Chinese GP - Race Thread

[scuderiafan]

At least (i have to say that effing again!) the car aint a dog.

But we need to improve.

ALonso get your starts sorted son!

And we really could have beat Button and Webber today with a 3 stopper. Extremely disappointed, but again, we have com back from worse.
I believe in the team, but we really need a better showing in Turkey.

[da_one]

The problem with our 'Plan B' is that everyone, and that includes Red Bull and Mclaren, are also developing and will definitely be bringing new parts as the season progresses. I think the team needs a different approach in the coming races, they should be more aggressive and not just rely on the updates since that is how we could make up for the gap.

Having 5 second tire changes wouldn't help as well. What is the point of gaining 1.5 secs in aero updates and then giving it all away with slower stops? We used to have the best pit crew in all of motor sports but now even the middle guys change tires faster than us!

[Greig]

What? lol.

Curbs is not the only guy in the world who thinks Ferrari should put their eggs in one basket with a driver who probably has a better chance of winning a WDC with Ferrari.

It doesnt mean, I personally would have had massa move over today for Alonso, massa deserved his spot today, he drove a good race.

What does the Autosport forum say though, as that is the all important issue.......

[Sianellen]

Red Bull mechanic saying Jenson stopped in their box on purpose to try and cheat, lol, not bitter then

Sour grapes hehe

[eugene22n]

Indeed Felipe had the better race in my eyes but we did give Alonso a >5 second stop and Massa had a <4 second stop back to back. And Massa came out just in front of Alonso so that played a bit of a role I think. From there lots of things played into the gap including lots of battles which may explain the gap ... but I think Felipe was indeed faster today.

Did Alonso have a poor start? I think it was just the dirty side that played that role.

[Suzie]

Sour grapes hehe

There seems to be a lot of them about

[Kyss4k]

The problem with our 'Plan B' is that everyone, and that includes Red Bull and Mclaren, are also developing and will definitely be bringing new parts as the season progresses. I think the team needs a different approach in the coming races, they should be more aggressive and not just rely on the updates since that is how we could make up for the gap.

Having 5 second tire changes wouldn't help as well. What is the point of gaining 1.5 secs in aero updates and then giving it all away with slower stops? We used to have the best pit crew in all of motor sports but now even the middle guys change tires faster than us!

We need to gain at least 1.8s in Turkey to be able to fight for pole. Than I am sure Ferrari see the pit problems and they have the time to practice harder now. I will stay half-optimistic till Turkey but we have to deliver. In every possible way.

[eugene22n]

All this talk about how we got it wrong in our wind tunnel ... we have had to stop out dev plans because of this to get it right. It's hard to see how we can be ahead of the others with dev then ... But I will remain optimistic, we are Ferrari afterall

[Ferrarichamp]

Imagine the reactions if a Ferrari had pitted in the Mclaren box

[da_one]

No it is not. I was looking on the times and on the start of race we were able to match Vettel's pace. But after the last pit even with 1 (or two?) lap fresher tyres Felipe was half a second slower than Sebastian. Only in two laps of the last stint he was able to match him.

You must take into consideration that Felipe was conserving his tires at the start of his second stint since he needed to make them last for 20 or so laps. Also, he was defending from Hami, Rosberg and Button while Vettel was ahead.

[Tifosi]

I wonder if the BBC still think Massa should be replaced by Perez!

[crewskas]

Am I the only one to think that we could have won the race with a 3 pit-stop strategy?

Not the only one...
Massa after his first stop was ahead of McLarens so, if they just followed their strategy he could be easily on podium, possibly a win...!
But they followed what Vettel was doing...

To bad we suck at strategy and that Alonso can´t get of the line. Because Alonso could have won here today. But Ferrari still supports a backstabbing worthless 2nd driver.

Must be really painful for some driver fans to see their driver beaten by their teammate huh?
Pity, Massa is one of the best in starts...
Pity also, looks like he's back (needs a little better qualifying maybe)...

Don't any of you get me wrong, but I really want Massa to thrash Alonso this year...
Not just because I want him to stay with us, as probably is the most loyal driver we have as a team for many years, but mostly because I would love to see him shut some mouths who disrespect him last year, because of his tyre heating problem....
Now that would be a shock...
Right Eddie Jordan and some Nando (and not Ferrari) fans?

[eugene22n]

It makes me nervous how close we are in pace to the Renault and Mercedes. Everybody will bring developments to Turkey and I just hpoe we make progress and not slide back behind some of these cars.

[impactX]

That's hilarious coming from someone who moans about the team constantly

Way to be defensive. When was the last time you saw a whole team of people getting sacked in a big corporation? Rarely. Most of the time, only the chief has to go.

Unless you are perfectly content with the team's performance and feel that no improvement is needed, then you have every right to not voice any concern.

[eugene22n]

Way to be defensive. When was the last time you saw a whole team of people getting sacked in a big corporation? Rarely. Most of the time, only the chief has to go.

Unless you are perfectly content with the team's performance and feel that no improvement is needed, then you have every right to not voice any concern.

In the third year of this era of rules I would say the place for improvement is in our design department.

[Tech_Skill]

At least (i have to say that effing again!) the car aint a dog.

But we need to improve.

I agree, I dont want to jinx the season, but personally, I have not lost hope yet, the next 3 weeks are clearly the key though.

The thing is, the only updates i know of is the flexi wing, ive yet to hear any news about further aero updates.

Also, im the least technical person on this forum, but im not sure if the front end grip issue is the whole reason why we lack pace. I wonder if we are bringing updates to other areas on the car also.

[eugene22n]

I agree, I dont want to jinx the season, but personally, I have not lost hope yet, the next 3 weeks are clearly the key though.

The thing is, the only updates i know of is the flexi wing, ive yet to hear any news about further aero updates.

Also, im the least technical person on this forum, but im not sure if the front end grip issue is the whole reason why we lack pace.

Our updates are about getting out of the car what we expected to get in Aus. Thats depressing.

And hopefully the flexi wing/nose.

[Tifosi]

Way to be defensive. When was the last time you saw a whole team of people getting sacked in a big corporation? Rarely. Most of the time, only the chief has to go.

Unless you are perfectly content with the team's performance and feel that no improvement is needed, then you have every right to not voice any concern.

so you think that changing the boss will improve the car's performance on the tyres and improve the pitstops that you bemoan in your sig for the rest of this season?

Or are you thinking of the unknowns of next season?

[scuderiafan]

Right so how much do we need to gain?

Flexi wing gives us about 0.5secs, lew said.

Bad balance/ front downforce in quali is costing us about the same, maybe even more imo

Then there are the half-assed (for want of a better word) parts on the car, meaning they dont get as much as they are supposed to. that was down to the wind tunnel problems, and gene has said they have been fixed.
So better parts may give us around .3, .4 of a second.

so that is about 1.5 second gain. i'm just speculating and i know eff all about the tech side, so i hope we can get that much for turkey.

And about McLaren and redbull developing, McLaren failed with their new update for thsi race. all due respect, but the 3 stop won them the gp.

[Hornet]

Must be really painful for some driver fans to see their driver beaten by their teammate huh?
Pity, Massa is one of the best in starts...
Pity also, he looks back (needs a little better qualifying maybe)...

Don't any of you get me wrong, but I really want Massa to thrash Alonso this year...
Not just because I want him to stay with us, as probably is the most loyal driver we have as a team for many years, but mostly because I would love to see him shut some mouths who disrespect him last year, because of his tyre heating problem....
Now that would be a shock...
Right Eddie Jordan and some Nando (and not Ferrari) fans?

Yes, thats the only important right for Ferrari, right? As long as Felipe trash Alonso, all is well. Doesn't matter if we drop to 4 or 5th team by the end of the season.

Go on, tell us how you really feel

[Mrs.Domenicali]

Way to be defensive. When was the last time you saw a whole team of people getting sacked in a big corporation? Rarely. Most of the time, only the chief has to go.

Unless you are perfectly content with the team's performance and feel that no improvement is needed, then you have every right to not voice any concern.

I never said I don't have any concern over our performance, I just don't feel the need to constantly moan on and on week in week out - what does it achieve exactly? you may think moaning on like a fishwife and demanding people's heads makes you a supporter.....in my book the clue is in the word SUPPORT. I also am logical enough to accept that we are competing in an extremely competitive sport, and yes other teams are doing better at the moment just as they don't sack people when we win, I don't see why you think it is the answer to our team problems. Sacking the team principal doesn't make the car any faster. Ferrari win and lose as a team, too bad some of its so called "supporters" can't do the same really.

[RedRebel40]

did anyone at Ferrari mention this? :

[Brakefade]

From now on we need to pit as soon as the tires' performance starts to drop. It might even be a good idea to qualify on the prime tires, not only to get them out of the way, but also because they can take more abuse during the first few laps than the option tire can. So we don't have to worry about conserving that first set, and attack aggressively. As long as we can't qualify on the first two rows, we might as well do this.

[da_one]

Right so how much do we need to gain?

Flexi wing gives us about 0.5secs, lew said.

Bad balance/ front downforce in quali is costing us about the same, maybe even more imo

Then there are the half-assed (for want of a better word) parts on the car, meaning they dont get as much as they are supposed to. that was down to the wind tunnel problems, and gene has said they have been fixed.
So better parts may give us around .3, .4 of a second.

so that is about 1.5 second gain. i'm just speculating and i know eff all about the tech side, so i hope we can get that much for turkey.

And about McLaren and redbull developing, McLaren failed with their new update for thsi race. all due respect, but the 3 stop won them the gp.

1.5 gain in aero and other parts + 5 sec tire change = 0

Again aero and other parts is just half of our problem. We need to be more aggressive in the coming races if we want to keep the season alive.

[Ste]

did anyone at Ferrari mention this? :

Commentators mentioned it. It was only open for about 1/2 a second. Made no difference to anything anyway.

[Suzie]

Yes, thats the only important right for Ferrari, right? As long as Felipe trash Alonso, all is well. Doesn't matter if we drop to 4 or 5th team by the end of the season.

Go on, tell us how you really feel

Don't think that's what he's saying at all.

People can favour Felipe over Fernando if they want, and vice versa. Everyone wants to see their favourite driver do well.

[Forzi]

did anyone at Ferrari mention this? :

Probably a eletronical failure, since even if you want to use the DRS, the car wouldn't let you since you're out of the DRS zone.

[da_one]

From now on we need to pit as soon as the tires' performance starts to drop. It might even be a good idea to qualify on the prime tires, not only to get them out of the way, but also because they can take more abuse during the first few laps than the option tire can. So we don't have to worry about conserving that first set, and attack aggressively. As long as we can't qualify on the first two rows, we might as well do this.

The problem with this strategy is that the mid level guys would be faster than us at the start of the race. If they manage to overtake us before the first round of stops, which is likely given the vast performance difference between the soft and the hard compound, then we are doomed already as we will play catch up through out the race.

[Tech_Skill]

I never said I don't have any concern over our performance, I just don't feel the need to constantly moan on and on week in week out - what does it achieve exactly? you may think moaning on like a fishwife and demanding people's heads makes you a supporter.....in my book the clue is in the word SUPPORT. I also am logical enough to accept that we are competing in an extremely competitive sport, and yes other teams are doing better at the moment just as they don't sack people when we win, I don't see why you think it is the answer to our team problems. Sacking the team principal doesn't make the car any faster. Ferrari win and lose as a team, too bad some of its so called "supporters" can't do the same really.

Im sorry, but just because he might want Stefano out, doesnt make him any less of Ferrari fan lol.

Im reading Inter Milan forums, they want Leonardo, out, does that mean they are not Inter supporters.

If you look at 606 forums, there is a large number of Mclaren fans who are very unhappy with Witmarsh and want him out and Uncle Ron to come back, are they not mclaren supporters.

What I think Impactx is saying is that Stefano is the boss, he is repsonisble for the team's performance, and the team isnt performing (imo anyways), in sports, some say its the job of the boss to lead the team and get the maximum out of it.

Its okay for Ferrari supporters to want someone who they feel can bring more to the team that Stefano imo, these people are not traitors or phonies.

[scuderiafan]

The thing is, when BS were the tyres, the thing was to stop as late as you can, and get fast laps in while in clear air. i remember Kimi winning us many races this way. but now on the Pirellis the difference between Fresh and old tyres is a lot. so i think as soon as you've done a fair number of laps, and you find a gap you can slot into, then you have to pit as soon as possible. rosberg did that very well.

i guess even if the strategy is good, bad pitstops may end up meaning we come out ahead of traffic. so if we can improve pitstops and since Pat is a lot smarter than i am , he will realise this kind of 'pit first' strategy, and the car gets there, i foresee a monster european season for Ferrari. we really need this.