Barcelona team news&quotes 2013

[Rob]

[fratelliferrari]

Thanks for posting Rob!

[shamim179]

The team seem confident. And these prototype tyres will give us an opportunity to test parts for longer.

[Paulo Goncalves]

Thanks for this little smell of our team.

[Paulo Goncalves]

Can´t still wait for action. Last weekend were more than 110000 people on motogp. Want to see how many wiil be for seeing Nando.

[Rishu]

Can´t still wait for action. Last weekend were more than 110000 people on motogp. Want to see how many wiil be for seeing Nando.

Certainly helps if top 3 are Spanish locking the front row

[tifosi1993]

[Schumyboy83]

Anyone have a weather report for the weekend, Cant wait to be there seeing Fernando in action, Cheers

[fratelliferrari]

It looks fresh for Barcelona this weekend with around 18 Degrees Celcius according to Formula1.com

[tifosi1993]

'

[Schumyboy83]

It looks fresh for Barcelona this weekend with around 18 Degrees Celcius according to Formula1.com

Thanks, Dont want any rain,

[Gerhard Berger]

Tombazis will be in the press conference tommorrow.

[fratelliferrari]

I am also hoping it will be dry this weekend

[zike]

It looks fresh for Barcelona this weekend with around 18 Degrees Celcius according to Formula1.com

could play in Merc favor

[Rob]

[Rob]

[Schumyboy83]

Yes, Make sure that DRS works properly this weekend please, Check and double check.....

[tifosi1993]

[Rob]

Spanish GP – Alonso: “a positive mentality, not a defensive one”
Montmelo, 9 May – No prizes for guessing that Fernando Alonso was called to this afternoon’s FIA Press Conference at the Catalunya Circuit, in the build up to his home race. The Ferrari man went from laconic to loquacious as he faced the media and the overall vibe he gave out was a positive one.

“I think it motivates you to race at home and you find an extra 10% in everything you do, in every detail of the weekend, starting with tomorrow’s practice,” began Fernando. “You try and do everything well, because you know a nice podium finish makes you happy, the team happy and many people in the grandstand happy. It’s a special weekend and after all these years here, it is more motivation than pressure. I want to make everyone enjoy Sunday afternoon.”

Alonso was asked for a comment on the fact that only two winners in twenty two Spanish Grands Prix have not started from the front row. “This year, we have seen that race pace and tyres are the key factors, more so than previously,” he explained. “Obviously it’s good to start from the front, because you know your chances are high and you can almost touch the podium if you qualify on the front row. We need to have a normal weekend, finding the right balance between qualifying and the race. But, the first really important qualifying will come in two weeks time in Monaco, when we know it is extremely important.”

As to his hopes for the weekend, Fernando is optimistic and he outlined the reasons why: “last year we were 1.5 seconds behind the others and thanks to the weather and luck we won in Malaysia. But this year, we finished second in Australia and we won in China, because we have a very different package. This gives us optimism and confidence that we can have a good championship, if we deliver consistent results. We are some points behind at the moment, but it’s a long championship and we have seen many examples of people fighting back: last year, Sebastian was 43 points behind us after the summer break and arrived in Austin leading the classification, so in five or six races you can recover 45 to 50 points if you get some consistent results. This year is the first time I have arrived here with a competitive car but we still need to do everything right and put together a good weekend if we want to fight for the top places. We will also need to see how the car responds to some new parts we have here. But we can say we are approaching this weekend with a positive mentality, not a defensive one like we did in my first years with Ferrari.”

Pirelli has altered the characteristics of the Hard tyre which will be the Prime this weekend and Fernando seemed relaxed about dealing with a further unknown. “We will try it for the first time tomorrow and learn something and we will know more after the race, but I don’t think the new tyre will benefit one team more than another,” he said.

Finally, it was time to switch from F1 to Football and the recent European semi-finals, which saw both Spanish teams go out of the competition. “It was sad for the two Spanish teams, especially for Real which is my team, even if they played better in Madrid than in Germany, but there was too much to make up after the first game,” said Fernando. “I think the final will be a close game.” As both these defeats came at the hand of German teams, and Vettel was sitting on the Ferrari man’s right in the press conference, the man from Oviedo was asked to assess Spanish-German sporting relations! “We don’t have too many games together, apart from this week’s semi-finals. In other sports, we don’t play much together, because the sports at which we are good, like tennis and basketball, the Germans are not so good and the sports they are good at, skiing for example, there are no Spanish competitors,” was Fernando’s assessment, before adding with a hint of irony, “in Formula 1 we are always a minority because there are four or five German drivers but I’m happy if the Germans keep winning at football!


http://formula1.ferrari.com/news/spa...-defensive-one

[fratelliferrari]

Hi tifosi1993, on the last picture at the left is that the cook of Ferrari? It seems he likes eating

[tifosi1993]

Hi tifosi1993, on the last picture at the left is that the cook of Ferrari? It seems he likes eating

He is a mechanic i guess. But you are right though, he likes eating.

[Rob]

Spanish GP – Massa: “This could be a good track for us”
Montmelo, 9 May – With his team-mate in the FIA press conference, it fell to Felipe Massa to tackle the first press conference of the year to be held in the Scuderia Ferrari Media Hospitality, as the team motorhomes and trucks make their opening appearance of the season, now that we are back in Europe. “This could be a good track for us and it’s one where we went well in the winter,” was Felipe’s opening remark. “It’s a track I like too and I also feel very positive about this race, thinking about our race pace, but I also hope we will be competitive in qualifying.” That confidence stems in part from a package of updates that will be tried on the F138 in tomorrow’s free practice, but the Brazilian is realistic enough not to expect miracles. “We have new parts yes, and of course we are always hoping for a car with more downforce, that degrades it’s tyres less, but gives more grip and hopefully we end up with a car that helps the tyres work better, not just in qualifying but also in the race,” he said. “I don’t think the situation will change so much from what we have seen so far, although it’s true that many teams will have a lot of updates and we will see improvements. Maybe the teams who were suffering the most will suffer a bit less. But some of the front-runners could also move forward, because at the end of a three week break it’s logical that a team might come up with an update package that’s an improvement, but I don’t think it will produce a major change.”

Felipe is also looking forward to trying the reworked Hard Pirelli, as he was a critic of its previous incarnation seen so far this year. “The new tyre is a positive change, because the difference between the Hard and the Medium was that the Hard this year was always slower but also wore out more than the Medium,” he revealed. “Now I think the Hard should be a little bit quicker than before with slightly better wear than the Medium. But it’s hard to say until we’ve used it and also we need to see how the other teams get on with it.”

Lastly came a question from left field: how come Felipe had started to bring his little boy to the races? “I have always been a family man and I remember when I was karting, my parents were always with me and, as you know they come and watch me in Formula 1,” replied the proud father. “I feel happier when they are here and now that my son is three years old, I have started to bring him to more races, because he is beginning to understand more. He knows who all the drivers are and it’s fun to have him here and it’s surprising how much a three year old can understand. He’s got competition in the blood!”

http://formula1.ferrari.com/news/spa...-good-track-us

[Rob]

Spanish GP – Felipe Massa: “Something more”
Felipe Massa: “I can’t say I’m pleased with this result, because I was expecting more after the times I did this morning. Unfortunately, in the third sector I had slight understeer which was costing me time, but all the same, I feel very confident because our car seems competitive. Now we must concentrate on tomorrow’s race, because it will be a long one and anything can happen. As for the Stewards’ decision relating to what happened with Webber in Q2, it was not my intention to get in his way and in all honesty, I can’t recall having affected his qualifying. When I saw him in the mirrors, I thought I’d get through the corner before letting him by, which was the only course of action at such a narrow point. On top of that, he was on worn tyres at the time and I don’t think he was doing a quick lap. I’m not surprised at the pace of the Mercedes, as they were already strong here in winter testing and their car is always very competitive in qualifying. This result shows once again that, on Saturdays, our rivals prefer to take a more conservative approach in the morning before revealing their true potential in the afternoon”.

Spanish GP – Fernando Alonso: “I think positive”
Fernando Alonso: “It’s a well known fact that Saturday afternoon is our weak point and fifth place is more or less what we were expecting. We were well aware that Red Bull and Mercedes would both be very strong, but while it’s true we have to start taking back points on Vettel, we are not too scared of Mercedes, who usually have higher tyre degradation. The team and I are optimistic for tomorrow as our race pace is good and usually we manage to go better on Sunday. We start from the clean side and hope that will allow us to get off the line well, because what we need here is to make up some places at the start and then put in a few clean laps in the early stages or at half distance. We will also have to defend against Raikkonen: so far he has gone very well in the races and the Lotus doesn’t seem to suffer too much on the tyre front. As usual this season it will be very important to choose the right strategy, because there is only one lap difference in terms of degradation between the two tyre compounds”.

Spanish GP – Stefano Domenicali: “Looking ahead”
Stefano Domenicali: “First of all, I want to wish the best of luck to Pat Fry, our Technical Director who will be undergoing an appendectomy this afternoon and we wish him all the best for a rapid recovery. As for qualifying, we knew we couldn’t be in the hunt for the very front: we definitely cannot be satisfied with the result, but the third row is still a good starting point on which to build in tomorrow’s race. It was not a surprise to see the two Mercedes being so quick, as it was also the case in winter testing at this track. Looking ahead to Sunday, we are reasonably sure we can count on the potential we have seen so far and as usual, the start will be very important to try and make up a few places. Tyre degradation will still be a key factor and so we must stay focused and make the most of any opportunity.”

[Rob]

Spanish GP – Fifth for Alonso – penalty drops Massa to ninth
Montmelo, 11 May – The top eight cars on the grid for the Spanish Grand Prix all set lap times within the same one tenth of a second, from 1.20.718 to 1.21.570, but if you’re looking for something even closer, what about the one thousandth of a second separating Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa? The two Ferrari men took identical routes through the three sections of this afternoon’s qualifying in terms of tyre useage and eventually set almost identical times on their way to fifth and sixth spots on the time sheet, the Spaniard having the marginal edge here at his home race and thus getting to start from the clean side of Row 3. Having been fastest in this morning’s final free practice, Felipe actually looked to be heading for pole on his final lap, but then lost time in sector 3. There was worse to come for the Brazilian as the Stewards deemed he had impeded Mark Webber during Q2 and imposed a three place grid penalty on the Ferrari man, who will now start ninth on the inside of Row 5. Felipe is not exactly in agreement with the Stewards, but as always the team accepts the official decision.

After a cloudy start to Saturday in this part of Catalunya, the temperatures increased as the sun came out, while at the same time the wind blowing against the cars down the main straight increased in intensity. All three sessions were relatively straightforward, with Caterham, Marussia and last year’s Spanish pole and race winning team Williams, failing to get to Q2, while Jenson Button in the McLaren was the most high profile casualty of the cut to Q3. Even though the margins were very small, one team dominated with Nico Rosberg taking pole ahead of Lewis Hamilton, thus creating an all-silver Mercedes front row for tomorrow. The second row features the two men currently at the top of the Drivers’ classification, Sebastian Vettel, third fastest for Red Bull, ahead of Kimi Raikkonen in the Lotus. When the lights go out tomorrow afternoon, Fernando will now have Romain Grosjean in the other Lotus next to him, while his mirrors will be full of Mark Webber in the Red Bull and Sergio Perez in the McLaren, these three being the principal beneficiaries of Felipe’s penalty. Felipe will now have Paul di Resta on his outside, tenth for Force India.

Strategically, it promises to be an interesting fifth round of this year’s World Championship, with three stops seeming the most logical and quickest way to complete the 66 laps of the Catalunya Circuit, although four stops might even be a possibility. That being the case, the drivers will not have to worry too much about tyre wear, as in past races this season, and should be able to push all the way from lights-out to chequered flag. However, choosing the right time to pit for fresh rubber will, as always be one of the key elements of a race. When the lights go out, watch closely, because the F138 has proved to be quick off the mark and the two Ferrari men will be keen to dispose of some of their rivals as quickly as possible as they head down that long Catalunya pit straight.

http://formula1.ferrari.com/news/spa...ps-massa-ninth