Ferrari: We're on our way back to the top

[Nero Horse]

With the team having admitted after the Austrian Grand Prix that it would be impossible to close up the gap to Mercedes, its focus is very much in putting in place plans to ensure it is more competitive in 2015.

New team boss Marco Mattiacci has spent his first few months in charge analysing the current structure, and spoke to the team ahead of the Austrian GP to outline his vision.

When asked by AUTOSPORT about what he had told Ferrari's staff and what his plan was, Mattiacci said: "After Canada it was important to get together, to talk, to clear the air and to understand that there is a clear direction in understanding what our weaknesses are."

"There is a leadership that is working to fill up those weaknesses. But in terms of master plan, or strategy plan, the key points we will keep to ourselves."

"I will not give an advantage to the opponents."

Although Ferrari is having a tough season, Fernando Alonso says that progress is being made, even though a major competitive leap forward is unlikely.

"We did make some progress in the car," he said. "But it's difficult to judge what the others are doing and how much they improve as well. There's nothing we can do [about that]."

"We need to work hard and to work better than the others and to close the gap on Mercedes, who are the reference point."

"All the other teams will go up and down, including us, but hopefully we have the resources, we have the technology to make extra progress compared to the others."

The dominance by Mercedes-powered teams on recent high-speed tracks has confirmed that the German car manufacturer's engine is the benchmark in F1 at the moment.

Ferrari's power unit is widely believed to be heavier and have less power than the Mercedes, something that can only realistically be addressed this winter.

When asked if he believed the engine was the main weakness in the Ferrari package, Mattiacci said: "I think Ferrari at the moment is not doing a better job than Mercedes."

"I don't want to point the finger at any specific area because it will not be fair because I don't think the engine is the only issue."

"It is the overall package that is not as competitive as Mercedes. It is clear that Mercedes did a good job with the power unit."


https://eurosport.yahoo.com/news/formula-1-ferrari-recovery-plan-place-091232506--f1.html

[killer]

Good to know that MM is trying to aggressively wrest control. As usual, though, headline's far from actual content.

[Greig]

I would not read much into the Austrian result, such a short track that the gap might well appear smaller.

[Senna4Ever]

I would not read much into the Austrian result, such a short track that the gap might well appear smaller.

:thumb IMHO we shouldn't over interpret Austrian result until we know the Silverstone result ...
we might fall out from sky to easily ...

[Gould]

The PU homologation rules is what have killed us this year. I believe the rest of the F-14T to be a pretty sound car.

[Cemz85]

MM so far is doing what Ferrari has needed for so long, that is clear leadership, understanding the situation and implementing short and long term strategies. Not just saying "we need to stay calm".

[hogo]

"I don't want to point the finger at any specific area because it will not be fair because I don't think the engine is the only issue."
I'm glad he knows where we are bad at. So maybe there is hope for 2015 after all...

[killer]

I would not read much into the Austrian result, such a short track that the gap might well appear smaller.

Agreed. I appreciate how he was candid enough to say that the air needed clearing after Canada.

[Alessandra]

I seem to remember Alonso said something along the lines of everything that happened up to and including the British GP would have been a result of Stefano's period of administration.

We can only wait and see. And hope!:pray It's just so sad that we know very little is forecast for Ferrari until 2015 by way of significant progress.

[FerrariF60]

I seem to remember Alonso said something along the lines of everything that happened up to and including the British GP would have been a result of Stefano's period of administration.

We can only wait and see. And hope!:pray It's just so sad that we know very little is forecast for Ferrari until 2015 by way of significant progress.

Yeah, it is pretty sad that we cannot do anything to improve this year in regards to our power unit due to regulations.
But on the bright side, we have James Alison working full time on the next year’s car and we all know how talented he is; he’s done nothing but wonderful things at Lotus and all that with a mediocre budget that Lotus had. Now with the budget Ferrari has, knowledge and also now that the engineers are more free to apply their ideas, THE SKY WILL BE THE LIMIT.

I personally think that they know what the weaknesses of the car are and everybody will be working flat out into turning the 2015 into a MONSTER.

Let Mercedes have their good times now, come next year, I’m sure Ferrari will rain on their parade…LOL

[ferrari4life]

Its suprising that no one at Ferrari caught on to the fact that in 2009 with Brawn was dominating with the double diffuser that Red Bull were so close to them without it. If someone had noticed we would have been watching them closer to figure out what they were doing instead of chasing the DD that was going to be banned at the end of the year anyway. That would have given us a head start on 2010 rather than us finding our selves chasing from the start of the year again only this time we were chasing a different "new" (to us) concept. Now 2014 comes around and once again we find ourselves caught sleeping as Mercedes has clearly done a better job on their engine. which troubles me because we kept pushing for engine development and then we were caught lacking in that field as well. So what really is the current state of Ferrari that we almost have to re-invent the wheel to be competitive again. Its troubling when you really think about it without hiding behind the great history or success of the early 2000 years. We have fallen a long way off the top and I dont see an easy way back up.
I hope I am wrong but I see a few more lean years ahead of us.

[Nero Horse]

Yeah, it is pretty sad that we cannot do anything to improve this year in regards to our power unit due to regulations.
But on the bright side, we have James Alison working full time on the next year’s car and we all know how talented he is; he’s done nothing but wonderful things at Lotus and all that with a mediocre budget that Lotus had. Now with the budget Ferrari has, knowledge and also now that the engineers are more free to apply their ideas, THE SKY WILL BE THE LIMIT.

I personally think that they know what the weaknesses of the car are and everybody will be working flat out into turning the 2015 into a MONSTER.

Let Mercedes have their good times now, come next year, I’m sure Ferrari will rain on their parade…LOL

We need to use this season for learning from our mistakes and make sure that these mistakes will be dealt with and corrected for next year. We absolutely need to get our issues sorted for next season, especially the PU issues, cause if we can't get our PU fixed before the 2015 homologation then we'll really be in trouble, even deeper trouble than we are right now. So, learning from this year's mistakes and being able to correct them before next season will be extremely crucial. If we can't get our PU issues fixed for next season either, then there's really nothing else left to say except "catastrophe". Hopefully all the necessary measures are being taken right now at Maranello to avoid repeating such mistakes.

[NickEice]

We shouldn't be so hard on the boys at Maranello. Remember that Mercedes pushed for these regulations 5 years ago, threatened leaving F1 all together even as an engine supplier if the regs weren't changed. Basically held the FIA hostage, the FIA obliged. They bought Brawn and have had a dedicated design team on this project since 2010. Say what you want about our budget and resources, but facts are Mercedes is even bigger than us. We didn't want to go all in/couldn't afford to 5 years ahead of time, one because we were competitive and battling for two championships, and two because of the engine formula not even being ratified by the FIA. Ferrari did not want to waste more money and time on a 2nd scrapped engine idea.

Mercedes gambled, played some dirty tricks, went all in back in 2010, ran in the midfield for THREE YEARS, had a decent 2013 then thankfully their gamble and time paid off. Hats off to them, but something stinks about this. The whole throwing a temper tantrum unless the rules were changed, the tire test last year, their less than likable driver pairing and 342 Executives/Directors/Team Principals/Owners that they have just seems pretty shady. I used to hate Red Bull and Vettel but I think they are much more sporting than the Mercedes crew. I must also say Vettel has grown on me this year with his maturity. He has had terrible luck yet has remained cool, has not said anything wrong about the team and has been pretty classy in his interviews. I would have no problem with him coming to Ferrari in the future.

[NasI]

Go take a nap.
We shouldn't be so hard on the boys at Maranello. Remember that Mercedes pushed for these regulations 5 years ago, threatened leaving F1 all together even as an engine supplier if the regs weren't changed. Basically held the FIA hostage, the FIA obliged. They bought Brawn and have had a dedicated design team on this project since 2010. Say what you want about our budget and resources, but facts are Mercedes is even bigger than us. We didn't want to go all in/couldn't afford to 5 years ahead of time, one because we were competitive and battling for two championships, and two because of the engine formula not even being ratified by the FIA. Ferrari did not want to waste more money and time on a 2nd scrapped engine idea.

Mercedes gambled, played some dirty tricks, went all in back in 2010, ran in the midfield for THREE YEARS, had a decent 2013 then thankfully their gamble and time paid off. Hats off to them, but something stinks about this. The whole throwing a temper tantrum unless the rules were changed, the tire test last year, their less than likable driver pairing and 342 Executives/Directors/Team Principals/Owners that they have just seems pretty shady. I used to hate Red Bull and Vettel but I think they are much more sporting than the Mercedes crew. I must also say Vettel has grown on me this year with his maturity. He has had terrible luck yet has remained cool, has not said anything wrong about the team and has been pretty classy in his interviews. I would have no problem with him coming to Ferrari in the future.

[NickEice]

Go take a nap.

Hmmm... ok. Most of what I wrote is factual. If you care to disagree perhaps you can express yourself in a more eloquent manner?

[Tifoso]

Actions, not words.

As a famous man once said: shut up and drive/develop. :-D

[NasI]

Hmmm... ok. Most of what I wrote is factual. If you care to disagree perhaps you can express yourself in a more eloquent manner?
Good morning.

[Alessandra]

I personally think that they know what the weaknesses of the car are and everybody will be working flat out into turning the 2015 into a MONSTER.
L

I very much hope you're right:thumb

In the meantime, I'm off to Silverstone next week - it's never so depressing when you're actually at the track:dance

[Richred]

Just now several known errors in the construction of the power unit, chassis ... when mistakes are repeated make me feel like there's a saboteur in Maranello. Already rolled a head ... and anytime I go second ..

Moreover a strategy to relocate within the competition circuit and was not needed as it is now.