Second Barcelona Test 1st-4th Mar 2012 - news and pics

[Fer12]

We only new few dry laps to see if our aero updates are working or not...But we wont know how they will behave on longer runs.
In wet races everybody runs with their cars with relatively high levels of Downforce..it might be anybody's race.Since our car does not have any tyre problems(Getting them to working temp quickly),with a little luck A win is a possibility...
Common FERNANDO.....

[XXX132]

I feel the car will be fast enough. The team have been consistently downplaying the performance of the car during testing and this has been widely interpreted as "we have a problem". Certain developments have proved problematic and we have had to revert to more conventional solutions to get the baseline settings finalised, but there is speed in the car. SD has said the car isn't where they want it to be, but that doesn't mean it's slow. We will be kicking @*$% - it's just the size of the boot that is unknown.

[vae32]

Hey everyone, can anybody verify to me please which sectors was Alonso quickest at the final test at Barca? That f2012 does stick to the rd, we got a high chance of giving it to Vettel this year.

[Ferrari2183]

Don't which sectors he was fastest at because the sites that live commentating were fawning over either McLaren or Mercedes...

[rocks.ral]

Besides what Montezemolo and Domenicelli have to say, Ferrari's new challenger (F2012) does not look very bad on track. Alonso seems to have concerns because he is a champion driver and expects the car to do faster laps consistently while Massa has never won a championship or has been quite close once and so the optimism. Looking at the pecking order according to me for Australia is, 1) Button/Vettel 2)Hamilton/Webber 3) Alonso/Roseberg 4) Kimi/Schumi 5)Massa/Gros.. no matter how the Qualifying goes, based on the long run simulations that Mercedes and Mclaren have already done in practice.. the race can go either way.. My only concern now is, Ferrari have been transparent.. What about the rest? RAL

[vae32]

Don't which sectors he was fastest at because the sites that live commentating were fawning over either McLaren or Mercedes...

Sorry mate l wasn't specific, just following autosport on that final test and he note down that Alonso purple lights on 2 of the sectors, just cant remember if its sector 1,2 or 2,3, but then he came into pit. It just looks promising if its sector 2,3, I think this front suspension is a big deal, its glueing the tyres to the track. Anyway thanks for replying back, still Alonso p1 comes Sat quali

[vae32]

Besides what Montezemolo and Domenicelli have to say, Ferrari's new challenger (F2012) does not look very bad on track. Alonso seems to have concerns because he is a champion driver and expects the car to do faster laps consistently while Massa has never won a championship or has been quite close once and so the optimism. Looking at the pecking order according to me for Australia is, 1) Button/Vettel 2)Hamilton/Webber 3) Alonso/Roseberg 4) Kimi/Schumi 5)Massa/Gros.. no matter how the Qualifying goes, based on the long run simulations that Mercedes and Mclaren have already done in practice.. the race can go either way.. My only concern now is, Ferrari have been transparent.. What about the rest? RAL

I think you're too hard onself my friend what about this, 1.Alonso/Massa and dont worry about the rest.

[Ferrarichamp]

I guess it depends on one's expectations. Some will be happy with a podium, for example Alonso 3rd and Massa 4th. I think Ferrari need a car that can win races from the start, otherwise they'll be playing catch up and we know how hard it is to win championships that way.

[rocks.ral]

Ferrari's rivals are refusing to write off the team's chances of being a strong force in Formula 1 this year, despite its troubles in testing.

The Maranello-based outfit has not delivered the car it hoped to have for the start of the campaign, and technical director Pat Fry recently ruled out its chances of fighting for early podiums.

However, with Ferrari having still shown flashes of single-lap speed in the build-up to the campaign, and as it has huge resources to plot its recovery, the opposition are not discounting its prospects for 2012.

Lotus boss Eric Boullier, who saw his team deliver a race simulation run in the final test that would have seen it finish ahead of Fernando Alonso, told AUTOSPORT: "It is too early and we have seen Ferrari has a lot of resources, and are also very competent people - so you never know how it will be.

"I would be waiting for the development of the car, and it is not because of one race simulation where we were supposedly faster than them that we are going to beat them this season. We have to keep focused on our car and we have to do our best.

"For sure the package we have this year looks promising, but it is going to be very tough and we need to not miss any opportunity in the first races, because it is going to be tough to score points or take podiums."

He added: "Don't underestimate the capacity of Ferrari to react. They will be back."

Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner said about his predictions for the competitive order: "It will be all the usual suspects, so I don't think there will be any surprise to see McLaren looking strong.

"Ferrari, I think, are in better shape than people perceive. Mercedes look like they have made a bit of progress from last year, so I think it is going to be the usual protagonists up there."

Lotus trackside operations engineer Alan Permane said his outfit was not taking it for granted that Ferrari was behind.

"It is evident that it is all very close, so there will be places where some teams' cars are working better, or their set-up is better, and they will jump in there," he told AUTOSPORT.

"People have all said through winter testing, don't read anything into it, and now it is finished and everybody is trying to read everything into it. Until we get to Melbourne we won't know.

"We know Red Bull are going to be there, we know McLaren are going to be there, where the rest of us are? Who knows?

"Ferrari do look like they are struggling, we did the race distance with Fernando and he was slightly quicker, but they did an extra stop. We could have done that too, but we did a very long stint on the hard tyres just so we could see what would have happened, and if we had stopped we would have been another three or four seconds up the road, so we were pleased with that.

"I don't know where Ferrari are going to be. I would love to say we are going to be in front of them, but I think that is probably too optimistic because if they are struggling now then they will not be struggling for long."

Source- Autosport

[Jose Lorca]

Rival Formula 1 teams refuse to discount struggling Ferrari

Ferrari's rivals are refusing to write off the team's chances of being a strong force in Formula 1 this year, despite its troubles in testing.

The Maranello-based outfit has not delivered the car it hoped to have for the start of the campaign, and technical director Pat Fry recently ruled out its chances of fighting for early podiums.

However, with Ferrari having still shown flashes of single-lap speed in the build-up to the campaign, and as it has huge resources to plot its recovery, the opposition are not discounting its prospects for 2012.

Lotus boss Eric Boullier, who saw his team deliver a race simulation run in the final test that would have seen it finish ahead of Fernando Alonso, told AUTOSPORT: "It is too early and we have seen Ferrari has a lot of resources, and are also very competent people - so you never know how it will be.

"I would be waiting for the development of the car, and it is not because of one race simulation where we were supposedly faster than them that we are going to beat them this season. We have to keep focused on our car and we have to do our best.

"For sure the package we have this year looks promising, but it is going to be very tough and we need to not miss any opportunity in the first races, because it is going to be tough to score points or take podiums."

He added: "Don't underestimate the capacity of Ferrari to react. They will be back."

Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner said about his predictions for the competitive order: "It will be all the usual suspects, so I don't think there will be any surprise to see McLaren looking strong.

"Ferrari, I think, are in better shape than people perceive. Mercedes look like they have made a bit of progress from last year, so I think it is going to be the usual protagonists up there."

Lotus trackside operations engineer Alan Permane said his outfit was not taking it for granted that Ferrari was behind.

"It is evident that it is all very close, so there will be places where some teams' cars are working better, or their set-up is better, and they will jump in there," he told AUTOSPORT.

"People have all said through winter testing, don't read anything into it, and now it is finished and everybody is trying to read everything into it. Until we get to Melbourne we won't know.

"We know Red Bull are going to be there, we know McLaren are going to be there, where the rest of us are? Who knows?

"Ferrari do look like they are struggling, we did the race distance with Fernando and he was slightly quicker, but they did an extra stop. We could have done that too, but we did a very long stint on the hard tyres just so we could see what would have happened, and if we had stopped we would have been another three or four seconds up the road, so we were pleased with that.

"I don't know where Ferrari are going to be. I would love to say we are going to be in front of them, but I think that is probably too optimistic because if they are struggling now then they will not be struggling for long."
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/97997

Our rivals are not underestimating us, but Autosport have decided we're in the midfield:





Here are Autosport's predictions (from this article)

[epiclyaddicted]

Thanks for posting the story, but can we not keep all posts on this topic in one thread, instead of having 3 or 4 different threads on largely the same topic? The F2012 development thread seems to be working well for all chat regarding the car, so may be it's a good idea to keep all of these posts on one single thread?

Just makes the forum look tidier imo.

[Hornet]

Well, they'd better enjoy their delusion while they can, as it will be coming to an end soon

While I'm not saying Ferrari is the fastest team yet, I still believe that at worst, we're 3rd team. Anyone who expects Merc or Lotus to get ahead of Ferrari will be disappointed.

[scuderiafan]

Their headlines are normally all full of ****.
Remember their one after Silverstone, rule changes make ferrari competitors slow, or something, then they still end up being second at the German GP.

[Suzie]

Thanks for posting the story, but can we not keep all posts on this topic in one thread, instead of having 3 or 4 different threads on largely the same topic? The F2012 development thread seems to be working well for all chat regarding the car, so may be it's a good idea to keep all of these posts on one single thread?

Just makes the forum look tidier imo.

Agreed, have merged threads into this one.

Please have a look at existing threads before creating new ones that are about the same topic

[Hombre B]

Alonso blog:

http://www.ferrari.com/english/scude...to-racing.aspx

Massa blog:

http://www.ferrari.com/english/scude...the-track.aspx

[rsaca]

I think it's pretty stupid from Autosport or any reputable magazine to rank Ferrari that behind when the season hasn't started at all!

You wouldn't say Real Madrid or Barcelona will be 4th of the league after they lost one pre-season match, would you?