View Full Version : German GP 2014 Team news and quotes.
German GP – Pat Fry: Time to adapt
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Pat Fry: “This was a very busy day of testing, affected by the particularly high temperatures and the new element of FRIC being banned. The absence of this system did not change our programmes, only requiring a bit of time for our drivers to adapt. Fernando had a trouble free morning, while on Kimi’s car there was a problem with the water pump, which cost him a run. However, the team sorted the problem quickly, so that Kimi was back on track in a short space of time. In the afternoon, we continued to work on set-up, also trying the Supersofts. As emerged on the long runs also, if the air and track temperatures stay this high, managing the tyre degradation, on the two softest compounds in the range, will become of even greater importance for the race.”
- See more at: http://formula1.ferrari.com/news/german-gp-fry-time-to-adapt?origin=28806#sthash.fwUPayGa.dpuf
Fernando Alonso: “As well prepared as possible”
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Fernando Alonso: “It’s nice to be back racing at Hockenheim. I’ve got fantastic memories of the last race here and I like the track a lot. Today, we concentrated on set-up to try and adapt to the temperatures, which are going to be extremely high all weekend. I had no problems with either the Soft or Supersoft compounds and we just need to understand how they will behave in the race and what the weather could be like on Sunday.
I don’t think going away with FRIC changed much in terms of driving style and in order to have a clear picture you’d have to do a comparison with and without it, but running without it, we just have to adapt and be as well prepared as possible with what we have.”
- See more at: http://formula1.ferrari.com/news/german-gp-fernando-alonso-prepared#sthash.KDQtMmqw.dpuf
Kimi Raikkonen: Too early for predictions
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Kimi Raikkonen: “Like every Friday, our programme covered set-up work in the first session, then evaluating the tyres and doing a race simulation in the afternoon. Unfortunately in the morning, because of a technical problem, I had to come back to the garage and was unable to do an additional run on the Soft tyres, but thanks to a great job from the team, I managed to quickly get back out on track. In the afternoon, we made up for lost time and managed to improve on all fronts. Overall, it’s been a reasonably positive day, but it’s still to early to make any predictions. We will have to wait until tomorrow to know more.”
- See more at: http://formula1.ferrari.com/news/german-gp-kimi-raikkonen-early-predictions#sthash.cI0ksC2S.dpuf
German GP – Looking after the tyres
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Hockenheim, 18 July – The track temperature at Hockenheim hit an amazing 58 degrees at one point this afternoon, a figure so high that any newcomer to Formula 1 might have assumed the temperatures are posted in Fahrenheit rather than Celsius! The heat was the dominant force in today’s free practice and it’s meant to get even warmer tomorrow, so that tyre management will be the absolute key factor for the rest of the German Grand Prix weekend. To put it in perspective, the track temperature on race day this year in Malaysia, usually regarded as one of the very hottest venues, was a mere 51.
Over the course of today’s three hours of track time, Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso racked up a total of 112 laps of this 4.574 km track. Apart from paying close attention to the tyres in the heat – the Supersoft appears to lose performance quite quickly, but then “come back” again after a few laps – the team worked as usual on car set-up, concentrating mainly on race preparation. The fact that all the teams agreed not to run the FRIC suspension systems had little impact on the show, with the pecking order much the same as usual.
With a relatively short lap, the times are always close here, so that Kimi in fourth place this afternoon was only half a second off the quickest time, while even Fernando in ninth was within a second of the fastest driver. It goes without saying the fastest man was driving a Mercedes: today it was British GP winner Lewis Hamilton who set the best time ahead of his team-mate Nico Rosberg. Daniel Ricciardo in the Red Bull was third and actually looked as though he could give the Anglo-German team a hard time this weekend. In between Kimi and Fernando, we find Magnussen, Massa, Button and Vettel.
- See more at: http://formula1.ferrari.com/news/german-gp-tyres#sthash.Opk9QMeR.dpuf
Allison: “Small changes add up to something significant”
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Scuderia Ferrari’s Technical Director James Allison met the press this afternoon and the Englishman was quizzed by journalists on a wide range of topics, starting with today’s hot topic – apart from the heat itself – the lack of FRIC, the suspension system no longer being used by any teams in case it is deemed illegal.
“I think not having it probably tends to make everyone understeer a bit more because everyone’s front ride height will be a bit higher than it otherwise might have been,” began the Englishman. “It is too early to say whether it shakes things up or not – but if it does, it will only be fairly short lived because people because people will get used it and figure out a way how to get their car set-up without FRIC.”
With the same job title often meaning different things in different F1 teams, Allison was asked to spell out exactly what his responsibilities are within the Scuderia. “I am the technical director of the chassis and I have an additional overall responsibility for the project of the vehicle, the whole thing, trying to make sure we have the right balance of risk and trying to make sure that we are ambitious enough with it. In terms of design changes, I sincerely hope that we will be able to make a decisive step forward with the car next year.”
When it comes to the engine side, Allison admitted this was not his area of expertise and he simply had to ensure there was a correlation between the engine and chassis sides. “I have to ensure that chassis and engine sides are taking the same sort of approach to the deadlines we are setting and the objectives that we have. It is especially important in a company where everything is under one roof and the opportunity for having that well coordinated is substantial.”
Since the arrival of Marco Mattiacci there’s been a great deal of interest in how the team structure is and will change as Ferrari tries to get back to the front of the grid. Allison tried to put it in some perspective: “you need to make big changes and small changes at the same time, because for any F1 team it is much easier to make a team worse than it is to make it better. So in an absolute sense, the changes that need to be made are quite small, but there are lots of them. They’ve been happening for some months and Marco’s (Mattiaci) arrival has helped galvanise more of them. Across the board in Ferrari there have been changes that are extremely helpful to moving us in the right direction. The totality of the small changes adds up to something significant.”
Finally, it’s the summer, so the driver market had to be a topic. “Both our drivers were in Maranello recently, both of them discussing plans for next year, both of them having our programme set out in front of them and having their opportunity to give us feedback about the weaknesses and strengths of our current car,” explained Allison. “It’s a great thing when a driver buys in to what we are doing. We are making a great effort to ensure they can see the plans we have in place. Kimi is quite new to our team, Fernando has had some years with Ferrari but has not yet achieved the goals he wanted. I hope the presentation I put his way impressed him, but you should ask him that!”
- See more at: http://formula1.ferrari.com/news/allison-small-add-significant#sthash.Ew9fAAct.dpuf
German GP – Pat Fry: “Ready for anything”
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Pat Fry: “The result of qualifying is far from satisfying, even if it’s more or less what we were expecting, given the current performance level of our car. The race looks like being very difficult and the weather, with an uncertain forecast for tomorrow, could be the key factor. Temperatures were very high again today and in these conditions, it’s never easy for the drivers. This track requires maximum concentration as it is a relatively short lap and it only takes very little to lose a few tenths and find yourself down the back. Indeed, Kimi unfortunately lost a few in turn 2 in the second part of qualifying and didn’t make it to Q3.
As for Fernando, he managed to improve in the final part, compared to his times in Q1 and Q2 and as usual, he pushed his car to the limit. He could not have done more. Tomorrow, rain could appear and throw up some surprises and we must be ready to exploit the slightest opportunity. However, if it doesn’t rain and it stays hot, I think tyre management and reliability of the cars will be the key factors, putting aside outright individual performance levels.”
- See more at: http://formula1.ferrari.com/news/german-gp-pat-fry-ready-anything#sthash.5wmVNj3l.dpuf
German GP – Fernando Alonso: “Anticipation is key”
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Fernando Alonso: “We can’t be happy with seventh, but it reflects the fact this weekend has been one of ups and downs. Apart from the actual numbers in today’s qualifying, I did find I was more at ease in my F14 T and I think I got the most out of it. I reckon in the race we will suffer more because of tyre degradation. With such high temperatures, the rear tyres slide a lot and it will be really important to choose the right number of stops to make. The forecast is unclear as to whether the rain will arrive during or after the race and so we have to be clever at being ready to anticipate it if we want to be in the game.
Here, as in Austria, Mercedes and Williams seem out of reach, but we will do all we can to be at the front of the following group. I hope to see a bunched up race, with a lot of overtaking, even though I’m not expecting too many surprises because the absence of FRIC hasn’t produced any significant changes, nor closed the gaps much.”
- See more at: http://formula1.ferrari.com/news/german-gp-fernando-alonso-anticipation-key#sthash.fyzdYiar.dpuf
Kimi Raikkonen: “Exploiting any opportunity”
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Kimi Raikkonen: “This weekend, a few technical problems meant I spent more time in the garage than usual, but already, as from yesterday afternoon, my feeling with the car had improved. Today, in Q1 things went reasonably well, but then in Q2, when I fitted the second set of new Supersofts, my car was sliding all over the place and I lost the back end in turn 2. After that, it was impossible to put a good lap together.
I’m not happy with my grid position, but I hope things can go better in tomorrow’s race. It’s likely the weather could be different tomorrow and the temperatures will be lower. We will try and make the most of any opportunity because we want to have a nice race and bring home a good number of points.”
- See more at: http://formula1.ferrari.com/news/german-gp-kimi-raikkonen-exploiting-opportunity#sthash.3poTWweZ.dpuf
A dream come true.
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Hockenheim, 19 July –Ten members of the Scuderia Ferrari Member club had their dream come true when they were invited to this weekend’s German Grand Prix. Having watched qualifying from the grandstands, the ten lucky guests, chosen from among the members of the Prancing Horse community, were taken on a guided tour of the Scuderia motorhome and garage. They met Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen, with whom they had a brief chat before having their photos taken and getting autographs signed. It was an unforgettable day for Sandro, Vishal, Sergio, Giovanni, Cristoph, Maria Antonietta, Dustin, Daniel, Sven and Stefan, who tomorrow will be able to cheer on their favourite drivers from the Hockenheim grandstands.
- See more at: http://formula1.ferrari.com/news/german-gp-dream-true#sthash.coodOIUN.dpuf
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German GP – Marco Mattiacci: “A tough race”
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Marco Mattiacci: “This was a very hard fought race for both the drivers and the team, which confirms the great effort put in by everyone on a weekend that never had a moment’s breathing space and in which we did our utmost. Fernando produced another fantastic performance, while we saw encouraging signs from Kimi, which unfortunately did not translate into concrete results. We know the weak points of our car and at every race we are looking for improvements that can also be useful for the new project which is beginning to take shape. Now attention turns to the next round in Hungary. It will be another demanding race, but at the same time another opportunity to improve.”
- See more at: http://formula1.ferrari.com/news/german-gp-marco-mattiacci-a-tough-race#sthash.adVc156t.dpuf
Fernando Alonso: “Small steps forward”
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Fernando Alonso: “We did what we could today and even if as always, we were aiming for a podium finish, the cars ahead of us were just too quick. It was a good race, even if it was very complex, as we decided to change from a two to a three-stop strategy. It was not easy fighting while also keeping an eye on consumption and in the end, with the help of newer tyres, getting ahead of Ricciardo meant we finished in the highest position that we were capable of. Here in Hockenheim, we made a small step forward and even if that didn’t translate into lap time, it encourages us to keep trying to improve. The aim is still to score points to help the team in the Constructors’ Championship. So now our thoughts turn to Budapest. We will only find out how things will go once we are there, because every circuit is a story in itself.”
- See more at: http://formula1.ferrari.com/news/german-gp-fernando-alonso-small-steps-forward#sthash.Ije6FCdH.dpuf
Pat Fry: “Aggressive strategy”
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Pat Fry: “It was a very tight race and with both cars, we pushed to the limit trying to make up places. Because of the accident at the start, we made up three places and both Fernando and Kimi drove very aggressively with a lot of spectacular overtaking moves. Behind the scenes, managing all the parameters of the two cars gave us a lot to do, from monitoring traffic, to the choices relating to the pit stops and fuel consumption. Unfortunately, with Kimi it was all more complicated, partly affected by a couple of collisions that damaged his front wing and affected tyre behaviour. In his second stint, we lost a few seconds because of graining, seconds which unfortunately, cost us a points finish. Fernando managed his race very well and thanks to his final move on Ricciardo, he brought home points that are important for the Constructors’ Championship. In a few days, we will be back on track in Hungary, a circuit where aerodynamic downforce plays a significant role and where we will try and get the most out of our package.”
- See more at: http://formula1.ferrari.com/news/german-gp-pat-fry-aggressive-strategy#sthash.Mrjcd8FU.dpuf
Kimi Raikkonen: “A real shame”
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Kimi Raikkonen: “It’s a real shame the way my race went, because this weekend, I felt more comfortable and today, on fresh tyres, I was going well. Unfortunately, twice I found myself squeezed between two cars and on both occasions my front wing got damaged and that compromised my race. Tyre performance dropped more than expected and I had graining on the front left and was losing aerodynamic downforce. On the positive side, I was able to drive the way I like today. I am sure that, but for these problems, things would have worked out differently and I would have been able to finish in the points.”
- See more at: http://formula1.ferrari.com/news/german-gp-kimi-raikkonen-a-real-shame#sthash.kSBX69j6.dpuf
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