a much bigger task this season. Personally, I’m ready to get my teeth into the races. I’m entering my second season so I have my own goals as a driver, but what matters most is working together as a team to rise to the challenge as this will be a tough but exciting year.”

John Booth, Marussia team principal
“Although we did not meet our mileage target in pre-season testing, the positive work we did achieve, particularly last week in Bahrain, has been extremely valuable in terms of validating our calculations for the MR03 and finalising our specification for Melbourne. We are in good shape, both in terms of the car and as a maturing racing operation, and we head to Australia with cautious optimism. The opening round in particular, but also the season per se, is such an unknown quantity that it would be futile to try to predict an outcome, so our focus will be solely on getting the most out of our package on its racing debut. We have had some positive indications for reliability, but the acid test will be our first full race, which is the primary target for next Sunday. The first few races are the ones where opportunity is likely to knock, so we will also be looking to ensure we are prepared for every eventuality. We are fortunate to have two very talented and motivated drivers, and we know they will be helping us to push every step of the way. In a season so full of unknowns, perhaps the only real certainty for the opening round is that the Australian Grand Prix always delivers spectacular racing and this year we are likely to see that taken to another level.”

Mattia Binotto, Ferrari engine and electronics deputy director
“The 2014 season has presented some incredibly demanding and fascinating challenges, with the introduction of a completely new power unit. Scuderia Ferrari has also had to deal with the extra responsibility of welcoming the Marussia F1 Team as a new addition to our customer teams. We like challenges and we are happy with the way the partnership has begun. We have found a team that is keen to grow and to prove that, with the new Ferrari power unit, is capable of making a substantial step forward in terms of its level of competitiveness. I feel the indications that came out of pre-season testing have been positive in this regard and I was pleased to see a sense of satisfaction in the Marussia garage at the performance they produced on the final day of Bahrain testing. It’s definitely a good omen for Melbourne, when things start to get serious.”

Nico Hulkenberg, Force India
2013 Qualifying - 11th, 2013 Race - DNF
“It’s been three races in Melbourne and I’ve still not completed a racing lap! They say bad luck comes in groups of three so hopefully attempt number four will work out better! The car has come a long way since Jerez. We made steps at each test and I think we made very good use of the time we had available. We signed off a lot of things during testing and I don’t think we’re in bad shape. There is always more you can do, but we’re pretty well prepared. I feel comfortable (in the car), but I think this feeling will grow stronger during the season. The cars are different compared to last year: the corner speeds are lower because there is less downforce and the engine behaviour is quite different. So it’s a new challenge and it’s difficult to tell just from testing how it will feel during a race weekend. It’s not easy (to set expectations). Testing only tells you so much, but I think we still have some performance in our pocket. I just hope we are competitive and can race for good points.”

Sergio Perez, Force India
2013 Qualifying - 15th, 2013 Race - 11th
“It’s the first race of the year so I’ve been looking forward to this moment for a long time. I hope we can have a great start of the season. The new rules are interesting and the cars are quite challenging. There is less downforce now, but there is a lot of torque from the engine so it’s quite a different feeling. You also have to think about managing the fuel load and we know that Melbourne is a circuit with high fuel consumption. There are more things to do in terms of managing the systems on the car so it’s more complicated than last year. The pre-season testing has given us enough time to get to know the new systems so I don't foresee any issue come the first race. I think we are feeling well prepared going into Melbourne. Testing has had its ups and downs, as always, but we ended the second Bahrain test in a good position. There are still areas we need to improve, but I think we have made a good start and we can build on that. It's always a good feeling to start with a new team. I had a full winter to get to know everyone and I’m feeling ready now. The team is very hungry and I hope we can achieve some great things this year.”

Dr Vijay Mallya, Force India team principal
“It’s never easy to make predictions and this year there are so many more unknowns than usual. I think we can arrive in Melbourne feeling happy about the work we’ve done over the winter. How that will translate to a race weekend is hard to say, but I think it’s important that an element of unpredictability has returned. There is plenty of interest around Formula One at the moment and that’s a good thing.”

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
2013 Qualifying - 3rd, 2013 Race - 5th
“The Australian Grand Prix is always an exciting race and the fans are fantastic. They love their motorsport, so it's an event that every driver looks forward to. I'm excited about the new season not just as a driver but as a fan. As a fan, you want to see overtaking throughout the field, you want to see different race winners, you want to see the championship go down to the wire... I hope that the changes for this year will make that happen. This is the year you need to watch Formula One! I think we're as ready as we can be for Melbourne and I'm more fired up than ever. With all the changes within the sport and the hard work that's been going on within the team, I believe this can be our year to really show what we're capable of. That's not to take anything away from our opposition, who will be incredibly tough to beat as always, but I feel like I'm equipped with the tools I need to succeed. I can't wait to get started.”

Nico Rosberg, Mercedes
2013 Qualifying - 6th, 2013 Race - DNF
“I always look forward to the season opener. Melbourne is a fantastic city and Australia is an exciting country all round. It's a great place to start the year and you can always have lots of fun here. The fans are incredibly friendly and laid-back but they are also very enthusiastic and mad about sport. The food is pretty great too! I always fly in a week in advance to get over the jet lag. This year, after completing the final test in Bahrain, I returned to the factory at Brackley for final preparations in the simulator and went straight on to Melbourne from there. Overall, I think our winter testing programme went better than expected. Having said that, the first Grand Prix is the first real opportunity to judge how well we have done against our competition. Pre-season doesn't tell the full story, especially this year with the new regulations. I'm really looking forward to getting the season underway and can't wait to be back in the car again.”

Toto Wolff, Mercedes team executive director
“The new regulations have been a massive challenge for everybody involved, and the team has been pushing flat out to get the car to where it is now as we approach the first race in Melbourne. While it is true that the quickest car with the quickest drivers will win, reliability will be a key factor. We want to bring both cars to the flag in the best possible position. We now face the ultimate reality check in the first race of this new era for Formula One. The feeling within the team is not one of nerves, however. It is more a sense of relief to finally be unleashing our cars in race conditions. Everybody now just wants to get out there and see where we stand. Expectations are high, both internally and externally. Although we're not quite where we want to be right now in terms of a complete package, I'm optimistic in that we've done everything possible to prepare for the challenges ahead. I think people are going to be pleasantly surprised by the new cars: the noise, the speeds and ultimately the lap times. This is cutting-edge technology - and that's exactly what Formula One stands for.”

Adrian Sutil, Sauber
2013 Qualifying - 12th, 2013 Race - 7th
“Melbourne is always a great place for the first race of the season. I am looking forward to it. The city is beautiful and the track always good for a surprise. The weather plays a role there as well, as a bit of rain is likely. In addition, we have the new cars, which are still at a very early development stage. Everything is new. Driving in qualifying will be very different to the race, because the cars will have more power than in the race. Less downforce and more power will be a challenge for us drivers. Higher top speed and less grip on a street circuit like Melbourne will be exciting. Also the 100 kg of fuel will see nervous faces on the pit walls. We were able to gain experience regarding the fuel management during testing, but over a race distance everything has to come together flawlessly. It will be a lottery as to who will finish the race in front, and the excitement will be extremely high.”

Esteban Gutierrez, Sauber
2013 Qualifying - 18th, 2013 Race - 13th
“It’s quite special to be back in Melbourne, as this is where I had my Formula One debut last year. Now we are returning to Albert Park, and it’s a new era for Formula One. This is an opportunity for everyone, and it’s my role to extract the most out of the tools I’m given by the team. It has been challenging to adapt to the new cars and rules, but now we come to the first race and everything has to settle down. The track is a bit bumpy, because it’s a street circuit, but I like the layout and enjoy driving there a lot. I like Australia, it’s a nice place, and I usually arrive a few days earlier to enjoy the city. The fans are also very enthusiastic every year - it’s a great event.”

Giampaolo Dall’Ara, Sauber head of track engineering
“Barely two months ago we started into a new era of Formula One. After 12 days of intense and challenging testing we come to the first race in Melbourne. On one side the team has done a very good job in terms of reliability and operations, on the other we are not yet happy about our performance level, and particularly with what we have achieved with our straight line speed. Our best efforts are in place to give our drivers the possibility to race where they deserve to be. On the strategy side, the power unit management is going to influence the tyre strategies, making it all more interesting. However, pre-season testing suggested that the tyre compounds will still play a major role when defining the strategy. For the first race Pirelli has allocated the medium and the soft compounds, and this appears to be a rather conservative approach.”

More to follow.

http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2014/3/15532.html

Paulpg87

8th March 2014, 20:29

Mercedes overconfident. Well they destroyed competition in tests, i would be too

Forzi

8th March 2014, 20:57

Oh it's that time of the year again :clap

stefa

8th March 2014, 23:28

Finally! :-)

shamim179

9th March 2014, 00:00

Can't believe we're already here. It wasn't that long ago that we had jerez then Bahrain then Bahrain again.

FerrariF60

9th March 2014, 00:04

Can't believe we're already here. It wasn't that long ago that we had jerez then Bahrain then Bahrain again.

time flies when you're having fun watching your favorite team test its new single seater

let's all hope we haven't shown our TRUE pace at all during these winter tests and come QUALI and RACE we show the competition, including Mercedes who's BOSS...

Nero Horse

9th March 2014, 01:16

Time flies indeed, and it flew even faster this year because the testing started earlier compared to previous years. Therefore we had less time to miss F1 and miss seeing our beloved Ferrari team in action, which is a good thing of course. :thumb

Only 5 days to go now...

stefa

9th March 2014, 11:32

Any one knows weather forecast for the forthcoming race weekend?

F1NAC

9th March 2014, 14:23

by accuweather rain is expected on Sunday

ManFromMilan

9th March 2014, 15:53

It is still way too long to wait for me:-(

Come on Friday!

Kiwi Nick

9th March 2014, 18:25

We could see lots of cars drop out in Melbourne. Weather forecast calls for 30C (86F) degrees on Saturday and 33C (91F) degrees on Sunday. High humidity both days. Of course, Malaysia may well be hotter!

That should test the cooling systems!

wisepie

9th March 2014, 18:49

Fimally we'll get to see these cars in a race environment and I'm sure there'll be many of us tearing our hair out come Sunday evening. Maybe no cars will finish at all, maybe we can win, but hey, it's never been quite so unpredictable, even with Merc's apparent readiness.
Roll on Sunday, it should be fascinating.

Nero Horse

9th March 2014, 21:35

I'm sure there'll be many of us tearing our hair out come Sunday evening.

I'm afraid that for some people the hair tearing will start already on Friday, if Ferraris aren't 1st and 2nd in FP. :roll

blaney1977

9th March 2014, 21:45

Going too be a long week until fp1! Is it still the feeling merc/Williams have made the early running with us just behind? With some issues too iron out or have we been hiding a bit of speed? Then there's reliability question marks!!!!!!!!!!! It does nt half make it exciting!!!!!!

Cozza

10th March 2014, 04:52

30c 1 hour outside of Melbourne today.

Weather might be good on the weekend. But being Melbourne in Autumn. Could change in an instant. So unpredictable.

Aruba

10th March 2014, 05:02

The agony of waiting is almost over. Can't wait for the new season. Good luck to Scuderia Ferrari. Go Alonso !!!!:thumb

Hornet

10th March 2014, 05:04

30c 1 hour outside of Melbourne today.

Weather might be good on the weekend. But being Melbourne in Autumn. Could change in an instant. So unpredictable.
Good to hear
:-D

PlatzdaTurbo

10th March 2014, 07:27

Was ok until now but with Monday here the real wait begins. Time just stops !!
Friday please hurry up already !!

abbottcostello

10th March 2014, 08:38

Forecast for St Kilda Harbour RMYS, about 1.3km from Albert Park. The temp for Sunday has gone up since I first checked, 2 days ago it was predicted as 15˚C (59˚F)

Friday 27˚C, partly cloudy
Sat. 28˚ partly cloudy
Sun. 24˚ cloudy w/80% chance of rain wind WNW 14kph

If it is a wet track, things should get very interesting:clap

1nfern0

10th March 2014, 09:02

They just said 19 and showers for Sunday on the new.

Kingdom Hearts

10th March 2014, 10:16

Mika Salo thinks that we sandbagged in testing.

ManFromMilan

10th March 2014, 10:33

Mika Salo thinks that we sandbagged in testing.

I think we did not show our true potential, we may see a lot of updates on the car in Aus, more than it being sandbagging as such.

Forzi

10th March 2014, 14:40

Time.... passing.... tooo.... SLOOOOOW.... :Cube

F2002

10th March 2014, 14:40

Any one knows weather forecast for the forthcoming race weekend?

Are you still bothering with weather forecasts, they were all inaccurate last year :-)

Cozza

10th March 2014, 16:46

Are you still bothering with weather forecasts, they were all inaccurate last year :-)

lovely unpredictable Melbourne. :-)

I wanna see Malaysia. See which cars have got a good cooling system.

Nova

10th March 2014, 17:14

Mika Salo thinks that we sandbagged in testing.

I read that this morning. Not sure why he said it but Ive always liked him.
Pretty sure he ran Ferrari sportscars for awhile.

On a side note, If no cars finish, Bernie is going to wear a miniskirt and do da mambo on pit straight.
Go Ferrari.

stefa

10th March 2014, 18:10

Are you still bothering with weather forecasts, they were all inaccurate last year :-)

Not bothering, just asking :-)

Hornet

10th March 2014, 18:53

Are you still bothering with weather forecasts, they were all inaccurate last year :-)

I don't think that's true. All implies that every single prediction turned out the opposite. For example, Brazil race day was predicted to be wet, and it was wet.

IIRC, the weather prediction on F1 official site is somewhat more accurate. The problem is when people take that as a prediction for a 2 hour window. When it says it's predicted to rain on Sunday, there's a high chance it will rain on that day. Will it rain within the race period window, of course we don't know. That's a window way too small. It may rain before the race, it may rain during the race, or perhaps after. The intensity and exact location of the rain will varies too of course.

So it's not a pointless discussion about weather forecast, it doesn't have to rain during the race to affect it. Rain could come at different time, and teams have to be prepare for it. People just need to understand that it comes with a certain margin of error.

Rob

10th March 2014, 18:57

Australian GP – Seven Ferrari wins in Australia
http://i61.tinypic.com/2cgigdt.jpg
Maranello, 10 March – This will be the 30th Australian Grand Prix, with the race held on the Adelaide street circuit from 1985 to 1995, before moving the following year to the 5.303 kilometres of the temporary Albert Park facility in southern Melbourne.

Ferrari has won Down Under seven times, which is a strike rate of one in four, but looking just at Melbourne, it’s one in three. The first victory came courtesy of Gerhard Berger, who was on fire back in November 1987. At the wheel of the F1-87, he had already won the Japanese GP a fortnight earlier and Adelaide was the only grand slam of his F1 career, taking pole, fastest race lap and leading for all of the 82 laps. After the race, Ayrton Senna’s Lotus was disqualified for illegal brake ducts, which added to the joy for the Prancing Horse, as it promoted Michele Alboreto to second.

The second Ferrari win here was a surprise victory for Eddie Irvine, in a race where Michael Schumacher had endless problems, as did the McLarens that had set the pace in qualifying. The man from Northern Ireland therefore claimed his first win in a year when he would fight to the very last race for the Drivers’ crown, after Schumacher had broken a leg at Silverstone.

At the start of this century Melbourne witnessed something of a Ferrari monopoly, with Schumacher winning in 2000, 2001 and 2002, years in which he also took the title. He also won in 2004 with an impressive show of force from the Prancing Horse, as it ran first and second throughout with Schumacher and Barrichello. Only Alonso, third in the Renault, managed to cross the line under a minute behind Michael. The last win dates back to 2007 and marked Kimi Raikkonen’s Scuderia Ferrari debut. Kimi dominated from pole, his superiority never in question, as could be seen by the fact his fastest lap was over a second quicker than that of the second fastest driver.

Other Ferrari figures from Australia include seven pole positions and eight fastest race laps, with a total of 20 podium finishes. Apart from the seven wins there have been eight second places and five thirds. 14 drivers have lined up for the Maranello squad in Australia, including two test drivers: Nicola Larini replaced Ivan Capelli in 1992 and Gianni Morbidelli got the chance to drive a Ferrari after the team split with Alain Prost just before the end of the 1991 season. Australia was Morbidelli’s only appearance at the wheel of a Prancing Horse car and he finished sixth, but only scored half points as the incessant rain in Adelaide meant the event was stopped after 14 laps, making it the shortest GP in history, lasting just 24’34”899. Needless to say, given the wet conditions, the winner was the rain master Ayrton Senna in the McLaren.

- See more at: http://formula1.ferrari.com/news/australian-gp-ferrari-wins-australia#sthash.6FvwJ82e.dpuf

Kiwi Nick

10th March 2014, 19:01

Nova said, "I read that this morning. Not sure why he said it but Ive always liked him.
Pretty sure he ran Ferrari sportscars for awhile."

Salo had over 100 F1 starts including 6 for Ferrari in 1999. In the German GP he was solidly in the lead when Ferrari asked him to let Eddie Irvine by for the win, Salo was 2nd. He also finished 3rd at the Italian GP in 1999 driving a Ferrari.

Salo won the GT2 class at Le Mans in 2008 and 2009 driving an F430.

Salo knows what he is talking about.

Avantifer12

10th March 2014, 20:06

Not Australia specific news but since it's the first race of a new season I thought I could post this link to a preview video of the 2014 season it's a quite good and informative video about the changes in regulations, strategies, driving styles and races, we already know much of what's being said in the video but still...

http://www.formula1.com/news/features/2014/3/15539.html

Nero Horse

10th March 2014, 21:50

It is possible that every single car will fail to finish Sunday’s season-opening Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park, in Melbourne.

That is the claim of Roberto Dalla, the head of Formula 1 electronics supplier Magneti Marelli.

He told Italy’s La Gazzetta dello Sport that the electronics of the cars have become much more complicated in 2014, without a corresponding increase in the amount of pre-season testing.

“Last year,” said Dalla, “there was a single unit made by McLaren that was the brain of every aspect.

“But now it only has control of a portion, and the underlying challenge is to be able to operate like an orchestra the engine, the turbo, the recovery systems.

“To find the right solutions will take another two to three months,” he claimed.

“Doing it during three winter sessions with only 12 days in total was a real mission impossible.

“In Melbourne, it could happen that all the cars do not see the finish line, because every team experienced serious problems in testing,” Dalla added.

http://grandprix247.com/2014/03/10/magneti-marelli-in-melbourne-it-could-happen-that-all-the-cars-do-not-see-the-finish-line/

abbottcostello

10th March 2014, 22:00

Well now wouldn't that be an exciting race:rotfl

He did say possible not probable tho'

So points awarded by distance covered, eh?

Aberracus

10th March 2014, 22:06

Lets recapitulate, F1 Starting season races have been in the past full of DNFs. look at this extract from 90's

1990: 26 starters 14 finishers.
1991: 26 starters 13 finishers 15 of the 24 suffered mechanical failure.
1992: 26 starters 13 finishers.
1993: 26 starters 7(!) finishers.
1994: 26 starters 12 finishers....everyone lapped.
1995: 26 starters 10 finishers...all but one lapped.
1996: 22 starters 11 finishers.
1997: 24 starters 10 finishers.
1998: 22 starters 9 finishers.
1999: 22 starters 8 finishers.

So really don't cry for nothing guys, this is F1, man it please.

Hornet

11th March 2014, 05:03

I think teams will do everything it takes to ensure they finish the race. Even if that means sacrificing performance. They cannot afford to damage their power unit, and if their rivals DNF, there are points to be gain too.

Laferrari

11th March 2014, 08:02

wacc

11th March 2014, 09:08

anachronox

11th March 2014, 09:10

Where are our Tifosis from OZ, no pictures yet of the circuit?

Hornet

11th March 2014, 09:14

interview from C.Horner into the guardian:

""The bottom line is Mercedes have got a bit of a march on people. They invested more, they invested earlier. They've got themselves into a good position. If Mercedes were to finish two laps ahead of the opposition in Melbourne, that wouldn't be a surprise, based on what we've seen in preseason testing. It's massive.":-E:-E:-E:-E
I hope he's wrong, but Horner is not a journalist, he's a guy running an F1 team and knows what the hell is going on.

I think right now it's not a question if Merc is the fastest. It's whether any team will have an answer to them this weekend.

wisepie

11th March 2014, 09:34

If it rains, we could have even bigger problems with traction when the torque takes over, so I expect there'll be a lot of lairy spins, hopefully not all done by Fernando & Kimi. They can't just adjust the downforce to compensate without using more fuel, so another factor to be considered and managed by drivers and the pitwall. We'll be having brain-fade ourselves trying to work out what strategy we should be using!:roll

F2002

11th March 2014, 10:27

I don't think that's true. All implies that every single prediction turned out the opposite. For example, Brazil race day was predicted to be wet, and it was wet.

IIRC, the weather prediction on F1 official site is somewhat more accurate. The problem is when people take that as a prediction for a 2 hour window. When it says it's predicted to rain on Sunday, there's a high chance it will rain on that day. Will it rain within the race period window, of course we don't know. That's a window way too small. It may rain before the race, it may rain during the race, or perhaps after. The intensity and exact location of the rain will varies too of course.

So it's not a pointless discussion about weather forecast, it doesn't have to rain during the race to affect it. Rain could come at different time, and teams have to be prepare for it. People just need to understand that it comes with a certain margin of error.

Hello Hornet, hope you're OK - I was just joking with stefa as he's normally very inquisitive when it comes to weather issues :)

Kingdom Hearts

11th March 2014, 10:38

I hope he's wrong, but Horner is not a journalist, he's a guy running an F1 team and knows what the hell is going on.

I think right now it's not a question if Merc is the fastest. It's whether any team will have an answer to them this weekend.

Is that even possible?, I mean, they will need to go 3 secs faster from lap 1 to the end of the race to lap twice. I don't think Ferrari, McLaren or Williams are that slow, maybe they will lap twice RB and the low grid teams, no way they will lap twice the whole grid.

Rishu

11th March 2014, 10:52

http://i60.tinypic.com/2vtw4k4.jpg

http://i62.tinypic.com/21oq7ps.jpg

http://i62.tinypic.com/xzmys.jpg

http://i58.tinypic.com/et7cy1.jpg

http://i60.tinypic.com/dbhatd.jpg

http://i59.tinypic.com/rtl56h.jpg

Hornet

11th March 2014, 11:03

Hello Hornet, hope you're OK - I was just joking with stefa as he's normally very inquisitive when it comes to weather issues :)
Ah, my bad. I need to fix my joke detector :oops

Is that even possible?, I mean, they will need to go 3 secs faster from lap 1 to the end of the race to lap twice. I don't think Ferrari, McLaren or Williams are that slow, maybe they will lap twice RB and the low grid teams, no way they will lap twice the whole grid.

Maybe not double lap the entire field of course, but what I mean is it's probably true that Merc is ahead of everyone else and is the team to beat. Many of us did not want to believe it (understandably) when the media keep saying Merc is faster than us, but when you hear the same thing coming from team bosses, then I think it's hard to deny that there's some truth to that.

And if Merc has the advantage due to their engine, then teams like Williams and McLaren are going to be in toe behind them. So we have a huge fight in our hands and I don't think it's going to be easy.

It's up to Ferrari to find something extra this weekend to beat them, and I hope we do.

Ferrari Man

11th March 2014, 11:08

I sure hope this isn't another year of playing catch up but with all the talk of Merc been miles ahead is not what I want to hear... Here's hoping to hiding our true performance in testing and our fine tuned machine to be in fine form for Melbourne ..

ManFromMilan

11th March 2014, 11:36

Is that even possible?, I mean, they will need to go 3 secs faster from lap 1 to the end of the race to lap twice. I don't think Ferrari, McLaren or Williams are that slow, maybe they will lap twice RB and the low grid teams, no way they will lap twice the whole grid.

How the hell can they lap us if we are going to win?!?!:Hmm

PURE PASSION

11th March 2014, 11:51

How the hell can they lap us if we are going to win?!?!:Hmm
5773

Jose Lorca

11th March 2014, 12:16

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KZhY0lOA08

anoopvp

11th March 2014, 12:49

TV Schedule for Indian Viewers

FIA F1 World Championship 2014 Rolex Australian Grand Prix

Star Sports 4 & Star Sports HD2

Friday 14-03-2014
06:55AM FIA F1 World Championship 2014 - Practice Session 1 Rolex Australian Grand Prix
10:55AM FIA F1 World Championship 2014 - Practice Session 2 Rolex Australian Grand Prix

Saturday 15-03-2014
08:25AM FIA F1 World Championship 2014 - Practice Session 3 Rolex Australian Grand Prix
11:20AM FIA F1 World Championship 2014 - Qualifying Rolex Australian Grand Prix

Sunday 16-03-2014
10:30AM FIA F1 World Championship 2014 - Raceday Rolex Australian Grand Prix
11:15AM FIA F1 World Championship 2014 - Race Rolex Australian Grand Prix
01:15PM FIA F1 World Championship 2014 - Chequered Flag Rolex Australian Grand Prix

stefa

11th March 2014, 13:31

Hello Hornet, hope you're OK - I was just joking with stefa as he's normally very inquisitive when it comes to weather issues :)

Joke accepted :-)
Just wandering about weather, coz I prefer wet races.

PlatzdaTurbo

11th March 2014, 13:33

Katu

11th March 2014, 18:35

Joke accepted :-)
Just wandering about weather, coz I prefer wet races.

the race will be long, but when it rains it will be a lot longer...

Rob

11th March 2014, 19:31

Australian GP – Time to go racing
http://i62.tinypic.com/1g2783.jpg
Melbourne, 11 March – This weekend’s Australian Grand Prix is the most eagerly anticipated race for a very long time. If the sport had become a bit predictable in recent years, then this season is the antidote: never mind whose going to win Round 1 in Melbourne, the bigger question is who is going to finish, or perhaps even start?

During winter testing, the emphasis was very much on reliability, but now it’s time to go racing so, ready or not, the teams have to consider the practicalities of getting through a Grand Prix weekend. “On the mechanical side, there’s a huge increase in complexity, so just working out the best way to build the car, change parts, rebuild it and how to be best prepared in Melbourne is a major task” – says to www.ferrari.com the Scuderia’s Engineering Director, Pat Fry. “Through the tests we worked 24 hours a day, running shifts to ensure the car was ready, but once we get to Melbourne we are more restricted by the rules regarding what we can actually do and how many hours we are allowed to work.”

Fry reckons the whole face of an F1 weekend is about to change. “In the past, the reliability of Formula 1 cars has been incredible, but this year, their sheer complexity means it will be challenged, particularly in qualifying and the race.” While these initial concerns with reliability will dominate the early races, the actual management of the new powertrain is going to be an interesting new puzzle for engineers and also the drivers. “In some races, we will be fuel limited and we will have to work out the best way to save fuel,” explains Fry. “Effectively we will be balancing electrical energy against fuel consumption and it’s our job to work out what the best combination is for the race.” And once the teams get on top of that, there are all the other “traditional” factors such as aero performance and tyre management that haven’t just gone away.

The one area where Scuderia Ferrari has no concerns is in the men who sit at the wheel. Fernando Alonso and his new team-mate Kimi Raikkonen have three world titles and three Melbourne victories between them.

- See more at: http://formula1.ferrari.com/news/australian-gp-time-racing#sthash.XVjxGRMx.dpuf

ntukza

11th March 2014, 20:05

Ross Brawn knew what he was doing. They always insisted that the MGP was a long term project and maybe they saw no one could beat RBR and the 2014 regulation change was a big opportunity for them and so they sacrificed even more of the previous seasons in favoure of the 2014 project more so than any ohter team.

Very likely. I remember something about showing Hamilton the future plans, which got him to commit. And once he was there he kept talking about a long-term focus (2014) until he realised he was in a quick car. It all adds up.

stefa

11th March 2014, 20:07

Can't wait till Friday!!!
Never been so nervous about first race of the season....

Ferrari Man

11th March 2014, 20:19

Can't wait till Friday!!!
Never been so nervous about first race of the season....

It has been the slowest week of the year so far.. Here 's hopin for somethinhg to cheer about Sunday evenin..

stefa

11th March 2014, 21:20

It has been the slowest week of the year so far.. Here 's hopin for somethinhg to cheer about Sunday evenin..

Couldn't agree more!

Nero Horse

11th March 2014, 23:35

interview from C.Horner into the guardian:

""The bottom line is Mercedes have got a bit of a march on people. They invested more, they invested earlier. They've got themselves into a good position. If Mercedes were to finish two laps ahead of the opposition in Melbourne, that wouldn't be a surprise, based on what we've seen in preseason testing. It's massive.":-E:-E:-E:-E

Horner probably meant that the Mercs could finish two laps ahead of RB, in that case I totally agree with him. :-D

abbottcostello

12th March 2014, 02:10

I think Horner is playing the same game as SD's "Merc is so big & we are small"... "the BIG Merc is so powerful none of us stands a chance". Trying to paint themselves as the underdogs.

It is true, Merc does seem to have an advantage, I don't buy it that it's as big as the other teams say.

I also don't think Ferrari sandbagged, I think they probably got most of the performance that was in the car at the Tests & also got data to make good improvements to the software program to add to the aero updates they had already targeted for Melbourne.

I think Horner's bunch have the knowhow to field a decent car. They are up against it for sure, but this weekend is for the points & I will be TRULY SHOCKED if they haven't accomplished enough to be sniffing out a points finish.

I could have this all wrong quite easily, but I hope I'm not & we (Ferrari) are battling at the front on Sunday & Saturday as well.

PS just checked my TV listing FP1 - 9:30PM Thursday, about 48-½ hr from now.:dance

Winter

12th March 2014, 04:06

Mercedes might be little ahead of others right now, but lapping others twice.... In Bahrain they were not so much ahead of Williams and
when we get our ERS-unit configurated we'll be right there too. Well, few days and we'll see :clap

Rishu

12th March 2014, 05:35

I am expecting a huge meltdown on Saturday post qualifying. Ferrari will most probably be 3rd or 4th best team, of course I will be pleasantly surprised if we end up higher.

But I strongly recommend, that do not lose hope. This will be a long season & things can change dramatically with reliability & innovations with these new machines. There is plenty to learn & with working wind tunnel Ferrari will be there in title hunt, I have no doubt about it.

Stormsearcher

12th March 2014, 06:25

I think the build up has been a lot of smoke and mirrors.
I get the feeling that we are in better shape than we are letting everyone think we are. I reckon we are the second best team as of this moment. Merc do have an advantage, but remains to be seen if it can maintain that through a race distance.
The RBR is not out of this. It would be a mistake to count them out.

Williams will do well, but once again, will they sustain the performance over a race distance? More so.. over the length of the season? Remains to be seen.

Am guessing, come saturday... the merc boys will be on front row. We can expect one of ours to be on the second at the very least.

Lets go racing. Cant wait for it to start!!! :cflag:dance

blaney1977

12th March 2014, 09:14

wacc

12th March 2014, 09:15

Nice video even if it is from RB

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFHmYFlbFn8

tifosi1993

12th March 2014, 10:16

http://www.formula1.com/wi/enlarge/0x0/popup/sutton/2013/dms1411ma03.jpg

http://www.formula1.com/wi/enlarge/0x0/popup/sutton/2013/dms1411ma04.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/0y2fjfr.jpg

via Sutton (for higher resolution, right click > view image)

tifosi1993

12th March 2014, 10:27

http://i.imgur.com/QuBPNrml.jpg (http://i.imgur.com/QuBPNrm.jpg)
http://i.imgur.com/Ktx47Egl.jpg (http://i.imgur.com/Ktx47Eg.jpg)
http://i.imgur.com/kwwV9SDl.jpg (http://i.imgur.com/kwwV9SD.jpg)
http://i.imgur.com/eTAgWRJl.jpg (http://i.imgur.com/eTAgWRJ.jpg)
http://i.imgur.com/FI9JcI4l.jpg (http://i.imgur.com/FI9JcI4.jpg)
http://i.imgur.com/VkRcptEl.jpg (http://i.imgur.com/VkRcptE.jpg)
http://i.imgur.com/WZ86yMBl.jpg (http://i.imgur.com/WZ86yMB.jpg)
http://i.imgur.com/A10xgv0l.jpg (http://i.imgur.com/A10xgv0.jpg)
http://i.imgur.com/B6OUjxJl.jpg (http://i.imgur.com/B6OUjxJ.jpg)

Hornet

12th March 2014, 11:32

Thanks for those pictures. Finally we can see what's inside the car without screens blocking them in the garage :thumb

Been a long wait. Time to go racing again

F2002

12th March 2014, 13:59

In other news, it looks like Vettel has named his 2014 car "Suzie".

All yours to joke about....

Ste

12th March 2014, 14:40

Is Red Bull Racing stretching the rules again?
Source: TJ13 (http://thejudge13.com/2014/03/12/daily-f1-news-and-comment-wednesday-12th-march-2014/)

It appears that Red Bull are circumventing the rules once again in their search for speed for their troubled car.

This morning at the RAAF Air Force base in Victoria (around two and half hours from Melbourne) a ‘filming’ day had been organised which had an F/A-18 Hornet drag racing the Red Bull car. This in itself is not a problem – it’s straight line running after all.

An observer told TJ13, “it was a great event and the noise of both powerplants was awesome!”

However after the actual filming was completed, and the jet removed, the Red Bull car would appear periodically and complete a number of laps using the runways and taxiways as a form of track.

With the venue being a military base, photography was banned and any brave individual who felt the slightest inclination to secretly record anything was informed explicitly by the military police they would be arrested if they did so.

Mmm…. How many filming days have RBR now had? Was there an F1 observer there to count mileage?

For now we don’t know.

f1tomi8

12th March 2014, 15:27

Is Red Bull Racing stretching the rules again?
Source: TJ13 (http://thejudge13.com/2014/03/12/daily-f1-news-and-comment-wednesday-12th-march-2014/)

it was the showcar running and not the RB10
pbs.twimg.com/media/BiiFK22CQAEZj-8.jpg

slak

12th March 2014, 15:35

Unfaithful Suzie:lol

Hornet

12th March 2014, 15:42

Unfaithful Suzie:lol

:lol

shamim179

12th March 2014, 15:45

Hornet

12th March 2014, 15:55

I don't think we have been sandbagging even though it might appear that way. There is a distinction when you hide your performance intentionally and unintentionally. In Ferrari's case I believe it has been unintentional. They were having problems harnessing the full power of the ERS. If this is true I hope we can get to grips with this sooner rather than later. I'm fairly sure that Mercedes will be the new benchmark. We have a titanic fight on our hands. Beating Hamilton and Rosberg in a possibily superior car will be no easy feat!

I don't believe in sandbagging either. Maybe Ferrari just haven't quite done enough testing to optimize the complex power unit, and I hope soon we'll be able to do just that. From the comments, it does seem that Ferrari did not manage to do all the testing they wanted, or at least they've pointed out that Merc has done more and it's advantageous in some ways.

f300v10

12th March 2014, 16:14

Someone got a shot of the F14T minus the engine cover, doesn't show much of the engine though. Note the launch spec rear wing.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Bih-2bACIAAetYU.jpg:large

Ferrari Man

12th March 2014, 16:29

Someone got a shot of the F14T minus the engine cover, doesn't show much of the engine though. Note the launch spec rear wing.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Bih-2bACIAAetYU.jpg:large

Would'nt imagine them having the new updated wing on now if there is one.. Wait till Friday..

Hornet

12th March 2014, 16:33

No shielding for the turbo I assume?

Fer138

12th March 2014, 16:47

Just watched the Horse Power documentary. Most excellent feature and puts me in the right frame of mind for the start of the season. Whatever happens in the first race, I know there is a fantastic team working day and night to pursue our dreams of winning!

Tony

12th March 2014, 17:10

wisepie

12th March 2014, 18:30

In other news, it looks like Vettel has named his 2014 car "Suzie".

All yours to joke about....

Oh dear, 'our' TSN Suzie will not be amused, I fear. Fancy Vettel naming his RB after a veritable tifosa, hope she comes back to haunt him.

Bubbles

12th March 2014, 18:32

Speaking of flying, what happened to Red Bull? Did they lose their wings? :-D

I read somewhere they did a filming day with the car against a jet fighter then used the taxing runway and side-streets to do some full-fledged testing (with cornering and everything). Plus, you can't take pictures or film that location because it was military ground. Ricciardo spoke about the car-airplane comparison, so maybe he was there doing the driving.

Anyway, plenty of opportunity for these guys to test and get back to speed. I imagine we'll be back to normal by mid-season, possibly even sooner.

Bubbles

12th March 2014, 18:34

They will probably bring another wing that features a very small tweak, since those make all the difference in the world, don't they?

Tobes

12th March 2014, 18:38

I read somewhere they did a filming day with the car against a jet fighter then used the taxing runway and side-streets to do some full-fledged testing (with cornering and everything). Plus, you can't take pictures or film that location because it was military ground. Ricciardo spoke about the car-airplane comparison, so maybe he was there doing the driving.

Anyway, plenty of opportunity for these guys to test and get back to speed. I imagine we'll be back to normal by mid-season, possibly even sooner.

12 posts up from your quoted post above is a post (by f1tomi8) that says Red Bull used the test car, not the RB10...

ALO

12th March 2014, 18:49

Great Pics tifosi1993 cant wait for the show to begin :champ

paneristi

12th March 2014, 19:09

ten years ago https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F72k3Yq4fGY
Hope and pray for this kind of pole and podium finish (the cars)

Nero Horse

12th March 2014, 19:15

Speaking of flying, what happened to Red Bull? Did they lose their wings? :-D

http://i.imgur.com/CgzPiP7.png

Apparently the weight of the bull was just too much to handle for those little wings to keep the fat bull flying any longer. :lol

Ed Harley

12th March 2014, 19:24

Maybe the RBR trophy cabinet is too heavy for the time being:

https://o.twimg.com/2/proxy.jpg?t=HBgpaHR0cHM6Ly90d2l0cGljLmNvbS9zaG93L2 xhcmdlL2I1amNtYi5qcGcUsAkUxgwAFgASAA&s=6ptFJfn1ZJzs55IyIfvEvA-Q_A--krrQ6CkuW6Jq5WI

Rob

12th March 2014, 19:27

Oh dear, 'our' TSN Suzie will not be amused, I fear. Fancy Vettel naming his RB after a veritable tifosa, hope she comes back to haunt him.

:lol

Rob

12th March 2014, 19:29

http://i.imgur.com/CgzPiP7.png

Apparently the weight of the bull was just too much to handle for those little wings to keep the fat bull flying any longer. :lol

fingers crossed, their wings have benn clipped:pray

Nero Horse

12th March 2014, 22:02

Maybe the RBR trophy cabinet is too heavy for the time being:

I wonder how many such trophy cabinets would Ferrari need to accommodate all of their 678 trophies? :-D

Suzie

12th March 2014, 22:06

Oh dear, 'our' TSN Suzie will not be amused, I fear. Fancy Vettel naming his RB after a veritable tifosa, hope she comes back to haunt him.

Not impressed one bit.

Although the car's bound to be cursed if it's called that, so good luck there Seb :-D

Giallo 550

13th March 2014, 03:29

Can't wait! FORZA FERRARI!:ferrarifl

abbottcostello

13th March 2014, 03:40

It appears McLaren have been very busy working on a "one-off livery" for Melbourne....
"Hey, I was putting decals on, I thought you were bringing the aero updates"

Well, one can hope!

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BikAfwPCQAA7ngU.jpg:large

abbottcostello

13th March 2014, 04:01

Nice tech photos of some of our competitors at SuttonF1 (http://somersf1.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/technical-image-gallery-australian-gp.html)
No RBR, Ferrari, Merc though.

EL_NANDO

13th March 2014, 05:25

Am heading down to Albert Park in around an hour to watch the final 2 hours of the free community day. Can't wait for the race this weekend (am planning to just go to the race on Sunday). Hope to get some views of the new cars today, we'll see.

No idea where we are likely to finish this weekend, I can't see us beating Mercedes on pure pace but apart from that I really have no idea. If we really are behind the Mercedes engine in some capacity all the other Mercedes teams could be a problem McLaren, Williams and Force India, but I'm hoping we are strong! :-)

Also it's brilliant value, it's only $99 for a general admission to entire day Sunday, with lots of good viewing areas. At Silverstone (I am from the UK originally) it's around $220 for race day. Compare muddy fields, whinging Brits and warm beers with efficient free shuttle trams from city to the track, hot girls, cold beer and nice weather.

abbottcostello

13th March 2014, 05:51

tifosi1993

13th March 2014, 06:36

http://i.imgur.com/vOmIdZ8l.jpg (http://i.imgur.com/vOmIdZ8.jpg)
http://i.imgur.com/XRbOEX1l.jpg (http://i.imgur.com/XRbOEX1.jpg)
http://i.imgur.com/guAqqhNl.jpg (http://i.imgur.com/guAqqhN.jpg)
http://i.imgur.com/6QjHezcl.jpg (http://i.imgur.com/6QjHezc.jpg)
http://i.imgur.com/iYRuXwwl.jpg (http://i.imgur.com/iYRuXww.jpg)
http://i.imgur.com/RlxQ5vol.jpg (http://i.imgur.com/RlxQ5vo.jpg)
http://i.imgur.com/XgsNesfl.jpg (http://i.imgur.com/XgsNesf.jpg)
http://i.imgur.com/bQxD4lbl.jpg (http://i.imgur.com/bQxD4lb.jpg)
http://i.imgur.com/4hG3Im1l.jpg (http://i.imgur.com/4hG3Im1.jpg)
http://i.imgur.com/2nxUwGEl.jpg (http://i.imgur.com/2nxUwGE.jpg)
http://i.imgur.com/uSIiUMDl.jpg (http://i.imgur.com/uSIiUMD.jpg)
http://i.imgur.com/w21YnaLl.jpg (http://i.imgur.com/w21YnaL.jpg)
http://i.imgur.com/DXseuyNl.jpg (http://i.imgur.com/DXseuyN.jpg)
http://i.imgur.com/qQUtBvul.jpg (http://i.imgur.com/qQUtBvu.jpg)
http://i.imgur.com/HQa5HaNl.jpg (http://i.imgur.com/HQa5HaN.jpg)
http://i.imgur.com/0xY1Phol.jpg (http://i.imgur.com/0xY1Pho.jpg)
http://i.imgur.com/v49x7ifl.jpg (http://i.imgur.com/v49x7if.jpg)

via Sutton

tifosi1993

13th March 2014, 06:45

http://i.imgur.com/rabqzlw.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/F3Gte1G.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/nAN1xPP.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/wVYIs6H.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/IYm1zfh.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/tMZ6uBb.jpg

abbottcostello

13th March 2014, 07:15

A little excerpt of Horner defending Newey (the complete article is at pitpass.com (http://www.pitpass.com/51014/Horner-leaps-to-Neweys-defence)):

"We aggressively pushed the boundaries on the packaging of the car, as Adrian always does, to try and get every bit of aerodynamic advantage," he is quoted as saying by the Guardian. "Pushing the boundaries in all areas is what Formula One is all about. It's about getting the most out of every single element.
"We took a step over the line at the first test," he continued. "We then engineered our way out of that for Bahrain, and cooling now isn't an issue with the car at all.
"Adrian's probably the most competitive person I've ever met," he insisted. "For sure, he's working tremendously hard at the moment. But we can't control all aspects of the vehicle. Collectively with Renault, I'm confident we'll get on top of it. Sometimes to find the limit you've got to go over where the limit is, otherwise you don't know where it is. We'd rather make a quick car reliable than a reliable car quick. It's far harder that way round, and I think fundamentally the car we've got is good.

Damn, I just hate that seemingly everything that guy says seems to make such perfect sense... grrrrr, this is exactly what I thought created their issues & by no means am I claiming to be some genius or have any great powers of perception, it just always seemed so bleeping obvious to me.

I only hope their road to reliability is an old cobblestone road with a lot of missing cobbles:-D

Those are some great pics of the team signing autographs!:thumb

Hornet

13th March 2014, 07:27

anialonso

13th March 2014, 07:47

By contrast, Ferrari will, according to Alonso, run "exactly the same car" this weekend that they did in the winter-closing Bahrain test of two weeks ago

Source: http://www1.skysports.com/f1/news/12475/9210533/sebastian-vettel-says-anything-can-happen-as-he-refuses-to-give-up-on-fifth-title

So no upgrades..That looks bad.>!!

Rishu

13th March 2014, 07:58

So no upgrades..That looks bad.>!!

Looks good, it means they will be running new FW & RW they tested in final test. This also means wind tunnel data was positive.

fronaldo

13th March 2014, 08:09

Lots of concern about reliability and maybe little running in FP3 to save for qualifying

Hornet

13th March 2014, 09:58

So no upgrades..That looks bad.>!!

Not necessary a bad thing, IMO. IIRC, Ferrari have said the power unit need more fine tuning or something, software side. Perhaps there's more to be found from the power unit, we just need more track time :Hmm

Kristof_F40

13th March 2014, 10:02

Btw, just want to say, the F1 Timing App is now available on Android and Apple. Since thus year there are a some new function + the app is free, with an in-app upgrade to buy. I just bought it for 9,99 € which is a lot less than last year. I think it's a really good buy

Hornet

13th March 2014, 10:26

Saw this on Sky, Charlie Whiting discussing the many possible scenarios and what ifs that may arise from new power units and reliability issues.

The likelihood of Safety Car appearances; the potential for aborted starts and the possibility that teams might skip practice sessions: all scenarios for the Australian GP discussed by Charlie Whiting on Thursday.

But first things first at the start of a season in which reliability is the watchword: what happens if no cars actually manage to complete Sunday's 58-lap race? According to the FIA's Race Director, "I think a lot of these Doomsday scenarios are quite unlikely, knowing Formula 1 teams and how efficient they actually are. But if it came to the situation where no cars were actually running, we'd simply stop the race - because there wouldn't be much of one, would there?

"If the race couldn't be restarted as the rules say, then the results would be declared on the lap prior to the one during which the race was stopped and whoever was running at that time would be the winner."

If cars do indeed start breaking down left, right and centre, it sounds as though Safety Car driver Bernd Maylander will have a busy afternoon in store. "I don't think it's going to affect the use of the Safety car at all," said Whiting. "If a car stops and it's in a dangerous position then we'll use the Safety Car. We can't do anything else really."

He also admitted that the lack of practice starts performed by the likes of, for example, Lotus during pre-season testing is a concern. "I've been told that some cars haven't actually done a practice start yet. I'm sure they'll be doing lots here at the pit exit, assuming they go out of course," he said.

"I think there are some added concerns. We haven't seen many cars stall on the grid over the last few years, it's become a rarity.

"But obviously if a car stalls before the start is given, we can abort the start and perform an extra formation lap. The most dangerous situations obviously occur when a driver stalls at the start of a race and that's something I'll be emphasising to the start marshals when I have a briefing with them."

If teams struggle to stay within the 107 per cent rule during qualifying, however, Whiting said that race stewards would look favourably upon them.

Article 36.1 of the Sporting Regulations states: 'During Q1, any driver whose best qualifying lap exceeds 107% of the fastest time set during that session, or who fails to set a time, will not be allowed to take part in the race.'

Yet according to Whiting, "I think the 107 per cent rule was introduced to make sure that teams that weren't capable of producing a good car that was of the required performance wouldn't actually get into the races.

"What we have out here at the moment are 11 teams that we know are capable. They may be suffering a temporary performance loss but I'm sure the stewards will look very sympathetically on any team that doesn't make the 107 per cent.

"There is a mechanism in the rules to allow that to be done in exceptional circumstances."

Apparent during pre-season testing were the protracted times teams were taking to change the new power units and drive trains introduced this season.

A particular concern is the two-hour gap that separates P3 from qualifying, with Whiting speculating that teams might opt to skip the former in order to make the latter.

"Teams are worried that it's going to be more common and I've heard even teams say that they'd skip P3 to make sure they have a car for qualifying," he said.

"Everyone's got their own way of going about things. Some teams tell me it'll take them seven hours to change an engine, some say it'll take three, some an hour and a half."

Renault might currently lag behind Ferrari and particularly Mercedes in the reliability stakes but Whiting confirmed that all three engine manufacturers have already requested changes.

Although performance has been frozen since the February 28 homologation deadline, changes can be made to power units for reliability, safety or cost reasons.

"They've all done already. We've had requests from everybody to change bits of the car on the engine for reliability reasons," Whiting added.

"Ultimately, it's for us to decide. But we do it in consultation with the other engine manufacturers - and everyone has so far actually done that in the two weeks that the engines have actually been homologated."

http://www1.skysports.com/f1/news/12433/9210695/so-what-happens-if-there-are-no-finishers-in-sundays-australian-gp

Senna4Ever

13th March 2014, 10:52

Maybe you can help me out: should the society be worried about a 35 old man who
- asks his girlfriend in the morning: 'Do you know what tomorrow will gonna happen'?
- grabs his imaginary ScuderiaFerrari-F1 steering wheel
- and makes a 'flying lap' in his living room

?

:-D

time to start the engines ... bring it on boys ...

Ed Harley

13th March 2014, 11:00

RedPassion

13th March 2014, 11:05

Of course not...it's borderline normal.
Mine has already given up on me by now, at this stage she is unto aerodynamics 101 ,trying to explain her sealing the diffuser:lou

Kristof_F40

13th March 2014, 11:14

According to AMuS Merc new front wing has failed crash test

tifosi1993

13th March 2014, 11:41

According to AMuS Merc new front wing has failed crash test

W05's new nose didn't pass the crash test.

PURE PASSION

13th March 2014, 11:43

W05's new nose didn't pass the crash test.
New nose???

slak

13th March 2014, 11:43

40% chance of a drizzle Saturday in Melbourne

tifosi1993

13th March 2014, 11:44

New nose???

http://www.auto-motor-und-sport.de/formel-1/neue-nase-aufgeschoben-mercedes-faellt-durch-crashtest-8192723.html

zike

13th March 2014, 11:48

http://www.auto-motor-und-sport.de/formel-1/neue-nase-aufgeschoben-mercedes-faellt-durch-crashtest-8192723.html

The artical is saying that we are putting a turbo shield????? :Hmm

F2002

13th March 2014, 11:55

New nose???

It's a "radical new nose cone" apparently:
http://www.mercmotorsports.com/mf1/technical/new-nose-cone-postponed/

wacc

13th March 2014, 12:13

In that AMuS article they say that the new nose is so short that it doen't overlap the FW. This is what Owen.C93 posted at F1technical forum a few days ago. It may be the new nose that failed the crash test.

new:
http://i.imgur.com/96k5Afy.png
old:
http://i.imgur.com/FLsCLm5.png

Kingdom Hearts

13th March 2014, 12:20

So no upgrades..That looks bad.>!!

I think he was joking on the PC abut it.

Ed Harley

13th March 2014, 12:21

Are each and everyone of those fins, bits and pieces really necessary on a front wing???

RedPassion

13th March 2014, 12:27

James Allison said that the nose will not be a game changer,while Mercedes has already failed twice to homologating a new one,wasting probably a lot of money for a part that is probably not groundbreaking.I may be wrong,but i dont believe that Ferrari will spend much effort during the year modifying the nose,you can already see the hand of James Allison there putting resources in the parts that bring most performance,a problem Ferrari had in the last years when time and money where often wasted for parts that were not that rewarding at the end .Pat Symonds did something similar last year at Williams,stopping a new version of the coanda exhaust which he considered a waste of money at the end of 2013(60000 euro i believe)and started testing for 2014 instead.

wacc

13th March 2014, 13:26

FIA Thursday press conference

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMASNuuV75E

Kristof_F40

13th March 2014, 13:36

Lol! "maybe food or something" xD

fronaldo

13th March 2014, 13:43

5776

gvera

13th March 2014, 13:48

Not necessary a bad thing, IMO. IIRC, Ferrari have said the power unit need more fine tuning or something, software side. Perhaps there's more to be found from the power unit, we just need more track time :Hmm

It might not be bad but it's not good either. you can't stand still in F1.
As I see it, no new bits just means that Ferrari hasn't been able to upgrade the F14 T aero before Melbourne.
We don't know what's in the works, maybe a huge step up is made in the future, but a race is happening this weekend, points are awarded, this is not testing anymore, unless you have a car that's miles ahead the opposition you have to upgrade as soon as possible in all areas.

gvera

13th March 2014, 13:52

slak

13th March 2014, 13:53

Looks like the Ferrari nose

Kristof_F40

13th March 2014, 14:01

Looks like the Ferrari nose

2 different FWs seems to me

fronaldo

13th March 2014, 14:28

2 different FW

Katu

13th March 2014, 14:39

Lewis has joined the cap club aswell i see

djmorin27

13th March 2014, 15:17

come on folks we are not standing still he was joking he just didnt care to share any info all is well its been said that we will have a very very bizzy friday testing updates on the car and electronics/programs

Silent Bob

13th March 2014, 15:18

It might not be bad but it's not good either. you can't stand still in F1.
As I see it, no new bits just means that Ferrari hasn't been able to upgrade the F14 T aero before Melbourne.
We don't know what's in the works, maybe a huge step up is made in the future, but a race is happening this weekend, points are awarded, this is not testing anymore, unless you have a car that's miles ahead the opposition you have to upgrade as soon as possible in all areas.

I think it's best to get your basic overall package working before you upgrade for the sake of bringing upgrades. Ferrari have said they have to still get their PU up to speed.

FerrariFanBoii

13th March 2014, 15:26

Lewis has joined the cap club aswell i see

Was wearing that cap all last year

Jas

13th March 2014, 15:26

now that's what I call an end plate

Senna4Ever

13th March 2014, 16:41

Some 'news' from german webpages (look ahead of the edge of the plate)

- Renault give permission to use full power

The biggest problems of the new Renault drive seem to be resolved - The French allow their customers in Melbourne retrieve the full power

(Motor-Total.com) - All Formula 1 teams with Renault engines have permission to drive at full power. The power unit of the French car manufacturer, who suffered in winter testing still teething, had previously run with restricted settings so that the reliability was ensured.

Thanks to software modifications the problems since the last Bahrain test are already not quite acutely and at Renault is so confident that the teams would now be allowed to leave the engines running at full power. Renault Sport boss Remi Taffin declared to 'Autosport: "We were behind schedule with some parts that we wanted to have on the car, therefore we could not get our full potential."

- Last Minutes Parts for RB

- New front wing for Merc

- Latest cooling issues at Merc solved

The cooling problems that had occurred during the tests, Mercedes, meanwhile, has reportedly resolved at its plant in Sindelfingen. "They knew the problem from the series and had to ourselves equal to the right solution at hand," team boss Toto Wolff is quoted. Base were contaminated lines in the water cycle.

last point leads me back to an thesis I had a week ago: that Merc profits from street car series where Ferrari has a - let say it - 'luxury problem' with their premium class cars.

Jas

13th March 2014, 17:33

LUCA SPEAKS TO US:

Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo has sent an open letter to fans of the Scuderia across the globe.

It reads:

Dear tifosi,

It seems incredible but another season is about to begin and I, like you, am anxious and in a state of strong trepidation - as happens to me every year, even though I have gone through so many championships as President and, before, as sporting director.

There are more unknowns and uncertainties about this season than in the past. The rule changes are profound and numerous. It's not just a matter of the new six-cylinder turbo engine, but also systems with integrated electric engines, control units with innovative and complex software, a new package of aerodynamics... In essence it's a complicated car that will also require a different driving style.

So the first target is reliability, as we clearly saw in the test sessions.

Everyone has issues; we have lined ours up and we are in the process of resolving them. We're also putting into practice an intense plan of development, which can count on the fact that the data from the wind tunnel have been confirmed by the track comparisons, something that has not happened in recent years.

It will also be a difficult championship for the spectators to follow. The drivers will have to take care that they do not wear out the tyres and save fuel. I have already said that I hope they don't turn into taxi drivers and I say that with the greatest respect to taxi drivers, but they obviously do a different job. I, like all of you, love an extreme Formula 1 where technology and drivers are always on the limit.

Such an important set of changes to the regulations is bringing some grey areas, for example fuel, software, consumption... In these I am fully expecting the FIA to be vigilant - as I'm sure they will be - to avoid any trickery, which has also taken place in the recent past but must not happen any more for the good of this sport.

So what should we expect from tomorrow? I have asked for the highest commitment from Domenicali and his team and I know that they are all doing their best. We have a strong team, the best driver pairing - who are experienced and very talented - and everyone knows what they have to do.

We can count on an important factor that only we have: the immense affection from you, our tifosi, all over the world. I ask you for your usual great support: let's not go overboard in the good moments and let's not give up in harder ones. The championship is long and the objective is clear.

Forza Ferrari!

fronaldo

13th March 2014, 17:57

Official live timing seem remove sector times..:-s..they want us to buy their apps

Jas

13th March 2014, 18:02

Someone want to make a Friday practice thread?!

fronaldo

13th March 2014, 18:06

Someone want to make a Friday practice thread?!
You can make it..everybody will follow

Rob

13th March 2014, 18:20

http://i.imgur.com/rabqzlw.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/F3Gte1G.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/nAN1xPP.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/wVYIs6H.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/IYm1zfh.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/tMZ6uBb.jpg

Ferrari Kid at it again, (Anthony) :thumb

Nero Horse

13th March 2014, 18:39

wisepie

13th March 2014, 18:51

Well said mr. President. :thumb Looking forward to an exciting season and hopefully a very successful one for Ferrari.

:ferrarifl

That's what we all deserve after years of near misses, it goes without saying and LdM has echoed our wishes and reservations in equal order. Great photos of our team members in Melbourne so thanks tifosi 1993 and Rob, Sunday early morning will hopefully be worth getting up for!:thumb

Hornet

13th March 2014, 18:55

I'm so nervous for this weekend, like a child going to a dentist.
I hope the internet live streaming will be working for FP1 tomorrow morning. :pray

Kyss4k

13th March 2014, 18:56

Official live timing seem remove sector times..:-s..they want us to buy their apps

If they will act like that (EA anyone?) I will just pirate their app. I was fine with paying for an that added "gps" tracking to a live timing, which every series has for free. If they knowingly downgrade they free LT to force users to buy the mobile app... **** you, you won't see a penny from me.

bondilad

13th March 2014, 19:00

I'm so nervous for this weekend, like a child going to a dentist.
I hope the internet live streaming will be working for FP1 tomorrow morning. :pray

Same here. All I need to do now is try to sleep for 7 1/2 hours :pray

Ferris

13th March 2014, 19:31

wacc

13th March 2014, 19:38

LUCA SPEAKS TO US:

...Such an important set of changes to the regulations is bringing some grey areas, for example fuel, software, consumption... In these I am fully expecting the FIA to be vigilant - as I'm sure they will be - to avoid any trickery, which has also taken place in the recent past but must not happen any more for the good of this sport....

Forza Ferrari!

You can not be at the top with this kind of attitude. Just hoping FIA will stop other teams from double/blown diffusers, wings/floors bending, traction controls, engine maps or whatever while Ferrari only doing good for the sport. :-!

Alonsomaniac

13th March 2014, 19:54

Yeeeeeeeehaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!! Let's go!!!

(oops.........:-D )

TheProdigalSon

13th March 2014, 20:25

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BilVMZTCAAAYPj9.jpg

Rob

13th March 2014, 21:07

Australian GP – Raikkonen: “A new beginning”

Melbourne, 13 March – Last year, Kimi Raikkonen won this Grand Prix, but with a different team and this weekend marks his return to the circuit where he also won on his debut for the Scuderia in 2007. “A new beginning of a season and we’ll just have to see how it goes,” is how the Finn summed it up when meeting the media today. “I’m with a new team but I have been here before which definitely makes life easier.”

Familiarity with the track and the team doesn’t mean the man from Espoo has a handle on how this weekend might go. “Every season there are question marks and how many depends on how the testing has gone,” he affirmed. “This year, with quite a lot of rule changes it’s a bit harder to know where we are and what’s going to happen, even if everyone has a rough idea of where we are going to be. We will have to wait until after the first few races to get a clearer picture. But there is no point guessing where we are now. Some teams have looked a bit faster than us in testing, but here we are in a different place, a very different track to Bahrain and different things can happen. Obviously I want to win and hopefully we can be up there and fight for the championship. The weather could be a bit tricky this weekend and with the new rules there could be a different scenario to the days when we raced with more fuel.”

With his usual matter of fact view of life, winning twice in Albert Park doesn’t endear the track to Kimi. “I don’t think this circuit is particularly special, although it’s a nice place for everybody to come,” he says. “As it’s the first race of the season, usually something happens and it makes for exciting racing, but just because I won here last year, it doesn’t mean this year will be just as good. You want to score as many points as you can. Hopefully we won’t have too many issues and can have a clean weekend and then we can see where we end up compared to the others.”

As for Kimi’s approach to the weekend, it’s straightforward: “there are a lot of areas where we still need to improve all the time and I hope we will be happy with the car right from the start of tomorrow’s practice.”

- See more at: http://formula1.ferrari.com/news/australian-gp-raikkonen-a-beginning#sthash.YyTN16oH.dpuf

Rob

13th March 2014, 21:08

Australian GP – Alonso: “answers in 48 hours”

Melbourne, 13 March – On the day before he takes to the track to start his fourteenth season in Formula 1, his fifth with the Scuderia, Fernando Alonso was on the panel of the first FIA press conference of the season.

The double world champion was cautious when asked how the F14 T would perform. “It’s still very difficult to say how competitive we are at the moment,” he said. “The answers will come in 24 or 48 hours, when we will know a little bit more than we do now. We are learning and developing the car every day that we work on it. It’s a little bit of an unknown situation and we just need to put everything together and maximise what we have and then we will see where we are.”

Changes have just been announced to the format of Qualifying, the idea being to make it more exciting for spectators and to prevent drivers not running in Q3. Drivers must now start the race with the tyres on which they set their best time in Q2. Fernando did not see this producing a big change. “It will not be a huge difference. In the past, there were cars that did only one lap or did not run in Q3, so now we will see an extra lap from everybody, but it does not mean a huge change in the approach to qualifying. This change is welcome if we see more cars on track.” The rules also state that a driver will have an additional set of the softer tyres available for Q3 and the man from Oviedo was in favour of this. “Many times I arrived in Q3 with no new sets of tyres, so now I’m happy.”

All the drivers on the panel were asked how different their cars would be here in Australia compared to the final day of the Bahrain test and the conference moderator said he’d seen Pat Fry (the Scuderia’s Engineering Director) pushing boxes of parts through Melbourne Airport. “Oh, I don’t think it’s for the car, maybe it was food,” joked Fernando. As to how many cars would see the chequered flag, he offered up the number 16, a more optimistic figure than his fellow panellists.

- See more at: http://formula1.ferrari.com/news/australian-gp-alonso-answers-48-hours#sthash.DEnRBxnG.dpuf

LongtimeFan

13th March 2014, 21:15

Alonso sounded really downbeat in the press conference :(

Katu

13th March 2014, 21:16

Was wearing that cap all last year

didn't give him that much attention apparently

TheProdigalSon

13th March 2014, 21:23

Alonso sounded really downbeat in the press conference :(

No, that's how Alonso likes to be. Not give anything away whether it's good or bad news so the press will never be able to read him. You will notice he wouldn't say that Mercedes were the favourites for Oz which shows he has some confidence that Ferrari could possibly have something to say on the Mercedes parade if things work out starting from first practice.

Suzie

13th March 2014, 21:50

Alonso sounded really downbeat in the press conference :(

They always sound downbeat, or rather bored to tears. Seriously never have I seen a group of faces so glum as F1 drivers in a press conference.

Alonsomaniac

13th March 2014, 22:23

Alonso sounded really downbeat in the press conference :(

No, he just wasn't interested. He has to be there, but his thoughts are miles ahead.

TheProdigalSon

13th March 2014, 22:32

They always sound downbeat, or rather bored to tears. Seriously never have I seen a group of faces so glum as F1 drivers in a press conference.

Those journalists ask such forgettable questions I also find myself zoning out just watching.

Suzie

13th March 2014, 22:48

I didn't appreciate Felipe being asked about Michael during today's. Seemed inappropriate and very out of the blue.

abbottcostello

13th March 2014, 22:51

They are required to be available & to answer questions.... oh, and the managers have (as always) reminded them not to give up anything at all that might be the least bit useful to the competition.
So, it is an obligation where they also need to be guarded with any answers, so everything is carefully measured before they speak - comes across as bored or not interested or downbeat. Most of it I think comes down to caution that they don't say anything revealing (important) about plans. Well, that's how I look at it anyhow!

Getting ready for Practice Sessions... WooooooooHoooooooooo! Forza Ferrari!:-bounce:-bounce

Ferris

13th March 2014, 23:00

What's with Lewis though. Seriously. The guy just annoys the ?? out of me.
Does he want to be in the hood? Why wear a religious cross over your t shirt? Religion should not be a fashion statement. He already has his earrings, his tats, his ugly dog, his on/off/on/off/on/off/forgot about F1/on girlfriend and now he needs to poorly represent people of the Christian faith.

Clearly even with his moderate success and lots of cash he still feels insecure about himself.
I hope Rosberg destroy's him this year.

Suzie

13th March 2014, 23:08

What's with Lewis though. Seriously. The guy just annoys the "S" out of me.
Does he want to be in the hood? Why wear a religious cross over your t shirt. religion should not be a fashion statement. He already has his earrings, his tats, his ugly dog, his on/off/on/off/on/off/forgot about F1/on girlfriend and now he needs to poorly represent people of the Christian faith.

Clearly even with his moderate success and lots of cash he still feels insecure with himself.
I hope Rosberg destroy's him this year.

Please do not refer to dogs as 'ugly'. Thanks - TSN Mod

:-D

Nero Horse

13th March 2014, 23:15

What's with Lewis though. Seriously. The guy just annoys the "S" out of me.
Does he want to be in the hood? Why wear a religious cross over your t shirt. religion should not be a fashion statement. He already has his earrings, his tats, his ugly dog, his on/off/on/off/on/off/forgot about F1/on girlfriend and now he needs to poorly represent people of the Christian faith.

Clearly even with his moderate success and lots of cash he still feels insecure with himself.
I hope Rosberg destroy's him this year.

He's gangsta. :-D

But seriously, if he wasn't naturally gifted as a racing driver then he'd definitely be better off as a rapper. Although, as I've heard from other people he's really rubbish as a rapper too.

Ferris

13th March 2014, 23:19

Suzie, most dogs are not ugly. But let's be honest, bulldogs are not the most attractive animals in the world. It's there as just another fashion statement from Lewis.

I think Lewis drags that poor dog around like the attractive chick that has the ugly friend. They have the ugly friend to make themselves seem even more attractive to those that are around them.

I will be cheering for Rosberg this year in the intra team battles.

Look at Michael, he was in Brazil years ago for the race and came across a stray dog. He adopted it! That's a true dog lover.

Suzie

13th March 2014, 23:28

I hate to tell you Ferris, but he has two bulldogs now ;-)

Ferris

13th March 2014, 23:34

Makes sense.
I heard he likes to alternate between both hands...

EL_NANDO

14th March 2014, 00:58

Went to the community day yesterday, it was pretty good, although I only had time to see the final Porsche and V8 supercar sessions.

More importantly, I'm pretty sure I have photo evidence of Red Bull doing in season testing at sundown, from my photo I can confirm:

- Wide scale engine changes leading to improved reliability (they managed to do a full lap)
- Major aero package redesign
- Interesting diffuser design
- Running non-standard tyres

5779

Hornet

14th March 2014, 02:25

You can not be at the top with this kind of attitude. Just hoping FIA will stop other teams from double/blown diffusers, wings/floors bending, traction controls, engine maps or whatever while Ferrari only doing good for the sport. :-!

Maybe Luca meant that the FIA should be effective in enforcing the intention of existing rules and not have loopholes that allow others to exploit, especially when it comes to major things such as fuel limit. It's normal for teams to find exploit in aero design, but if someone found an exploit in say the fuel limit, that could be damaging.

wacc

14th March 2014, 06:37

Maybe Luca meant that the FIA should be effective in enforcing the intention of existing rules and not have loopholes that allow others to exploit, especially when it comes to major things such as fuel limit. It's normal for teams to find exploit in aero design, but if someone found an exploit in say the fuel limit, that could be damaging.

Fist of all Ferrari should have found that exploit, you can never make 100% white and black regulations. There's always that grey area because the rules can not be written in such detail and because those who try to find the loopholes have probably better technical knowledge than those who write them. But If someone is caught cheating within that black area than FIA should be more strict.

wisepie

14th March 2014, 09:13

Those journalists ask such forgettable questions I also find myself zoning out just watching.

Quite agree and it drives me mad and the drivers too, I'm sure. But they have their contractual obligations so we have to put up with it, it's just that here in the UK, it's usually focused on Lewis and the Brit brigade who drone on with the usual platitudes, so we don't get much on our beloved Ferrari. Less opportunity to give secrets away, though!

ManFromMilan

14th March 2014, 10:10

What's with Lewis though. Seriously. The guy just annoys the ??? out of me.
Does he want to be in the hood? Why wear a religious cross over your t shirt? Religion should not be a fashion statement. He already has his earrings, his tats, his ugly dog, his on/off/on/off/on/off/forgot about F1/on girlfriend and now he needs to poorly represent people of the Christian faith.

Clearly even with his moderate success and lots of cash he still feels insecure about himself.
I hope Rosberg destroy's him this year.

:thumb

Although, as I've heard from other people he's really rubbish as a rapper too.

:rotfl:rotfl:rotfl

Rob

14th March 2014, 11:24

Australian GP – Fry: Attention to detail
http://i62.tinypic.com/avh9w0.jpg
Pat Fry: “Today, we tried to make the most of the good weather and track conditions to work on different strategies and mapping for the race, because this weekend the forecast is very uncertain, especially for tomorrow. During the first session, we concentrated on car set-up, especially in terms of improving the balance under braking and on optimising the drivers’ feeling. In the second session, we ran an evaluation of the soft tyre, completing the programme with a series of long runs. It’s very complicated getting the new systems to work perfectly and then, once you’ve reached that level, to get the maximum performance out of the car. There’s a long way to go and now it’s important to stay focused and pay full attention to the smallest details”.

- See more at: http://formula1.ferrari.com/news/australian-gp-fry-attention-detail#sthash.WAM7HlJn.dpuf

Australian GP – Alonso: A positive start
http://i59.tinypic.com/noivcj.jpg
Fernando Alonso: “On the first Friday of the season, there’s always a bit more tension. It’s the start of a new championship and there is the feeling of general expectation to see how things we worked on during the winter are functioning. Overall, this was a positive day for us and even if there was an element of nervousness because of the complexity introduced by the new technical regulations, everything went well. The team did a super job and we had no problems. The track improved from the first session to the second, with more grip compared to the morning and there was also more wind. Running the soft tyre certainly helped, as the extra grip meant the times came down, but it’s impossible to have a clear idea of how competitive we are, because as usual, Friday results don’t mean much. To know more, we must wait until everyone is running in the same trim”.

- See more at: http://formula1.ferrari.com/news/australian-gp-alonso-positive-start#sthash.Dd3BOEqf.dpuf

Australian GP – Raikkonen: A demanding day
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Kimi Raikkonen: “That was a pretty demanding day, because although we managed to complete our programme, it wasn’t trouble-free. In the first session we lost a bit of time, but that didn’t prevent us acquiring enough data to evaluate the overall handling of the car and the Pirelli compounds. This evening there will be a lot of work to do, especially to understand what didn’t work and to try and improve for qualifying and the race”.

- See more at: http://formula1.ferrari.com/news/australian-gp-raikkonen-demanding-day#sthash.44Pn4zjE.dpuf

Rob

14th March 2014, 20:17

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Rob

14th March 2014, 20:20

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Nick Singer

15th March 2014, 10:05

Alonso sounded really downbeat in the press conference :(

If we have another poor season I do not think ALO will be at Ferrari in 2015. He deserves better as he is head and shoulders above the rest for talent; he is the most 'complete' driver on the grid.

Rob

15th March 2014, 12:43

Australian GP – Fry: Unpredictability a factor

Pat Fry: “Qualifying in the wet in Melbourne is nothing new, but today, added to the wet track, the drivers also had to deal with all the new technologies introduced in the regulations. We are not satisfied with the final result, even if the F14 T is still at the development stage and I believe the team is working in the right direction to make up ground to our rivals, especially Mercedes, who today confirmed the form they’d shown in winter testing. Our grid positions would suggest an uphill battle in the race, especially for Kimi and we can expect unknown factors linked to reliability and fuel consumption to count for a lot. As for the former factor, we are paying close attention to every little detail. At this point, we cannot allow ourselves to be distracted, because with such complicated systems, the unpredictable could come into play. In terms of race pace, we’ve seen some teams are faster than us, but I think the first race of the year could throw up some surprises, hopefully in our favour.”

- See more at: http://formula1.ferrari.com/news/australian-gp-fry-unpredictability-factor#sthash.FPIIf0V6.dpuf

Australian GP – Alonso: A clearer picture

Fernando Alonso: “I think fifth is a good result in such a difficult qualifying session, especially as it’s the first time we’ve run in the wet with the new car and because from this position, a podium finish is possible, which is worth a lot of points. We were lucky in Q1, when the rain came just after I’d done my quick lap and in Q2 we were also able to run when the track was at its best. I knew that the results of free practice did not reflect the reality of the situation and that the hierarchy would only become clear today, with Mercedes a step ahead of the rest. It would also give a clearer picture than the one we had from testing, when we couldn’t be sure what the other teams were testing. Now we have seen in which areas we need to improve and the aim is to do so in the next few races. I don’t think the consumption factor will change things too much, because when saving fuel, all the cars lose half a second. On top of that, the weather will come into play tomorrow as the forecast isn’t clear. The priority is to finish the race and to do better than the others in the coming months. I am sure that with practice, we will learn how to get the most out of
the car and simplify all the procedures.”

- See more at: http://formula1.ferrari.com/news/australian-gp-alonso-clearer-picture#sthash.pLCnWjzx.dpuf

Australian GP – Raikkonen: Lots of traffic

Kimi Raikkonen: “Qualifying wasn’t straightforward today, especially because of traffic. When I was on a quick lap, I had a car in front of me at every corner. That stopped me getting a clean lap and at the end of Q2, I spun off damaging the front wing. I don’t think I’d have gone quicker anyway, as I had already reduced my speed at this point, because I knew already I wouldn’t make it to Q3. It’s a shame, because compared to yesterday we have made some steps forward. In the wet we were quick and I had more feeling for the car. We know we have a lot of work to do in every area, especially on car set-up, but at the same time, we are sure we are going in the right direction. Tomorrow’s race will be tough, the weather forecast is unclear and on top of that, with the new rules, it’s hard to predict how things will go. But it’s only the first race of the year and we will do our best to get a good result.”

- See more at: http://formula1.ferrari.com/news/australian-gp-raikkonen-lots-traffic#sthash.XU9QOkqf.dpuf

vcs316

15th March 2014, 14:22

Australian Grand Prix: Kimi 'just playing around with the switches'

Kimi Raikkonen blamed his crash in qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix on a lack of concentration during an in-lap.

Late in Q2, Raikkonen spun exiting Turn 3 and hit the wall on the inside of the circuit, damaging the front of the Ferrari. Explaining what had caused the incident after qualifying, Raikkonen said he had backed off and was returning to the pits having already given up hope of progressing when he made the error.

“In the wet I think we had the speed but just the traffic … with those things it's a bit tricky to always know,” Raikkonen said. “I didn't have any more time to do an extra lap so at the end of the lap I would have come in anyhow and was just playing around with the switches or something and just got a little bit of wheelspin and touched the wall. But the car is more or less OK, the front wing is damaged.

“It was just my mistake. I got a little bit of wheelspin, I wasn't pushing any more anyhow so I just got wheelspin and just couldn't catch it. That didn't change the fact that we would not have gone through anyhow. I think we easily had the speed but we just had traffic on the previous lap with the McLaren going very slowly through Turn 5 and we had to avoid that and the cars in front of us, but that's how it goes sometimes.”

But Raikkonen did say one positive from the day had been the progress Ferrari has made with his car overnight.

“Yesterday was not ideal. It's been a bit difficult and for sure we improved for today in the dry. I went off this morning on the soft tyres so that was not ideal but I think we made improvements. We're still not where we want to be – we know that – but it was a bit better already so qualifying was OK. We ran the harder tyres in the first session and then it started to rain when we put the softs on but the car felt OK, same like the morning.”

http://www.crash.net/f1/news/201174/1/i-was-just-playing-around-with-the-switches-raikkonen.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss

vcs316

15th March 2014, 14:25

Ferrari's deficiencies starting to emerge - Alonso

After qualifying fifth at the Australian Grand Prix, Fernando Alonso said he is starting to understand the areas in which his Ferrari is lacking compared to the pace-setting Mercedes.

The first competitive session of the season saw Lewis Hamilton take pole position ahead of the Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo and Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg. McLaren's Kevin Magnussen was fourth with Alonso in fifth, although the wet conditions meant tyre choice and timing were keys to a quick lap.

However, Alonso said he is starting to pinpoint the areas in which Mercedes are quicker and is expecting Sunday's race to make the picture even clearer.

"We are some steps behind Mercedes in performance," he said. "One area is the braking, to make it a little bit more consistent when we change the configuration of the car from high fuel to low fuel and so on, or with more or less grip. We need to improve the speed of the car in general, the traction, the top speed - we are a little bit down here compared to others across the finish line and in the speed trap.

"There are some areas where we will finally see where the competitors are when we are racing, because in testing you never know what the others are doing. This weekend is giving us some data to compare and we will study it, but it looks like there is a little bit of everything we need to put together in the next couple of races."

However, Alonso believes a podium is within his grasp as long as there are not any major issues with the Ferrari in race specification.

"It [a podium] is possible yes, because we are starting fifth and we just need to make up two positions to get that goal. It's a little bit easier than if you start further behind, but you cannot take a finish in the race for granted, which we were probably doing in the last few years.

"This year in this first race we have to say the first priority is to finish the race. Maybe that's a bit pessimistic or maybe a little bit strange, but I'm sure all the drivers - even the guy in pole position - cannot be 100% that he will finish the race.

"Let's try to do everything positive from our side to take care of every detail on the car and make sure we cross that line. If we do so then I think the podium can arrive if we are competitive. If we are not competitive for whatever reason - we are too slow in the race or we struggle with the tyres or the fuel - then we will not be in the podium because three people will do better than us. But the priority is to do everything perfect for tomorrow and don't make anything from our side that stops us."

Alonso faced an investigation from the stewards after qualifying for holding up Esteban Gutierrez, but was cleared and will still start from fifth on the grid.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.

Laferrari

15th March 2014, 14:27

If we have another poor season I do not think ALO will be at Ferrari in 2015. He deserves better as he is head and shoulders above the rest for talent; he is the most 'complete' driver on the grid.

He is cleary losing faith in the team :-(.So much hope from this year with the revolution of the rule.Something wanted from Montezemolo, about the importance of the aero...blablabla...so what now? we are behind mercedes in power and behind renault for the torque....Loosing mercedes in dry(power) loosing redbull and torro rosso(renault).I dont want to hear something about the operation team(race team) because it s time for the aero departement to develop a CAR capable to win not to be in middle of the pack....THIS IS NOT FERRARI!!!!

Hornet

15th March 2014, 14:40

It sounds like Merc will be untouchable and we're just aiming for a podium finish tomorrow.

Kiwi Nick

15th March 2014, 16:21

Katu

15th March 2014, 16:25

In the morning Red Bull say the new software has made the car "undrivable", then Ricciardo goes P2. Turns out that it was only Vettel's RB10 that was undrivable.
haven't you noticed yet, in RB it's Vettel who's opinion counts, if Vettel's is undrivable it's undrivable as whole

Hornet

15th March 2014, 16:32

This looks like being a confusing early season. Three world champions didn't make it into Q3. Magnusson, in his first ever F1 race, qualifies 4th while his WDC teammate misses out on Q3. Ricciardo nearly grabs pole while his teammate, 4 time WDC, misses out on Q3. A 19 year old Russian rookie in an STR starts ahead of Massa and 3 WDCs. What is going on!!!!!

How much of the shake up is driver, how much is setup, how much is software. It looks like either you have the setup right or it is very, very wrong. In the morning Red Bull say the new software has made the car "undrivable", then Ricciardo goes P2. Turns out that it was only Vettel's RB10 that was undrivable. Do the drivers really know what happens when they put their foot in the accelerator or the brake pedal? Who has more influence on how a car drives, the driver or a software programmer?

Tomorrow is likely to be as confusing as today was!

I think it's as someone else mention, the old drivers will have to reprogram their driving style to suit this, but newbie like Magnusson doesn't have the old driving style burned into their mind. Maybe they already comes from racing series where they have to control torque

In a pre qualifying interview I saw today, Button said the F1 cars "have torque" now while in the past they were always driving in the high RPM range, so drivers have to adept to it now. Better drivers like Alonso and Lewis probably finds it easier to quickly adept while other veterans probably need more time.

wisepie

15th March 2014, 19:13

It sounds like Merc will be untouchable and we're just aiming for a podium finish tomorrow.

That's assuming that the reliability/economy/weather plays to their strengths, Hornet, and Fernando is being realistic, I know it hurts that we're seemingly on the back foot again, but you never know.....have faith!

Rob

15th March 2014, 19:14

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Rob

15th March 2014, 19:20

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shamim179

15th March 2014, 19:58

"In terms of race pace, we’ve seen some teams are faster than us, but I think the first race of the year could throw up some surprises, hopefully in our favour.”

These are Fry's words after qualifying. Doesn't make good reading. We can no longer count on our race pace like in the previous recent years. Is this going to be more or less impossible to overcome? If the PU package is inherently not as competitive as the Mercedes and the Renault within the boundaries of the current regulations how are we going to be suddenly the strongest team now or later? We can only hope the FIA offer some leniency in the engine homologation rules so that we improve our weak points. This is a huge slap in the face of Ferrari when we've been constantly asking for more emphasis to be placed on the engine but we turn up with possibily the worst one compared to the competition. The situation has vastly changed with the Renault PU and it appears it is better than ours. We may indeed win or get podiums but not because we are the fastest but because we are the most reliable.

Hornet

15th March 2014, 20:01

It's certainly disheartening to read Fry's comment. I certainly hope it's not down to the power unit, as that would be very difficult to work around.

That's assuming that the reliability/economy/weather plays to their strengths, Hornet, and Fernando is being realistic, I know it hurts that we're seemingly on the back foot again, but you never know.....have faith!
That's true, I hope reliability and luck will be in our favor. At least until we fix our performance problems.

Jas

15th March 2014, 20:03

Our PU may really be third best performace wise...rumours before pre season that it was and looking at quali, it maybe so, especially considering Renault did jack all running but still had a good performance level...and will have the most to improve. Slap in the face like u said!

Jas

15th March 2014, 20:04

Frys comments almost a sens of yh where not quick, ohh well, no fight! Lets hope where not thirsty!

Imperatore

15th March 2014, 21:24

Why so negative? I see may positives so far, the car seems to be 2nd only to the Merc's in dry qualifying pace we shall see what sort of race pace and fuel consumption this in comparison soon enough.

Rob

16th March 2014, 14:45

Australian GP – Domenicali: Improve the car

Stefano Domenicali: “The first race of the championship has provided a clear picture of the hierarchy at the start of season. It’s also shown which teams appear to have done the best job of dealing with these new regulations. Today, we achieved our objective in terms of reliability, but the gap we need to make up, especially to Mercedes, was clear to see. The information we have gathered this weekend clearly points to the direction we must take and what areas need the most work. It will be important to catch up as quickly as possible and react in the way this team has always proved capable of doing. Our engineers know what the priorities are and which areas need the most immediate attention.”

- See more at: http://formula1.ferrari.com/news/australian-gp-domenicali-improve-car#sthash.55qtxTjf.dpuf

Australian GP – Fry: Reliability is not enough

Pat Fry: “Going into this race, getting both cars to the finish seemed like the most difficult task, but in the end, we managed it. Today we saw how reliability can never be taken for granted: it caught some people out and it also affected our performance at some stages of the race. On both the F14 Ts, we had some electrical problems, especially on Kimi’s car, which meant he couldn’t use all the car’s potential. Fernando found himself behind Hulkenberg for many laps and he was only able to show what the car was capable of once he got ahead thanks to a spot on pit stop strategy. Kimi got a great start, but then for much of the race he suffered with graining on the front tyres and thus found himself having to defend, without being able to attack. There is much work ahead if we are to improve the car’s performance. We are up against several very strong opponents, but we have all the right tools to get the job done of closing the gap between us.”

- See more at: http://formula1.ferrari.com/news/australian-gp-fry-reliability#sthash.0iPRzIE3.dpuf

Australian GP – Alonso: Contrasting feelings.

Fernando Alonso: “I’d have liked to start the season with a podium, but getting both cars to the flag is a good result, which can give us confidence, especially on the reliability front. I had some problems with the electric motor at the start and had to make a few changes from the steering wheel, but after the first ten laps everything went well. When I managed to pass Hulkenberg after the pit stop my pace was definitely better, although it was impossible to overtake. 35 seconds down on the leader is too big a gap and to work out what we need to do to close that gap, we will need to analyse the race, work out what are the strong and weak points on the car and with that in mind, the laps I did behind Nico can provide very useful information. We are a great team and I have total faith in our guys, because they did a great job today. We still have lots to learn about this new Formula 1, as the race was very strange and very difficult. But it’s only the start. We must concentrate on doing better in Malaysia.”

- See more at: http://formula1.ferrari.com/news/australian-gp-alonso-contrasting-feelings#sthash.DwliPWzI.dpuf

Australian GP – Raikkonen: Difficult weekend

Kimi Raikkonen: “That wasn’t a straightforward race. At the start, I managed to get away well and even though I was hit from behind by another car at the first corner, my car was undamaged. The speed was good, but at one point I was suffering with graining on the front tyres, I had very little grip and a lot of understeer. From then on, the car’s handling was not the same. When it was time for the first stop, we had to do a double stop and that cost me a place. It’s definitely too early to make any definite judgement, because even if at the moment we don’t seem to be in great shape, we still managed to finish the race, scoring valuable points. We can’t be pleased with this result and we know there are many areas where we need to improve. But I’m sure that analysing the data from this first race will give us a clearer idea of the direction to work in.”

- See more at: http://formula1.ferrari.com/news/australian-gp-raikkonen-difficult-weekend#sthash.QS1ZhVn6.dpuf

Ed Harley

16th March 2014, 16:59

I'd say rather constructive words from the team.

Have they mentioned what the electrical problems were?

Jas

16th March 2014, 17:10

Mercedes producing 900hp?

Mercedes' new field-leading turbo V6 engine could be producing much more horse power than was earlier believed.

Before travelling to Melbourne, team chairman Niki Lauda revealed that the basic 1.6 litre Mercedes unit is producing "about 580" hp.

As it is known that the sophisticated energy-recovery or 'ERS' side adds 160hp to the equation, then Mercedes' 2014 'power unit' equates to about 740hp at present.

However, the German newspaper Bild reports that Mercedes' competition believes the 'monster' Mercedes unit is actually producing "up to 900 horse power" when operating at full tilt.

Asked about the 740 versus 900 figures, Renault-powered Red Bull's Dr Helmut Marko said: "For sure the engine has more power than they are saying."

The Austrian was speaking on Saturday, where despite Daniel Ricciardo's surprising feat of splitting the two Mercedes on the grid, world champion Sebastian Vettel failed even to make the top ten.

"We tried some new software but it did not work," said Marko.

"Mercedes is having no problems with the engine and has power in excess. They are able to do a strategic race."

Ed Harley

16th March 2014, 17:48

But how long will it last?