Japanese GP '11 Ferrari news&quotes

[Rob]

Japanese GP - Alonso: “as focussed as if we were fighting for the title”

Suzuka, 6 October – In his regular Thursday meeting with the media in the Suzuka paddock, at times it seemed Fernando Alonso was delivering a lecture on sports motivation, as he was asked at length about what would drive him on now the championship titles were out of reach. “I think even if it is only this weekend that for the first time we no longer have a mathematical chance of winning the championship, it has already been at least three or four race that we no longer had high hopes of taking the titles,” began the Ferrari man. “So, it is not a dramatic change in terms of our approach for this weekend. I always feel motivated because when you are a Formula 1 driver it means you are a competitive person: I don’t like cars overtaking me, I like to overtake cars. I don’t like to be on the third or fourth row of the grid, I want to be on pole position and this is why there is always a motivation to keep pushing. Now, it’s just the same, in that I want to win and I want to be on pole position. I know it might not be possible at the moment, given our current performance level, but you always have the hope you can do it. For the remaining five races we will try to do our best, trying to finish in the highest position possible.”

As for the remaining targets, the Spaniard prioritised the team prize. “For the championship I think the most important thing is to get second place off McLaren in the Constructors’,” he said. “It will be very difficult, but we will be pushing for that. In the Drivers,’ second is also a possibility, but I don’t think second or third or fifth changes much, because after a couple of months you forget completely about that. I would prefer to win one of the five remaining races than to finish second in the championship, to be honest. Hopefully in one or two of these last races, let’s hope we have a car that is competitive enough to allow us to challenge for the top place. We will also be trying to learn something for next year, by introducing new parts on the car in these remaining races. But like I said, we are competitive people and I don’t see anyone in the Ferrari garage looking happy at being third or fourth with others ahead of us. Everyone in the team is as focussed as if this was the last race and we were fighting for the title. We want to do well and that is all the motivation we need.”

Asked if there was any way the Drivers’ crown would not go to Vettel this weekend, Alonso was very clear in his view: “Sebastian has the title in his pocket, even if he decides to watch Sunday’s race here on TV! I think he will enjoy this title more than the first as he is more relaxed and he has had time to see it coming. He will be able to prepare better for the party!”

[Rob]

Japanese GP - Massa: “I’ve not had much luck this season”10.6.2011

Suzuka, 6 October – Maybe it’s because the Drivers’ championship is already a foregone conclusion, but the press, restless for a good story, are still pursuing the matter of Hamilton colliding with Felipe Massa in Singapore, which wrecked the Ferrari man’s race. “It’s true I’ve not had much luck this season, with punctures, or someone hitting me, or other things happening and I hope that the situation changes for the last five races,” said the Brazilian. “That’s why I found it so frustrating when I was hit in the Singapore Grand Prix. I was disappointed after the race, but come Monday and I was already thinking about the next race. What’s past is past and we need to think about the future. I have not spoken to Hamilton and he did not want to speak to me at the time in Singapore. That’s why I was even more disappointed because, if I was him, I would have wanted to say sorry. I had tried to speak to him away from the media, but as he did not want to, I did what I did in front of the media. I have no reason to speak to him now about this as the matter is closed as far as I am concerned. If he wants to come and talk to me, then that’s fine too.”

Adding to the media’s suggestions of something controversial having happened in the night race a fortnight ago were Felipe’s race engineer, Rob Smedley’s comments prior to the Singapore collision. “If you listen to everybody’s radios you will hear strange things all the time,” the Ferrari man explained. “For sure, we are in competition and things like this happen in every sport. Rob was just trying to push me, he was not suggesting I should destroy another driver’s race and that is clear, because I would not do it anyway, even if he had asked me to. Rob always talks to me a lot and that is fine for me because it is the way we work together.”

As for the team’s aim to finish second in both championships, Felipe believes in looking at it race by race. “We will try and finish as high up the order as possible in these remaining races, we will try and win and try to be competitive up against the other teams, which has not been the case in recent races.”

Sebastian Vettel needs just one point on Sunday to retain his world championship crown and when asked for an opinion, Felipe delivered this generous appraisal of the German. “All drivers would like to have a year like his: winning the title with five races to go is definitely an incredible victory. His worst result so far has been a fourth place and he has had a perfect year. Sure, with the car he had, he has also been impeccable in qualifying so he has started every race at the front, which has been a great help during the race.”

http://www.ferrari.com/English/Formu...is-season.aspx

[Rob]

Japanese GP - Top five separated by half a second10.7.2011

Suzuka, 7 October – Jenson Button went fastest on Friday at Suzuka, the Japanese track that is playing host to the 15th round of the Formula 1 World Championship. Having also come out on top in the first session of free practice, the English driver’s McLaren confirmed that position in the afternoon session (1.31.901), finishing ahead of the Ferrari of Fernando Alonso (1.32.075) and the Red Bull of Sebastian Vettel (1.32.095). The other 150° Italia of Felipe Massa was 5th with 1.32.448. As they completed the usual Friday programme, both Ferrari drivers tested the two compounds provided by Pirelli – Medium and Soft – and carried out a long run with full fuel tanks.

The third and final session of free practice will take place tomorrow morning at 11am local time.

[Rob]

Japanese GP - Nothing new under the (Rising) Sun10.7.2011

Suzuka, 7 October – The Japanese Grand Prix weekend got underway this morning at Suzuka circuit. At the end of the first practice session for the fifteenth round of the championship, the McLaren duo topped the time sheet with Jenson Button fastest in 1.33.634, followed by Lewis Hamilton (1.33.725.) Third fastest was Sebastian Vettel who did a 1.34.090 in the Red Bull. Fernando Alonso was the fastest of the two Ferraris, setting the fourth quickest time of 1.34.373, completing 24 laps. Felipe Massa did a 1.35.585, running 27 laps on his way to seventh fastest time. As usual on a Friday, the team spent the session evaluating various aero configurations, running the specification last used at Spa-Francorchamps on Alonso’s car. Both Ferrari men used a single set of tyres before ending the session with some practice starts on the grid. The second session gets underway at 14h00.

[vcs316]

Massa suggests Red Bull Racing may be out of reach at Suzuka

Felipe Massa has suggested Red Bull Racing may be out of reach this weekend given the team's practice pace on Friday at Suzuka.

Although championship leader Sebastian Vettel finished down in third position, the German's long-race pace was impressive, lapping in the 1m37s, a time Massa labelled as "too quick".

"That's quick, isn't it? 37 was a little bit too quick," said Massa. "We need to see for sure if you go to the long run with 20 kilos less or 20 kilos more, or 30 kilos - maybe some were running with 100kg and some with 140kg you can see a big difference.

"We will wait and see in the race, which is the right time to have a clear picture."

Massa admitted he was unable to go through the fast 130R corner with his DRS open like rival Red Bull.

"It is not easy for our car. Maybe tomorrow there will be a bit more grip and we can see if it is going to be better."

The Ferrari driver, fifth quickest today, said he was pleased with his session, but admitted the real gap to the front will only be seen tomorrow.

"I think it was okay. We only need to wait until tomorrow to see the real gap between the cars but I think it was a good Friday anyway, the car feels good, and I hope better than the last races.

"So for sure the race here will not be easy in terms of tyre degradation. It is a track that uses a lot of tyres as well, so it is something that we need to be aware of with the right strategy as well."

[vcs316]

Fernando Alonso expects podium finish at best for Ferrari in Japanese Grand Prix

Fernando Alonso still believes the podium is the best Ferrari can hope for in the Japanese Grand Prix as he expects Red Bull will run away with the race.

Alonso's Ferrari was second to Jenson Button's McLaren in Friday practice at Suzuka, but the Spaniard anticipates a big step from Red Bull tomorrow.

"Our target, our aim, is to fight for the podium in the races that are now to the end," said Alonso.

"But we know that Red Bull tomorrow will be very strong, as normally they are on Saturday. On this type of circuit, the normal result is Red Bull first and second so we need to fight with McLaren for the third position."

Alonso thinks he can find a little more time in himself for tomorrow.

"There is always something to gain in qualifying, and I am sure all drivers will try and find something more, even if you say Suzuka is a track that if you push a little bit over the limit you probably go off the track, so you need to balance, that but in my case I am sure that tomorrow hopefully I can find some more tenths, especially in the first sector," he said.

"The Esses, when you go through there, you think you can push a little bit more in the next lap, but with this year's tyres there is not any more the next lap - you have only one chance, so tomorrow in Q3 I am sure that we will find the perfect lap."

With no upgrades on the Ferrari this weekend, Alonso said the focus today had been on tyre work, and he expects a high number of pitstops in the race.

"There were not new parts in the car so we tried to concentrate on the tyres, giving the possibility in a short run to see what is the performance like and then in the long run with both cars different tyres, try to see the performance in the long run as well," he explained.

"We had some good conclusions but it is true that the degradation seems quite important here, as we knew already with the characteristics of the track, so I expect in the race we need to take care of the tyres for sure and the number of pitstops will be quite high."

[vcs316]

Japan Friday quotes: Ferrari

Fernando Alonso - 2nd: "This year we have seen all the teams go through so many highs and lows, with the exception of Red Bull, depending on which track we are at, so we should not be too surprised if today it seems that we have done better than in Singapore for example. And then, today is only Friday: it's happened before that the first day has been like this and then we have not managed to do any better than fifth in qualifying. In fact, I don't think that things are so different to what they were two weeks ago, especially as our cars are pretty much unchanged. We hope to be able to fight with McLaren and Red Bull, but we know it won't be easy. What we can say is that the feeling from today is a little bit more encouraging than in previous races. Also, we must bear in mind that the races have been much more open than in the past, when the final result did not differ that much from the grid positions: strategy, tyre degradation and DRS create much more uncertainty and spectacle. For example, I think that here we will see a lot more overtaking than in past years."

Felipe Massa - 5th: "Overall, it was a good day: compared to so many other Fridays this year, the first impressions are better. The car behaved reasonably well, but it's also true we will not know where we are compared to the others until tomorrow afternoon. We worked a lot on defining the best set-up, learning important things for the rest of the weekend. Tyre degradation seems to be rather significant, which will make the race even more open in terms of strategy: finding the right set-up on the car won't be the easiest of jobs. Maybe we can fight for a podium finish and it's a realistic goal. Sure, I always want to be able to fight for the win: it's true that Red Bull has a significant advantage, but we must continue to believe in ourselves, because in the races, anything can happen."

Pat Fry: "It is always difficult to evacuate precisely the relative strengths through the field on Friday evening, because we do not know exactly what our main opponents were doing, especially when it comes to the fuel loads they ran during the three hours of free practice. Therefore, it's better to concentrate on our own efforts and try and prepare as well as possible for the rest of the weekend. We had various different aerodynamic elements to compare and that was the bulk of what we did in the first session. It's important also when looking to next year, because it means you can go into greater detail when it comes to the correlation between the track and the wind tunnel. This afternoon, tyres were the dominant item during the ninety minutes: this track is very tough on tyres and it will be some challenge to find the right balance on the car, both for qualifying and the race."

[scuderiafan]

so in theory, if some parts are not showing up what they are meant to be, it can be seen to now, and if the wind tunnel is
playing up again it can be seen to.

hope so.

[vcs316]

Ferrari unhappy with rivals' tyre tactics

Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali took aim at the growing practice among teams to prioritise tyre management above qualifying performance, after a bizarre Saturday session in Japan at Suzuka.

Only six of the ten cars set flying laps in the final round of qualifying, and Q2 was similarly afflicted by teams opting to make only a single qualifying run during the time allowed, as teams up and down the pit lane grew concerned about the tyre wear and blistering likely in Sunday's race.

"Once again today, as has happened before during this season, we have seen cars – no less than four in Q3 – give up on doing a flying lap," he pointed out. "I think it shows something is not right in the way qualifying is run and we should give it some careful thought for the future. I don't think it's such a good thing for the spectators in the grandstand - who I must say here are amazing in the way they make you feel their passion for F1 - and for those who are watching on television."

However, Domenicali conceded that from a technical and team point of view, putting tyre management first was the correct call. "Far be it for me to criticise those who made this choice, which is absolutely respectable from a technical point of view," he added.

Fourth and fifth place was about where Domenicali expected to be, and he hopes that it will give them a good platform to mount a challenge for podium finishes come the race. The only surprise is that Felipe Massa finished the fastest of the two drivers.

"It was a difficult qualifying session but at least we managed to keep one of the four best cars behind us," said Massa. "It's never easy here to put together the perfect lap and my last run was very good, even if I lost a little bit in the final sector."

He was focussing on the start of the race - which will see him line-up alongside Lewis Hamilton, just two weeks after the two clashed on- and off-track at Singapore. "Hamilton alongside me on the grid? It makes no difference to me if it's him or anyone else," he insisted.

"I am not very surprised by this result," said Fernando Alonso who starts from fifth place in the race and who didn't think he could have improved his time any more than he did. "I seem to have a season ticket for fifth place this year and at least it means I start from the clean side of the track.

"Tomorrow I expect significant tyre degradation to be a key feature of the race, with the possibility of several pit stops, which means strategy will play a very important role."

Like Massa, Alonso was also focussing on the start of the race as the critical moment: "Both myself and Felipe will try and put pressure on those closest to us and then, if we happen to make up some places we will try and have our say," he said.

[Rob]

Japanese GP - Spaniard Splendid in Suzuka10.9.2011

Suzuka, 9 October – Fernando Alonso said that Scuderia Ferrari had to aim for the podium in the remaining races of the season and today at Suzuka, the Spaniard delivered a super performance to hit the target with a great second place. In fact, there were times when it looked as though a win might even have been on the cards. His team-mate Felipe Massa had a more complicated afternoon, one which again saw him spend a lot of time in the company of Lewis Hamilton. The Brazilian brought his 150º Italia home in seventh spot after a gritty performance. Jenson Button took his third win of the season for McLaren, while Sebastian Vettel took the last step on the podium, which was enough to give the Red Bull driver his second consecutive Drivers’ World Championship title.

Perfect conditions, a huge crowd, it was all looking set for a great afternoon of motor sport in Japan as the lights went out for the start of the Japanese Grand Prix. From pole Vettel’s Red Bull forced Button almost onto the grass, which allowed Hamilton in the other McLaren to go second ahead of his team-mate. Behind them in grid order came Felipe and Fernando, followed by Webber, Schumacher, Di Resta, Sutil with Petrov tenth.

Lap 6 and Fernando dived inside his team-mate going into the first corner to move up to fourth, making use of the DRS zone and Fernando was now just under 3 seconds behind second placed Button. In sixth spot, Webber was half a second behind the Brazilian Ferrari driver. Lap 8 and Button moved ahead of Hamilton who immediately came into the pits to change tyres and Sutil in the Force India also came in on the same lap from ninth.

The race leader Vettel pitted on lap 9 as did Schumacher in the Mercedes. Button, Alonso, Webber and Di Resta all came in together on lap 10, with Felipe pitting from his temporary lead on lap 11, followed down pit lane by Buemi, but the Toro Rosso driver ended up parking the car at the side of the track as his right front wheel came off shortly after leaving the pits.

The run of pit stops at the front meant that while the top three order was Vettel, Button and Fernando, Hamilton had got ahead of Felipe, pushing the Brazilian down to fifth. Button built his win on a better second pit stop than the German Red Bull man when they came in on laps 20 and 19 respectively. Shortly after, as Felipe tried to get ahead of Hamilton, the two cars touched when the Ferrari was alongside the McLaren. It looked as though Hamilton moved across on his rival and they collided. A front wing end plate and the floor were damaged on the 150º Italia and a piece of debris from the Ferrari lay in the middle of the track which brought out the Safety Car for a while. From then on, Felipe’s car never handled as it should and the Brazilian struggled from then on. Webber got ahead of the Hamilton-Massa duel to go fourth when he made an earlier pit stop and the McLaren man got past Felipe going into the first corner on lap 37. The run of pit stops also saw Schumacher get his Mercedes ahead of the Brazilian. Also on lap 37, Fernando made his third and final pit stop and having gone longer than his rivals, this put him back on track ahead of Vettel to give the Ferrari man second place. In the closing stages, Fernando appeared to be closing on race leader Button, partly because the Englishman had been told to back off to save fuel, but in the last part of the 53 lap race, the positions between the top three stabilised to the chequered flag. Fernando is still third in the Drivers’ championship with Felipe sixth and the team remains third in the Constructors’. Behind the podium trio, Webber was fourth, followed by Hamilton and Schumacher, while eighth behind Felipe came Perez, the remaining points going to Petrov ninth and Rosberg tenth.

Winning again is still on the list of targets for the Scuderia and trying to do just that starts again in only a few days, with Friday’s free practice sessions for the Korean Grand Prix.

[Rob]

Japanese GP - Alonso within a whisker of winning at Suzuka10.9.2011

Twenty four points in the bag for Scuderia Ferrari at the end of the Japanese Grand Prix, thanks to a second place for Fernando Alonso and a seventh with Felipe Massa. Both Ferrari men made three pit stops, running identical strategies in terms of their use of the Pirelli tyres: Soft in the first three stints of the race, Medium in the final one. After the fifteenth round of the Championship, Fernando is still third in the Drivers’ classification, while Felipe is sixth. The Scuderia remains on the lowest rung of the podium in the Constructors’ points table.

Stefano Domenicali: “First of all on behalf of the Scuderia, I wish to congratulate Sebastian Vettel on clinching his second Drivers’ title: he has had an incredible season and this fantastic result is well deserved! As for us, I don’t think it’s out of place if, for the second time running, I use the adjective amazing, this time to describe Fernando Alonso’s race today. Our driver was always on the attack and came very close to a win which would have been incredible, given our performance two weeks ago in Singapore. All these changes of fortune in terms of who is competitive, confirm once again how hard it is to understand as well as possible the real performance of the car-tyre packages at each track. Felipe was also having a very good race, at least until the contact with Hamilton: the damage his car suffered in this incident probably penalised him excessively in the second part of the race. There are still four races to go this season, in which we will do our utmost to achieve the objectives that are still within our reach: winning again, taking Fernando to second in the Drivers’ classification and learning as much as possible from this car with a view to 2012.”

Fernando Alonso: “Congratulations to Sebastian! Winning two world titles at his age, in a season in which he has done it all – in qualifying, the races and every other way, so perfectly, is amazing and it is well deserved. For our part, we can do no more than try and do our utmost to try and beat him next year. Today, we did our best and we came close to winning the race. We know that in qualifying we are behind the Red Bulls and McLarens, but in the race, when there are variables like tyre degradation, then we can exploit some opportunities. Here, the others were very strong for the first five or six laps and then we closed up to them a lot. This podium is a great motivation for the final four races of the season. It was a fun race, in which the strategy was very important. Unlike recent races, today we had a pace that was good enough to fight for the win. We will try again in Korea, where we can go with our heads held high: we will try and win, or at least get on the podium again.”

Felipe Massa: “Once again I finish a race with a very bitter taste in my mouth. Today, our pace was good enough to finish on the podium, as Fernando demonstrated, but instead I am here commenting on a seventh place. It’s a real shame. The contact with Hamilton? My car was definitely damaged by it: when I looked at it after the race, I saw there was a bit of the front wing endplate missing and the floor was not on properly on the left hand side and I could feel it in the way my car was behaving. I think the footage speaks for itself: he was struggling with his tyres and I had almost come alongside him and for no reason, he moved over and hit me. I let you be the judge… It’s pointless for me to say any more about it. However, I do want to congratulate Sebastian Vettel: he is a great guy and deserves this title and I am very happy for him.”

Pat Fry: “A great result today at Suzuka, especially in terms of how competitive we were on track. Fernando came very close to winning, getting the very most out of the equipment at his disposal, trying to attack at every conceivable opportunity. Felipe also drove a good race, but first he might have paid the price for a pit stop that was delayed by a few laps and then there was the contact with Hamilton: in the end he found himself in traffic and we have often seen this year how hard it is to pass a Mercedes, even if we have a better pace. We had a three stop strategy, aware that it would not be an easy one to manage given the rather high level of tyre degradation. The Safety Car period gave everyone a hand and, for once, even the traffic helped us a bit, at least with Fernando. We were not able to make the most of our pace in the final part of each stint with the Soft tyres, because in any case it always costs you a bit pitting early, at least until the point at which you don’t lengthen the final stint of the race too much. Here too, the performance on the Mediums was not that bad, also because we suffered a lot less from our traditional problem of getting the harder compound up to temperature. Now we will try to do the same again next weekend in Korea: it would be nice to get another win before the end of the season, but we know it will be difficult!”


http://www.ferrari.com/English/Formu...at-Suzuka.aspx