F14-T- Development & News

[tifosi1993]

James Allen reported a week or so ago that we'll have a complete engine re-mapping for Bahrain.

Hope so because we seriously need some straight line speed. Ferrari had to shave some rear end/overall downforce to gain some straight line speed.

That's why they are not running a monkey seat like other teams, especially in high downforce circuits. (Due to its lower L/D ratio, the monkey seat will increase drag)

[Jas]

HMMM I Wonder what this "part" is, whether aero or mechanical!


Despite a frustrating race at Sepang, Raikkonen is confident upgrades can improve Ferrari's prospects further in Bahrain next week.

"Hopefully next race we will have some new parts for the car I've been asking for and hopefully it makes a change in a nice way. Hopefully the front end will feel nicer. We will have to wait and see how we do on Friday there. I know on the test there was a some difficulties with handling but hopefully the new parts can sort that out. The new updates should make us a bit happier with the front end. It's a new part and we don't know if it will do what we expect. We have a good understanding of where we want to go and what to do. I expect if we make that happen we can go much faster, but how quickly we can do that we will see. All the good things we did a lot better here so we are going in the right direction."

Read more at http://en.espnf1.com/malaysia/motors...4ZXuVdSUoBU.99

[impactX]

Looking at the fuel consumption during race, it looks like the Mercedes engine has upperhand on both the power and fuel efficiency. Ferrari's fuel consumption looks similar to Renault's and Redbull had better grip when accelerating out of a corner (with Riccardo pulling away from Alonso quite quickly when exiting the corners after the first pitstop).

[Jas]

Looking at the fuel consumption during race, it looks like the Mercedes engine has upperhand on both the power and fuel efficiency. Ferrari's fuel consumption looks similar to Renault's and Redbull had better grip when accelerating out of a corner (with Riccardo pulling away from Alonso quite quickly when exiting the corners after the first pitstop).

don't forget a very good launch system..guess that's to do with the interaction of the PU system, but still haha

[Jas]

Malaysian GP: Little bit of a nightmare race for Alonso



Fernando Alonso has said Ferrari needs to improve and that his car felt slow for all of Sunday's Malaysian Grand Prix, a race he described as 'a little bit of a nightmare'.

Alonso spent most of the afternoon battling with Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo and Force India's Nico Hulkenberg, and while he got the better of both - with Ricciardo dropping back after pit stop problems, and then passing Hulkenberg to take fourth near the end, the Spaniard was still disappointed.

Indeed he was 35.9 seconds off eventual winner, Lewis Hamilton at the 'flag, while Sebastian Vettel was 11.4 seconds ahead in P3.

“It [my Ferrari] felt slow for all the race, to be honest,” Alonso told reporters in Sepang, including Crash.net. “I felt not competitive enough and I was not fast enough in the first stint to compete with the guys in front. Then when we did the first stint and we switched for another set of medium tyres. I was not really comfortable then either - not comfortable with the balance and not comfortable with the brakes. It was a little bit of a nightmare out there. We understand that Hulkenberg was on a different strategy and from that point we needed to push and try and get him. It was not possible to challenge the Red Bull. But we knew Hulkenberg would be in front in the last stint and so we will need to overtake him. There was no time to lose in the pit stop or with the people we were lapping, any small time lost, would be a penalty later on. We tried to concentrate on that.

“About the performance, I don't think there was much difference in stints one, two, three or four. It was just a little bit less fuel every stint and we were a little bit more comfortable with the car [as a result]. But all the rest through, we were not happy.”

Quizzed on what was the main problem, he replied: “We are studying it in detail and trying to analyse everything. Obviously anything we find we will not tell you guys. But today we just didn't have a particularly good race.

“Traction was not good. Out of the corners we were losing ground. But obviously we are comparing our car with the best traction car out there, which is the Red Bull. Maybe it was more or less expected this deficit. Also with the top-speed it is no secret we are not comparable to Mercedes. They were fastest in Australia, fastest in the pre-season tests and fastest here and to pass Hulkenberg we had to do it in the second corner. That is not a normal position to overtake. But with the tyre advantage that I had in the last stint, that was the easiest place for me to do it.

“We have some work to do. Obviously for Bahrain there is not much we can do because in five days we are in the car again. There won't be any magical change on the cars. It will be more or less similar there. The track characteristics are a little bit different so, with more long straights, probably we will see Williams, for example, has a very good top speed and will be competitive in Bahrain. We saw that also in the test with [Felipe] Massa and [Valtteri] Bottas. It is going to be tough again. But somehow we manage to always be in the top-five. At the moment with the performance we have, it is giving us some good points. We must finish the race in Bahrain.

"But for China and Spain it is very clear what we need to bring to the car and we will. We need to do better. No one in the team is giving up. We have the potential and we have talented people and the resources. Let's work on it.”

Despite all that, however, Alonso is still third in the Drivers' Championship and thanks to his fourth in Australia and his fourth in Malaysia, is only one point behind Hamilton.

So is that a miracle, given the level of competitiveness of his Ferrari? “No [it is not a miracle], It is a consequence of a strong car with no mechanical problems,” he explained. “Obviously we have had two races and two finishes and that has given us the opportunity to score some good points. We know that we miss a little bit of performance compared to the top guys and today to run behind the Mercedes' and the Red Bulls, I was not quick enough to follow them. We missed a little bit there. We need to improve. But we were able to score these fourth positions and are third in the Drivers' Championship at the moment. That is the best news of the first few races.”

“Obviously it is not the perfect position to start the championship,” he noted. “We would like to win the first two races, but unfortunately we were not in that position. But the team is doing a massive effort to catch up and improve the situation. We will improve – that is for sure.

“We have only done two races. We are going deep into the analysis of the areas where we need to improve. More or less it seems very clear to us [where we need to improve]. We will put a lot of effort to improve the car and to run as soon as possible at the level of Mercedes and Red Bull.

"Until that day we need to score points, as we are doing, and looking at the performance we have had in these two races, we have only one point less than Hamilton and nine points more than Vettel. That is something that is the less negative thing of the races so far. We are scoring good points and until we are more competitive – that is the goal,” he concluded.

[paneristi]

based on our most recent resume: analyzed this & that and nothing happened. Perhaps our development pace is too slow and too calm compared to others. While we tinker with the cars, the others do, too, and they get better while we are practically staying in the same place.

[shamim179]

That lengthy statement from Alonso is actually quite depressing to read. It mentions of no change for Bahrain. I thought we were going to have a major software upgrade for the ERS for Bahrain? It looks like it's been rescheduled for China or Spain. And even then we'll have no idea if it really works until we start using it. Tough times ahead.

[Hornet]

That lengthy statement is actually quite depressing to read. It mentions of no change for Bahrain. I thought we were going to have a major software upgrade for the ERS for Bahrain? It looks like it's been rescheduled for China or Spain. And even then we'll have no idea if it really works until we start using it. Tough times ahead.

I see no reason why we couldn't use the updated software (or any updates) here in Sepang if we did have one. Bahrain is just a few days away so it's not realistic to develop anything between Sepang and Bahrain.

[Rob]

I see no reason why we couldn't use the updated software (or any updates) here in Sepang if we did have one. Bahrain is just a few days away so it's not realistic to develop anything between Sepang and Bahrain.

all parts are developed weeks before the races, Kimi will have new parts on his steering to help make more snappy as he likes.

[AfterLife]

I just want more news about our power unit problems. It is a mysterious one that nobody in Ferrari talks about it.

[LivingHitokiri]

all parts are developed weeks before the races, Kimi will have new parts on his steering to help make more snappy as he likes.

That sound really hopeful and i hope we get these new parts as soon as possible.
Did the drivers mention anything about the brakes this race, im kinda not following much the events of Malaysian GP as i use to

[radosav]

I'll bet all that i have that after the first race there was meeting in Maranello with all bosses ,engineers and drivers and they all realised that this season is over! We can fool ourselves that it is going to be better, but Mercedes is out of reach!

[Kyss4k]

I just want more news about our power unit problems. It is a mysterious one that nobody in Ferrari talks about it.

These are sensitive data. We probably won't ever know.

[Ferris]

I wish I read the FP3 times wrong but unfortunately, as predicted, 4th in the race was the best we were able to do at this moment. Even that was fortuitous given the DNF from Dan.

Don't get your hopes up for Bahrain. Given the track characteristics and the relative strengths and weaknesses of all teams I expect the following to take place; unless the new software for the Ferrari PU is a big improvement.

Merc will win - Obviously
Williams will be fighting Red Bull for second best team
Ferrari will be the 4th best team and fighting for perhaps 6th or 7th finish with Force India.

We lacked traction to RB and top speed to FI today. Both of these features will be key to a good outing in Bahrain.

Lewis was very impressive today. Not because he won, but because he drove a race at a faster pace than Nico, conserved his tyres and used less fuel than Nico also at all stages of the race. So even if Merc were pushing through the corners, they were still taking it easy on their PU.

We all have a few more races of pain to go through before we sort our stuff out. This much is clear. We are in an aero race with RB, which I don't think we can win and we are in a PU race against Merc.

We need to come out on top in the PU battle with Renault and keep our slim aero advantage over Merc in order to stand any chance for the title.

[Ferris]

Also looking at Alonso's move on the Hulk at the end of the race, it is clear to me that we are down around 40-60hp on the Merc.
Alonso had DRS deployed and still they were side by side once both in clean air on the straight. That was the most depressing sight for me during the race.

If we can get some more HP and better traction from the PU (via ERS software) then we will be in a much better place. This is where the big steps in performance can be attained.

[voiko]

Looking at the fuel consumption during race, it looks like the Mercedes engine has upperhand on both the power and fuel efficiency. Ferrari's fuel consumption looks similar to Renault's and Redbull had better grip when accelerating out of a corner (with Riccardo pulling away from Alonso quite quickly when exiting the corners after the first pitstop).

Petronas - They spruked their partnership with them heavily on podium, I know they are Malaysian brand and all but they must be working well!!

[Ed Harley]

Less HP usually means better longevity. With these complex machines it can mean many other things like just software glitches and so on. However, I'm glad that even in the hot climate of Sepang the cars worked OK. But there are three more races these engines need to last - if the Mercedes engines last five races with those power levels I would be anxious to know what their secrets are. But so would many others, too.

If I'm not mistaken new parts should arrive to next race, yes?

[Laferrari]

Lack of upgrade (lack of idea)are killing us.Since 2009, every time we copied the other more than we create something.s don t think the problem is the wind tunnel , i think we have not the best people and now the pressure is very high so nobody wants to take a risk for his job...and we have this car :-S.I cannot understand how fernado deliver again a 4th place with this crap.I think our engine is the worst of all .Renault develop more solution than us in very short time.Redbull have the best car , mercedes the best engine...and ferrari is 3rd but one second behind RB and mercedes.

[bonzo]

Lack of upgrade (lack of idea)are killing us.Since 2009, every time we copied the other more than we create something.s don t think the problem is the wind tunnel , i think we have not the best people and now the pressure is very high so nobody wants to take a risk for his job...and we have this car :-S.I cannot understand how fernado deliver again a 4th place with this crap.I think our engine is the worst of all .Renault develop more solution than us in very short time.Redbull have the best car , mercedes the best engine...and ferrari is 3rd but one second behind RB and mercedes.

There, there, Greig are u reading this? Why did u lock the Dominicalli thread? Censorship, eh?

[LivingHitokiri]

Lack of upgrade (lack of idea)are killing us.Since 2009, every time we copied the other more than we create something.s don t think the problem is the wind tunnel , i think we have not the best people and now the pressure is very high so nobody wants to take a risk for his job...and we have this car :-S.I cannot understand how fernado deliver again a 4th place with this crap.I think our engine is the worst of all .Renault develop more solution than us in very short time.Redbull have the best car , mercedes the best engine...and ferrari is 3rd but one second behind RB and mercedes.

Here we go again....
if we win in Bahrain next week, what you gonna claim ? that the team finally hired people, changed and brought new PU , changed wing tunnel, fired Domenicalli and whatsoever....
Why are you so impatient ?

[Ferris]

Ok, there is optimism, pessimism and then there is realism.
There is no way, without others failing through reliability issues, that Ferrari can win in Bahrain.
Simply not possible given the weakness of the package in the key area's that performing well in Bahrain requires.

Now this is not bashing Ferrari it is simply looking at the data that is available. Ferrari will be fighting for 5th and 6th in Bahrain... if we are lucky.
So best we are all prepared for it, accept it and hope for some great upgrades from China onwards because we wont get much in terms of upgrades in 1 week.

Winning in Bahrain is a fantasy given where we are. Williams will be on our tails or even ahead of us in this race I fear.

It is what it is. Deal with it people because you can't change it. Only the team can make the required steps to improve.

[Greig]

There, there, Greig are u reading this? Why did u lock the Dominicalli thread? Censorship, eh?

Locked due to pathetic little bitchy comments, just like this one as it happens.

This thread is for updates talk, not your little hissy fits.

[bonzo]

Here we go again....
if we win in Bahrain next week, what you gonna claim ? that the team finally hired people, changed and brought new PU , changed wing tunnel, fired Domenicalli and whatsoever....
Why are you so impatient ?

We have been patient for six years and cannot accept it any more. If you are happy with 6-7 place or worse - yes, you can be patient, life is there in front of you, wait and hope, hope, hope!
What some of us want here is to get rid of some people who have made this top team into a loughing stock!!

[LivingHitokiri]

We have been patient for six years and cannot accept it any more. If you are happy with 6-7 place or worse - yes, you can be patient, life is there in front of you, wait and hope, hope, hope!
What some of us want here is to get rid of some people who have made this top team into a loughing stock!!

Trust me, im getting frustrated like you are but ,this year things are different as with new regulations ,now we got more proper equipment to solve our problems, its all about time , it always was in F1 .
Take last year as example, how bad mercedes were at Races before they managed to solve the tyre issues, same goes for Red bull, they still were the top team but their dominance blue sky high after the tyre changes....

The thing is , we cannot expect things to magically happen in just few races,especially with new rules and so many big changes. We will get it eventually and the team seems to know where we are lacking and they vowed to improve and bring new parts,even our drivers are expecting that.

I honestly dont think firing people especially at beginning of season helps anything at all, we can talk after the season ends and hand over responsibilities but there are many factors that can play into what we got today.
I think we need to get a clear picture of our car under no technical problems,it seems in China like mentioned and Europe we gonna get major updates that could bring back on the hunt.

[bonzo]

Trust me, im getting frustrated like you are but ,this year things are different as with new regulations ,now we got more proper equipment to solve our problems, its all about time , it always was in F1 .
Take last year as example, how bad mercedes were at Races before they managed to solve the tyre issues, same goes for Red bull, they still were the top team but their dominance blue sky high after the tyre changes....

The thing is , we cannot expect things to magically happen in just few races,especially with new rules and so many big changes. We will get it eventually and the team seems to know where we are lacking and they vowed to improve and bring new parts,even our drivers are expecting that.

I honestly dont think firing people especially at beginning of season helps anything at all, we can talk after the season ends and hand over responsibilities but there are many factors that can play into what we got today.
I think we need to get a clear picture of our car under no technical problems,it seems in China like mentioned and Europe we gonna get major updates that could bring back on the hunt.

Have you seen a "major update" from Ferrari in the last several seasons?? Most were copies of other teams and our own were actually downgrades.

[bonzo]

On the point of firing SD now or not: yes, it is not going to help us this season, not in the least. BUT, it is hopefully going to help us with the 2015 car development. Same time last season I was telling this forum that with SD as team boss we will have a bad car in 2014. Hell broke loose then. Unfortunatelly, I proved right, much as I regret it. Do we have to make the same mistake for another (6th season)? I do not fancy for a second that LdM or whoever is on top of Gestione sportiva is reading this forum, nor that he is taking notes. Just venting my feelings for a beloved team wasted.

[LivingHitokiri]

Have you seen a "major update" from Ferrari in the last several seasons?? Most were copies of other teams and our own were actually downgrades.

No car can keep up through the season without updates, you will fall out behind especially if you're trying to keep up with leaders. As the season progress the data the mechanics got and the feedback from the drivers are what maximize a car,hence why we get so many changes in different races.

Some of the updates may look similar only because and due to limitations the rules bring which means that you're pretty much forced to use them as they are the best solution. Take example lotus and their new DRS experiment that they were testing for ages didnt worked out at the end.....
Let me also remind you that most of the new guys that came to the team havent got much time or at all to influence the new car, i think Alison is one of these people,so, im expecting changes and improvements that will show our true pace.

[alfaromeo]

I'm most disappointed that the Ferrari company that manufactures engines and have in the past always pronounced over the excessive influence of aerodynamics in F1. I was really hoping to Ferrari in 2014 season due to the new engine at the top with a Mercedes and I thought let alone believe over journalistic speculation before the season that Mercedes had 100 hp more than the Ferrari and Renault. Now, the reality is such that the Mercedes engine with the enormous advantages. Apparently, the Mercedes engineers together with British and German know-how and money to do a winning team. Victory in Bahrain is only possible when the resignation of two Mercedes and one Red Bull. Season 2014 will be very difficult for Ferrari, will need to wait to Barcelona, ​​where we will see whether the problems with the Ferrari PU saved. Formula One is not fiction, which could solve the problem overnight with a magic wand unfortunately.

[Laferrari]

Here we go again....
if we win in Bahrain next week, what you gonna claim ? that the team finally hired people, changed and brought new PU , changed wing tunnel, fired Domenicalli and whatsoever....
Why are you so impatient ?

Ferrari winning in barhain? are you killing me , no way we are gonna win in barhain.You cannot erase 1 sec in one week.Maybe on your dream but not in Formula 1.
My proof that we have not the best people is the result of 5 year.lack of traction was the same problem since the new era in 2009.
Mercedes is out of reach for us and for redbull.Hamilton was cruising.When i listen all engineer in other team , they say we need to improve the car....we are much concentrate in reability...we cannot win the titel with this mentality.OK reability but nobody on the front will have every time a problem with the car...we cannot play this type of game.At the end , the best car win always...2010,2012 was the best example that we need to think.

[Majki2111]