F2013: history dictates that growth will come

[Massimo]

And why the F2013 can beat the RB9

After a title once more slipped through our fingers, it's time to rebuild our confidence and prepare for war once more, in Alonso and Massa we have our warriors, in the F2013 we have our lethal weapon, and in Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, Stefano Domenicali, Pat Fry, Nicolas Tombazis and Neil Martin, we have our General and his loyal Lieutenants.
We can do this, forza ragazzi!

What point on the performance curve are the 2013 single-seaters? We’ll soon see if history has a lesson for us all.

Let’s look at just one example: when we were kids, we all made paper aeroplanes. When you throw them, they start off slow and then gather speed, balance in flight, before eventually floating back to earth again.

It’s a bit like that with racing cars. They are born, go through a shakedown period, grow and develop. They stay competitive for a few years, then their performance gradually wanes and they make their exit from the scene.



Look back at the days of the 312 T, driven by Lauda and Scheckter, from the hand of Mauro Forghieri and you’ll see what I mean. When that car got past its early stages, it was so fast it was unbeatable and dominated the second half of the seventies.

The same thing happened during the Schumacher era with Rory Byrne’s single-seaters which went all the way from ’98-’99 to Räikkönen’s world title.
Beautiful curves that gradually petered downwards, as happened to the unbeatable McLarens after Senna, or the post Schumacher Benetton period, it happened to Williams after Newey, and again to McLaren after Hakkinen.
Cycles that remained succesful, with ups and downs, untill key employees left or after they drastically changed the rules of the game.

How many years do the Newey creations and/or Vettel dominate the scene? Probably since 2009, but how long can you stay on top, how long can their cycle last?
I'd like to think, they're running out of options, the margins to be found by Newey are getting smaller and we are breathing down his neck.

The F2012, which made its debut in late January, proved in the course of the just-finished season that it had potential but had not yet reached its peak, and is practically in her second year of life, but she has the DNA to do the same as the Forghieri and Byrne cars.
The big hope now is that it will develop as successfully as we are all expecting, not forgetting that our closest competitors may well find themselves at that point in the curve where it begins to slope downwards…

Avanti Fer, Avanti!!

Put together from articles in Derapate.it and Ferrari magazine.

[fratelliferrari]

Very good story and so true! Let's develop the F2012 into a more competitive 2013 car and we are in a really good position next year!

[Tobes]

I agree these things go in cycles, but the downward curve does seem to coincide with big rule changes, I fear the Newey / Vettel / Red Bull combination has another year to go yet, The F2004 was possibly the best car ever made in the modern era, but the same car used for the first few races of '05 was a disaster, think the rule changes in 2014 will lead to a change in the curve, next year will be similar to this year as the rules are pretty much the same, next years car is an evolution of this year and can't help but feel that favours Red Bull and Vettel...

I remember in 2000 - 2004 we would get regular trolls moaning about the boring predictability of Formula 1, specifically Ferrari and Michael and put him and us down endlessly, the answer that was always posted was that it's down to McLaren or Benetton or whoever to catch up, don't hate us just because we were winning, ultimately it's now up to us to catch up with Red Bull, the one difference between then and now is that back then (in Michael) we had the best driver in the field, but right now Red Bull don't have that luxury, actually we probably still have the best driver in the current field, we just need to give him the car to get the job done, really hope that is next season, but i've no doubt Vettel, Kimi, (and maybe Jense or Checo) will be right there too, at least for another year...

[Greig]

Agree with Tobes, we have to catch up not cry Red Bull are cheats (as seems to be the case) as they did to us when MS was lording it up

[Massimo]

I agree these things go in cycles, but the downward curve does seem to coincide with big rule changes, I fear the Newey / Vettel / Red Bull combination has another year to go yet, The F2004 was possibly the best car ever made in the modern era, but the same car used for the first few races of '05 was a disaster, think the rule changes in 2014 will lead to a change in the curve, next year will be similar to this year as the rules are pretty much the same, next years car is an evolution of this year and can't help but feel that favours Red Bull and Vettel...

I remember in 2000 - 2004 we would get regular trolls moaning about the boring predictability of Formula 1, specifically Ferrari and Michael and put him and us down endlessly, the answer that was always posted was that it's down to McLaren or Benetton or whoever to catch up, don't hate us just because we were winning, ultimately it's now up to us to catch up with Red Bull, the one difference between then and now is that back then (in Michael) we had the best driver in the field, but right now Red Bull don't have that luxury, actually we probably still have the best driver in the current field, we just need to give him the car to get the job done, really hope that is next season, but i've no doubt Vettel, Kimi, (and maybe Jense or Checo) will be right there too, at least for another year...

True, like i said in the article, "Cycles that remained successful, with ups and downs, until key employees left or after they drastically changed the rules of the game"
That the rules don't change next year i don't necessarily see as a bad thing, eventually you're at the end of the road, within(!) the rules, it will be harder for Newey to find big gains, the F2012 on the other hand has a lot more to discover, let's hope they can get it out.

I think you're right that Red Bull will still be the team to beat next year, but the margins will be a lot smaller, and we have the time to fine tune our car more, hopefully reaching it's full potential.
McLaren, i still have to see if they can keep their speed and improve reliability, that has been their achilles heel over the years, and last year was a fine example again.
Ferrari the fastest car straight out of the box? Yes please, but i'll settle for a slightly slower car also, we have Alonso and the reborn Felipe to do the rest.

But i wouldn't mind the Red Bull curve sloping downwards at all, and i definitely wouldn't mind a few years of Ferrari domination, starting next year and taking us far into the turbo era.

[Rishu]

Alonso & Michael's career have similar curves as well. Both won back to back Championships with Benneton/ Renault, deserved but lost title in their 3rd season with Ferrari. Which leads me to believe 2014 is the year we are due to see Ferrari/Alonso domination #Hope


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[fratelliferrari]

I hope you are right Rishu. PS: Rishu can't you get an avatar with Fernando with our beautiful Ferrari-red teamwear on and not that dirty grey of Mclaren:xmastongue: LOL

[Hermann]

I hope you are right Rishu. PS: Rishu can't you get an avatar with Fernando with our beautiful Ferrari-red teamwear on and not that dirty grey of Mclaren:xmastongue: LOL

Since at the end of 2007 Fernando was actually already working for Ferrari- i'd guess there is some irony in that avatar :xmasbiggrin:

[fratelliferrari]

Hihi maybe that's the case Hermann. But I just don't like to see Fernando in that disgusting ugly Mclaren wear :xmastongue:! Just my opinion LOL

[Massimo]

Since at the end of 2007 Fernando was actually already working for Ferrari- i'd guess there is some irony in that avatar :xmasbiggrin:

Ha,ha, nice on Hermann, in 2007 Fernando was driving a very rare silver coloured Ferrari MP4-22

[wisepie]

Even I admit that it got a bit boring when Michael was winning everything, there's something to be said for a championship that doesn't have a clear victor, car or driver, all season long. It was the odds stacked against us by having a poor car early in the season that made this year such a challenge, to which Fernando and latterly Felipe rose with great determination and dignity. The team effort was also the stuff of legend, and with all those attributes, we should look forward to the next red cycle!

[FA fan]

True, like i said in the article, "Cycles that remained successful, with ups and downs, until key employees left or after they drastically changed the rules of the game"
That the rules don't change next year i don't necessarily see as a bad thing, eventually you're at the end of the road, within(!) the rules, it will be harder for Newey to find big gains, the F2012 on the other hand has a lot more to discover, let's hope they can get it out.

I think you're right that Red Bull will still be the team to beat next year, but the margins will be a lot smaller, and we have the time to fine tune our car more, hopefully reaching it's full potential.
McLaren, i still have to see if they can keep their speed and improve reliability, that has been their achilles heel over the years, and last year was a fine example again.
Ferrari the fastest car straight out of the box? Yes please, but i'll settle for a slightly slower car also, we have Alonso and the reborn Felipe to do the rest.

But i wouldn't mind the Red Bull curve sloping downwards at all, and i definitely wouldn't mind a few years of Ferrari domination, starting next year and taking us far into the turbo era.

Your right about most of the things Massimo,but when Newey says it's much harder to get gains,he is probably right cuz he already has the fastest car,and it's 7-8 tenths faster,so Ferrari again has to do a radical change to be competitive,and mclaren is already faster also,and if they solve their relialibilty issues we have another really uphill task!! But their Era hopefully should end by 2014 I hope..