Ferrari fighting for second place in F1 standings, says Alonso

[vcs316]

Fernando Alonso has conceded Mercedes is out of reach in this year's Formula 1 constructors' championship and that his Ferrari team must focus on trying to finish second.

Alonso and team-mate Kimi Raikkonen finished a distant sixth and seventh in Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix, while Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg finished one-two for the fourth successive race to leave Ferrari trailing the Silver Arrows by 131 points in the title race.

Alonso admitted the upgrade package Ferrari brought to Spain had not closed the gap and said trying to catch Mercedes was an unrealistic target given Ferrari's current performance deficit.

"We need to do better. Mercedes is out of reach, but we have potential to catch the other teams so second position is our target," Alonso said.

"The race was difficult, the weekend has been difficult in general with a lack of grip and balance in the car; there were new parts on the car so we had a difficult weekend."

"We cannot be happy with finishing so far behind the leaders.

"In a way we've had this situation since the first races, because we finished a minute behind the leaders with some safety cars.

"Here we didn't have safety cars so this minute was [actually] a minute and a half."

Alonso's home race marked the first anniversary of his and Ferrari's last victory in Formula 1 and the Spaniard said he could not see that duck being broken any time soon.

"Unfortunately it's been a lot of time; we haven't been able to fight for wins in the last 12 months and we want to do better," he added.

"It will probably not happen soon as we got lapped here, so when we arrive in Monaco we probably won't be in a position to win.

"We need to concentrate and work on every area of the car and make it stronger."

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/113922

[R Ginart]

I got news for you Alonso: with the lame horse car you have you are NOT fighting for 2nd place you are fighting for 5th.

[Nova]

This will be the 1st year in some time without a single Ferrari victory.

What a drag.

[windwaves]

yep, so it looks like it is going to be.

OMG, our new guy, MM, has some work to do ! He probably needs a 5-year plan to try and fix the damage done by Domenicali.

[eugene22n]

I'll sum up the years since RAI championship ...

windtunnel, windtunnel, windtunnel, windtunnel, windtunnel, windtunnel, windtunnel ... times infinity.

We finally get a chance to get an advantage with the engine and miss completely.

Still happy to be a Ferrari fan. We will get our act together eventually, its in Ferrari's DNA.

[Ed Harley]

IMHO if the team would now concentrate on getting 2nd in championship that effort would be away from 2015 car. As the 2014 is done - it really is - then nothing should jeopardize 2015 car. But on the other hand if nobody knows what exactly is wrong with the current car then why would 2015 car be any better.

[Senna4Ever]

This will be the 1st year in some time without a single Ferrari victory.

What a drag.

True True ... after second race I said I will place a bet after Barcelona (where it is said that Barcelona offers the weakness of a car very directly) ... and here it is: (unfortunately) no Ferrari win this year under normal circumstances ... as we lack everywhere ... and other top teams are as reliable as we ...

the overall bad thing: even if we start working on 2015 (again) ... we won't gain much advantage of focusing on 2015 if Merc is dominating that easy until summer. As they will have the title in their pockets soon whereas they can also concentrate on 2015 very soon too. And not to mention that they have a while better basis to count on. As for our car I don't see any good basis for anything except its colour is red ....

so at even with always hope in the heart ... realistic wise next year doesn't look better ... But maybe Luca finds a topic where he can complain that modern F1 focus too much on areo, green technologies, .... and rules will change again!

[Rishu]

Monaco will be painful

[vcs316]

Monaco will be painful

With the lack of traction & mechanical grip, it will be a wonder if our boys don't crash!

[hogo]

True True ... after second race I said I will place a bet after Barcelona (where it is said that Barcelona offers the weakness of a car very directly) ... and here it is: (unfortunately) no Ferrari win this year under normal circumstances ... as we lack everywhere ... and other top teams are as reliable as we ...

the overall bad thing: even if we start working on 2015 (again) ... we won't gain much advantage of focusing on 2015 if Merc is dominating that easy until summer. As they will have the title in their pockets soon whereas they can also concentrate on 2015 very soon too. And not to mention that they have a while better basis to count on. As for our car I don't see any good basis for anything except its colour is red ....

so at even with always hope in the heart ... realistic wise next year doesn't look better ... But maybe Luca finds a topic where he can complain that modern F1 focus too much on areo, green technologies, .... and rules will change again!

Exactly. This is why I think Merc will be dominating for the upcoming 2-3 years, unless FIA will decide to introduce some radical changes (yet again).

[zike]

Any news about testing today?

[shamim179]

I doubt next year is going to be any better for us. If anything the others will get even better than us. We've also chosen the wrong guy to steer us out of this trouble. It's not like we're in a little trouble - we're in deep trouble. We needed someone extremely experienced and previously worked in some sort of technical capacity like a technical director. All this talk from Luca is suggesting that we are not recruiting somebody else to work closely with Mattiacci. Sorry if I seem negative here but I genuinely get the impression that we are setting up ourselves to fail. It does seem like politics - to further undermine Luca, to yield not so good results and to pave the way for his exit. There is a power struggle going in Ferrari I reckon.

[PadGeT]

How long to go before testing starts ? Anyone ?

[Hornet]

Here's one website I know of with some testing pictures and update:
http://www1.skysports.com/f1/news/12430/9308993/barcelona-test-in-tweets

It's raining and red flag at the moment though

[PadGeT]

Damn..... :-??

[hogo]

I doubt next year is going to be any better for us. If anything the others will get even better than us. We've also chosen the wrong guy to steer us out of this trouble. It's not like we're in a little trouble - we're in deep trouble. We needed someone extremely experienced and previously worked in some sort of technical capacity like a technical director. All this talk from Luca is suggesting that we are not recruiting somebody else to work closely with Mattiacci. Sorry if I seem negative here but I genuinely get the impression that we are setting up ourselves to fail. It does seem like politics - to further undermine Luca, to yield not so good results and to pave the way for his exit. There is a power struggle going in Ferrari I reckon.
I am actually glad that Luca chose someone new, who's never worked in F1 before. This kind of thinking may give us the best results. Up to this point we have been hiring all those experienced old sharks and look where they brought us.

[Rishu]

With the lack of traction & mechanical grip, it will be a wonder if our boys don't crash!

My fear is it's a short circuit to go with our weakness in traction, we might get lapped twice. But hey, surely they won't be 2s a lap faster than us :-)

[stefa]

This will be the 1st year in some time without a single Ferrari victory.

What a drag.

Actually, 20 years in a row. Since 1994 Germany GP, when Gerhard Berger took win with 412T1, every year till now there has been at least one win per season.... Shame we are going to win this huge record!

[stefa]

I'll sum up the years since RAI championship ...

windtunnel, windtunnel, windtunnel, windtunnel, windtunnel, windtunnel, windtunnel ... times infinity.

We finally get a chance to get an advantage with the engine and miss completely.

Still happy to be a Ferrari fan. We will get our act together eventually, its in Ferrari's DNA.

Last time, it took them 21 years to sort things out...

[Rob]

Actually, 20 years in a row. Since 1994 Germany GP, when Gerhard Berger took win with 412T1, every year till now there has been at least one win per season.... Shame we are going to win this huge record!

Sad, but look at our rivals, Mclaren. Just as bad past couple years. Swings and round abouts, our turn will come again, even a win this year still possible.

[Nova]

Sad, but look at our rivals, Mclaren. Just as bad past couple years. Swings and round abouts, our turn will come again, even a win this year still possible.

There ya go Rob..Never give up. Ok!!

[20000rpm]

I doubt next year is going to be any better for us. If anything the others will get even better than us. We've also chosen the wrong guy to steer us out of this trouble. It's not like we're in a little trouble - we're in deep trouble. We needed someone extremely experienced and previously worked in some sort of technical capacity like a technical director. All this talk from Luca is suggesting that we are not recruiting somebody else to work closely with Mattiacci. Sorry if I seem negative here but I genuinely get the impression that we are setting up ourselves to fail. It does seem like politics - to further undermine Luca, to yield not so good results and to pave the way for his exit. There is a power struggle going in Ferrari I reckon.

This is what happens when a person with less knowledge about how to run F-1 is chosen as TP. The fact that we have hired MM as our new TP, its a huge gamble. If it works then awesome but if it doesn't then the time period to undo the damage in the aftermath of SD and MM would be very painful. The pressure on Ldm to select an Italian is understandable, but at a time when the team is in deep trouble really leaves me speechless.

[Nova]

Thing that gets me is that when Brawn was at Ferrari, he won..Ferrari shouldve kept that template for running the team. It worked.

[Kyss4k]

Sad, but look at our rivals, Mclaren. Just as bad past couple years. Swings and round abouts, our turn will come again, even a win this year still possible.

I like the optimism. But! In all previous years, our car was always great in at least one area.

2009 win in Spa - KERS and with that better performance
2011 win in Silverstone - our car was good but we were unable to use blown diffusers, so that ban was in our advantage
2012 - our car was a beast in wet
2013 - we were great with 2013 spec tyres

This year, we lack in every way, so no circuit will play into our advantage. Without serious overhoul of our car, I don't think we can challenge Mercs anywhere.

[stefa]

I like the optimism. But! In all previous years, our car was always great in at least one area.

2009 win in Spa - KERS and with that better performance
2011 win in Silverstone - our car was good but we were unable to use blown diffusers, so that ban was in our advantage
2012 - our car was a beast in wet
2013 - we were great with 2013 spec tyres

This year, we lack in every way, so no circuit will play into our advantage. Without serious overhoul of our car, I don't think we can challenge Mercs anywhere.

Maybe on one when both Mercedes suffer DNF :-)

[Nero Horse]

Looking at the deep hole we're in right now, I'd be really happy with 2nd place in WCC and if only we could somehow get at least one win during the season, then I'd be satisfied. Even though I still quietly hope for somekind of a miracle to happen, I know that considering our current form, realistically even getting 2nd place in WCC would be a huge achievement. But I have a feeling that if we can't make a significant step forward in the Canadian GP then we'll start concentrating on next season anyway. To sum up...things look pretty grim atm, and all we can do is hope that it will get better soon. Forza Ferrari!

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iDV47nSSyGE/UmeatnYHrlI/AAAAAAAAjrE/3tTrR5mVIr4/s400/cd85d031bc5fe3abd7548b7d9365ddb2.jpg

[LivingHitokiri]

Well said Nero Horse :thumb

[shamim179]

Sad, but look at our rivals, Mclaren. Just as bad past couple years. Swings and round abouts, our turn will come again, even a win this year still possible.

McLaren were only poor last year but they improved steadily during that season. For this year there is still a long way to go but they did start well. I'm basing my views since 2010. So if you compare them with us since 2010 they've done a much better job at designing a fast car.

[shamim179]

Thing that gets me is that when Brawn was at Ferrari, he won..Ferrari shouldve kept that template for running the team. It worked.

True. It is generally a good idea not to change when it works or has delivered the results. Adopt change when you anticipate changes coming. Stefano hanging on for as long as he did should never have happened. This is the kind of thing that happens when one of your fellow key workers becomes your buddy! Luca has defended Stefano to the very end.

[FerrariF60]

Maybe on one when both Mercedes suffer DNF :-)

but even then, Red Fools are way better and faster then us...so SADLY they will take the WIN if both Mercedes DNF and NOT one of the FERRARI'S

[stefa]

but even then, Red Fools are way better and faster then us...so SADLY they will take the WIN if both Mercedes DNF and NOT one of the FERRARI'S

To correct myself. Than in one when both Mercedes AND Red Bull cars DNF, Ferrari can possibly win that one :-)

[stefa]

Sad, but look at our rivals, Mclaren. Just as bad past couple years. Swings and round abouts, our turn will come again, even a win this year still possible.

Looking at others, and saying that they are even worst than we are, wont help us at all. Will it?
One should not look at those who are worst than him, but at ones who are better, and aim to do same and/or even better!

[scuderia_nano]

I am happy Stephano Fails-a-lot-celli left.
From here we can't go any worst.
I like his spirit. Cz its actually a 3rd place battle.
2nd is Redbull.

But well. If we concentrate on next year's car maybe.

[Senna4Ever]

Looking at others, and saying that they are even worst than we are, wont help us at all. Will it?
One should not look at those who are worst than him, but at ones who are better, and aim to do same and/or even better!

True True ...
seeing McLaren not performing doesn't make me feel better or makes situation sweeter ... at least I don't care ... and as the motorsport experts and journalists were right about our situation after winter testing they completely failed about McLaren and their super suspension trick ...

As I said before: maybe make a joint venture with McLarens to break phalanx of Merc and RB ... 'cause theoretically a Minus and a Minus makes a '+' :-D ... theoretically

[Rosso Corsa]

But I have a feeling that if we can't make a significant step forward in the Canadian GP then we'll start concentrating on next season anyway.

I'm not sure about that. I think (hope) we could see updates through the whole season. Firstly, we need the performance gap to be as small as possible before the winter break. That way we're not looking for 2+ seconds during the winter with no time on track.

Also, we can't underestimate the impact of all the changes back at the factory. We've got changes in personnel, changes in the chain of people involved at every stage, and biggest of all, we're moving factory. This season is a key opportunity to test the real world performance of everyone and all of the processes and tools at the factory. Work the bugs out, find the performance and see it on track. I say Ferrari should throw everything they can at this year and use this car as the test bench.

[ferrari4life]

i dont see the point in following a sport where the winners are already decided before the start. I understand that fighting for second place with another team is maybe thrilling to some but to me that is not worth the extra effort to make to sit in front of the TV to watch.
In past years my interest in F1 has been waning and I have stopped waking up early here in the US to see the race. But this year its even lower where I dont even bother to check results.

This is just extremely sad.

[Nero Horse]

True True ...
seeing McLaren not performing doesn't make me feel better or makes situation sweeter ...

Seeing Mclaren being in a worse situation than us doesn't make me feel any better about my beloved Ferrari's predicament either, but it does help ease the pain at least somewhat, because I absolutely despise Macca and it always gives me great satisfaction when we beat them. So yea, you're right, it doesn't make our own situation any better, but for me at least it does provide some joy and comfort.


I'm not sure about that. I think (hope) we could see updates through the whole season. Firstly, we need the performance gap to be as small as possible before the winter break. That way we're not looking for 2+ seconds during the winter with no time on track.

Also, we can't underestimate the impact of all the changes back at the factory. We've got changes in personnel, changes in the chain of people involved at every stage, and biggest of all, we're moving factory. This season is a key opportunity to test the real world performance of everyone and all of the processes and tools at the factory. Work the bugs out, find the performance and see it on track. I say Ferrari should throw everything they can at this year and use this car as the test bench.

I hope we'll be bringing updates throughout the season as well, and I'm sure that we will bring at least some amount of updates to every race, no matter where we are in the championship standings, but I just think that if we fail to close the gap to Mercs in Canada then about 90% of our focus will surely be turned on the 2015 season. The Canadian GP will most likely be the "make or break" race for us. Even Luca said that after the Canadian GP he will make the decision whether to continue pushing on this season or start concentrating on 2015. So let's see what happens in the next couple of races.

[NickEice]

i dont see the point in following a sport where the winners are already decided before the start. I understand that fighting for second place with another team is maybe thrilling to some but to me that is not worth the extra effort to make to sit in front of the TV to watch.
In past years my interest in F1 has been waning and I have stopped waking up early here in the US to see the race. But this year its even lower where I dont even bother to check results.

This is just extremely sad.

I am not sure what F1 you have been watching over the years because this is usually the case in this sport. The years where there are 3-4 teams that can challenge for a win any weekend are few and far between.

Were you complaining during the early 2000's when we were the ones guaranteed to win? What about the late 80's when it was McLaren dominance? The only reason any other team won a race in the 80s was due to random reliability problems. Thanks to technology we have gotten past a lot of these reliability problems.

[stefa]

Seeing Mclaren being in a worse situation than us doesn't make me feel any better about my beloved Ferrari's predicament either, but it does help ease the pain at least somewhat, because I absolutely despise Macca and it always gives me great satisfaction when we beat them. So yea, you're right, it doesn't make our own situation any better, but for me at least it does provide some joy and comfort.



I hope we'll be bringing updates throughout the season as well, and I'm sure that we will bring at least some amount of updates to every race, no matter where we are in the championship standings, but I just think that if we fail to close the gap to Mercs in Canada then about 90% of our focus will surely be turned on the 2015 season. The Canadian GP will most likely be the "make or break" race for us. Even Luca said that after the Canadian GP he will make the decision whether to continue pushing on this season or start concentrating on 2015. So let's see what happens in the next couple of races.

Don't want to be a spoiler or negative, as this term is used the most on this forum. What do you people expect of those alleged B spec car and all those rumored updates?!?! To be in a position to fight for any of championships? :Hmm
I am not raising my hopes that high at all. Personal goal for me is at least one win, some strong races and not to be lapped again, and that's it! This season is over! If they can test something that will be of benefit for 2015 car than it is OK, if not, unfortunately it is just a waste of time and resources.

[Hornet]

I am not sure what F1 you have been watching over the years because this is usually the case in this sport. The years where there are 3-4 teams that can challenge for a win any weekend are few and far between.

Were you complaining during the early 2000's when we were the ones guaranteed to win? What about the late 80's when it was McLaren dominance? The only reason any other team won a race in the 80s was due to random reliability problems. Thanks to technology we have gotten past a lot of these reliability problems.

While there are many years where a team dominate, there are also years like 2008. 2012 was exciting for me too, we fought for the title till the last race.

The embarrassing thing is that since our dominance in 2004, the FIA introduced many changes to prevent such dominance in F1, and this year, Merc is more dominating that Ferrari was in 2004. Minus all the excitement of watching a F1 car. There is a failure somewhere among the people who thought up all these brilliant ideas of how the sport should be changed in confusing ways on almost an annual basis, and yet we've only gotten further from that objective they set out to achieve back in 2005.

[AfterLife]

If we could close the gap to Mercedes during the 2014 season, our 2015 season well be competitive but if we couldn't close the gap to Mercedes in this season, our 2015 season won't be competitive. There will be no dramatic change in rules for the 2015 season, so our form at the end of 2014 season more or less will be our 2015 form.

[NickEice]

If we could close the gap to Mercedes during the 2014 season, our 2015 season well be competitive but if we couldn't close the gap to Mercedes in this season, our 2015 season won't be competitive. There will be no dramatic change in rules for the 2015 season, so our form at the end of 2014 season more or less will be our 2015 form.

Exactly!

This is not like last year, there is no focus on next year, we need to push development until the end of the season. Everything we learn this year will be transferred to next years car.

[stefa]

While there are many years where a team dominate, there are also years like 2008. 2012 was exciting for me too, we fought for the title till the last race.

The embarrassing thing is that since our dominance in 2004, the FIA introduced many changes to prevent such dominance in F1, and this year, Merc is more dominating that Ferrari was in 2004. Minus all the excitement of watching a F1 car. There is a failure somewhere among the people who thought up all these brilliant ideas of how the sport should be changed in confusing ways on almost an annual basis, and yet we've only gotten further from that objective they set out to achieve back in 2005.

Amen to that!

[Nova]

While there are many years where a team dominate, there are also years like 2008. 2012 was exciting for me too, we fought for the title till the last race.

The embarrassing thing is that since our dominance in 2004, the FIA introduced many changes to prevent such dominance in F1, and this year, Merc is more dominating that Ferrari was in 2004. Minus all the excitement of watching a F1 car. There is a failure somewhere among the people who thought up all these brilliant ideas of how the sport should be changed in confusing ways on almost an annual basis, and yet we've only gotten further from that objective they set out to achieve back in 2005.

I have to agree..F1 was a blast to watch then...the cars were simpler, rules were understandable, the engines sounded great..the fia took a terribly wrong turn somewhere..
I thought theyed have more sense after Todt came to power, but alas, things r worse and I dont look forward to races like I used to.

Yes, I was excited to watch every race, even when Ferrari didnt do well...which was often actually.

[Nero Horse]

Don't want to be a spoiler or negative, as this term is used the most on this forum. What do you people expect of those alleged B spec car and all those rumored updates?!?! To be in a position to fight for any of championships? :Hmm

Honestly? I personally aren't expecting much, as I already said on the first page of this thread, that taking into account our poor form, I'd be satisfied if we could finish in 2nd place in the WCC and somehow manage to win at least one race during the season. Deep down I'm of course still hoping for a miracle to happen, but realistically I know that in our current form, even getting 2nd place in WCC is going to be a very difficult thing to achieve. So, no, I'm not expecting us to get back into the championship fight with Mercs, but I am expecting us to be able to close the gap even just a little bit, with the updates that are supposedly coming to Canada. And I also expect/hope us to be even more closer to the Mercs at the end of this season, in order to have a good basis where to start from next season.

I wish I could expect more, but seeing where we are right now, then realistically it's just not possible unfortunately. But I'm always hoping for the best of course.

[Nova]

If there is a problem with the current chassis, then yes, they need a new car, whether u call it b spec or not. How long do u try to update a chassis that performs so badly?
Im not into this "lets start next years car now" talk..we just started this year, and its pretty obvious there is something amiss with the F14T. And, I understand all of the discussions on here about the front suspension not making that much difference, mabey it doesnt to a degree, but to the end design of the car I think it does. How long are they going to flog that one.
There has never been a successful F1 car that used that susp and its obvious that Ferrari doesnt have a secret on how to actually make it work.
Let me ask, If Newey, who many here want, does not utilize this design and his cars continually out handle and out perform our cars, why do we use it?

[stefa]

If there is a problem with the current chassis, then yes, they need a new car, whether u call it b spec or not. How long do u try to update a chassis that performs so badly?
Im not into this "lets start next years car now" talk..we just started this year, and its pretty obvious there is something amiss with the F14T. And, I understand all of the discussions on here about the front suspension not making that much difference, mabey it doesnt to a degree, but to the end design of the car I think it does. How long are they going to flog that one.
There has never been a successful F1 car that used that susp and its obvious that Ferrari doesnt have a secret on how to actually make it work.
Let me ask, If Newey, who many here want, does not utilize this design and his cars continually out handle and out perform our cars, why do we use it?

In past 5 years it was a couple of times a case of letting go current season and concentrate early on next year car development. Which is good because one will have more time to develop car for next year and prepare better. In case of Ferrari they didn't use that extra given time for good! No! They succeeded to build bad cars after bad cars. Problem is obviously in people. Ones who are working there are not up to the task needed in modern F1. Sorry, but they are giving best they can and working around the clock is not enough!
You can stand against the wall and push it all day with all your strength without any results, and yet you will be tired and hungry, because you were working all day long... See the parallel I am putting here?
There has to be complete overhaul of technical team of people in Ferrari, and for result... I am afraid we are going to wait couple of years more...

[RedRebel40]

The rules for 2015 are almost the same as for 2014. So anything we gain in 2014 will be brought to 2015. So I don't believe in abondoning the 2014 car, they should just update it till the last race and then make a big gain in the winter for 2014/2015 so we can build a winning car in 2016 again. :)

[zike]

The rules for 2015 are almost the same as for 2014. So anything we gain in 2014 will be brought to 2015. So I don't believe in abondoning the 2014 car, they should just update it till the last race and then make a big gain in the winter for 2014/2015 so we can build a winning car in 2016 again. :)

yes,use the 2014 season as a testing ground

[stefa]

Will updating basically bad foundation (F14T), give any good results at all?
We are not witnessing any significant progress in past races...

[modza]

i have a feeling that Mercedes have some sort of hidden magic happening in PU area, and the other is not yet discovered. Like Redbull did with ecu maps till FIA tied up the rules. I's not like car is going 15km faster through every corner apex (on F1 mobile app can have corner stats), but torque amount and delivery is abnormal. No other Mercedes powered car got this. They have a great car, but car is not making 1.5s difference to others, it's some clever people in PU engineering team, i guess.
So my thought is, Mercedes dominance can end quit quickly if this is a case and others find out what it is.

Bob Bell could be the werrrrry tasty catch for any team.
http://www.autoevolution.com/news/mercedes-amg-petronas-technical-director-bob-bell-leaves-team-80011.html

[ferrari4life]

I am not sure what F1 you have been watching over the years because this is usually the case in this sport. The years where there are 3-4 teams that can challenge for a win any weekend are few and far between.

Were you complaining during the early 2000's when we were the ones guaranteed to win? What about the late 80's when it was McLaren dominance? The only reason any other team won a race in the 80s was due to random reliability problems. Thanks to technology we have gotten past a lot of these reliability problems.

i did not follow f1 prior to the late 90's.
And I did not spend time watching f1 in the early 2000's when we were dominating. I would just read the news the next day.

[NickEice]

i did not follow f1 prior to the late 90's.
And I did not spend time watching f1 in the early 2000's when we were dominating. I would just read the news the next day.

I see. I am different then, I still consider the most boring processional race to be the best spectacle on television. But I do enjoy doing mental math calculating lap deltas lol. Different strokes for different folks.

[Nova]

In past 5 years it was a couple of times a case of letting go current season and concentrate early on next year car development. Which is good because one will have more time to develop car for next year and prepare better. In case of Ferrari they didn't use that extra given time for good! No! They succeeded to build bad cars after bad cars. Problem is obviously in people. Ones who are working there are not up to the task needed in modern F1. Sorry, but they are giving best they can and working around the clock is not enough!
You can stand against the wall and push it all day with all your strength without any results, and yet you will be tired and hungry, because you were working all day long... See the parallel I am putting here?
There has to be complete overhaul of technical team of people in Ferrari, and for result... I am afraid we are going to wait couple of years more...


I dont believe the people thing..there r still people who work for Ferrari from winning seasons...We have a number of talented people, Allison being new. The ideas are simply not translating to improvements on the track. Why? If I could answer that, Id be driving a 458.

And didnt we start the 14T last year? So where is it that starting early makes a fast car, because if that were true, the F14T would be winning.

[abbottcostello]

I see. I am different then, I still consider the most boring processional race to be the best spectacle on television. But I do enjoy doing mental math calculating lap deltas lol. Different strokes for different folks.
I'm with you Nick, I'll even watch the replay of the boring race. :lol
Heck there's only 20 or so for the whole darn year, just because it seems a little boring don't mean something unexpected can't happen, when it does, it is instant excitement.

[stefa]

I dont believe the people thing..there r still people who work for Ferrari from winning seasons...We have a number of talented people, Allison being new. The ideas are simply not translating to improvements on the track. Why? If I could answer that, Id be driving a 458.

And didnt we start the 14T last year? So where is it that starting early makes a fast car, because if that were true, the F14T would be winning.

As I remember yes. And YET again there are no visible results! Which lead to either the people working there are left without any good ideas, or the tools that they are using are obsolete in the world of modern Formula 1.
Ask your self, when was it last time for Ferrari to introduce something ground braking, or non conventional to the car, that worked and other tried to copy it?

[JPZ]

As I remember yes. And YET again there are no visible results! Which lead to either the people working there are left without any good ideas, or the tools that they are using are obsolete in the world of modern Formula 1.
Ask your self, when was it last time for Ferrari to introduce something ground braking, or non conventional to the car, that worked and other tried to copy it?

That's a very good point.

[F1NAC]

Aero rims back in 2010

[ferrari4life]

I see. I am different then, I still consider the most boring processional race to be the best spectacle on television. But I do enjoy doing mental math calculating lap deltas lol. Different strokes for different folks.

it does take all kind of people to make this world go round.
I absolutely despise Monaco as a race. :-)

[stefa]

Aero rims back in 2010

OK. Four years ago....!

[stefa]

I absolutely despise Monaco as a race. :-)

That is not a race. More like a parade for ugly rich people!

[Winter]

While there are many years where a team dominate, there are also years like 2008. 2012 was exciting for me too, we fought for the title till the last race.

The embarrassing thing is that since our dominance in 2004, the FIA introduced many changes to prevent such dominance in F1, and this year, Merc is more dominating that Ferrari was in 2004. Minus all the excitement of watching a F1 car. There is a failure somewhere among the people who thought up all these brilliant ideas of how the sport should be changed in confusing ways on almost an annual basis, and yet we've only gotten further from that objective they set out to achieve back in 2005.

I can understand the reason of most of these new changes, like hybrid technology and fuel saving, as they make the sport more attractive to current and coming manufacturers. I doubt that Honda for example wouldn't be coming back without those changes.

But what is the reason for that instant engine freeze is something I just don't get. Who does that serve? Not the sport anyway..

[NickEice]

I can understand the reason of most of these new changes, like hybrid technology and fuel saving, as they make the sport more attractive to current and coming manufacturers. I doubt that Honda for example wouldn't be coming back without those changes.

But what is the reason for that instant engine freeze is something I just don't get. Who does that serve? Not the sport anyway..

It serves the FIA's half-hearted attempt at some cost control. Unfortunately, when you homologate at the beginning of a brand new power unit's life cycle you run the risk of a very unbalanced field of cars like we have now.

[Nova]

As I remember yes. And YET again there are no visible results! Which lead to either the people working there are left without any good ideas, or the tools that they are using are obsolete in the world of modern Formula 1.
Ask your self, when was it last time for Ferrari to introduce something ground braking, or non conventional to the car, that worked and other tried to copy it?

I cant ask myself anything, I get confused...:-D

[Nero Horse]

it does take all kind of people to make this world go round.
I absolutely despise Monaco as a race. :-)

And I on the other hand love Monaco :-)... I always look forward to that race, even though Ferrari hasn't done well there in recent years. The Monaco GP might not be the most exciting one in terms of racing, but it does have a certain charm and mystique, not to mention the long tradition and history that this race has.

[wisepie]

Monaco has given us some fantastic races over the years but it does sometimes become a boring procession with the beautiful people on their yachts too 'merry' to care who wins. And I don't mean Suzie.

[stefa]

I cant ask myself anything, I get confused...:-D

:lol

[Hornet]

I can understand the reason of most of these new changes, like hybrid technology and fuel saving, as they make the sport more attractive to current and coming manufacturers. I doubt that Honda for example wouldn't be coming back without those changes.

But what is the reason for that instant engine freeze is something I just don't get. Who does that serve? Not the sport anyway..

As Nick mentioned, it's a cost cutting move. Overall I think the FIA did a poor job in introducing this new technical era, by throwing in too many changes once and not allowing proper development

And yes, it doesn't serve the sport's competition any good, but in recent years competition took a back seat while everyone squabble over cost cutting.