Could Ferrari give up

on 2011 and start on 2012?

I know it is only one race so far but it is obvious that Ferrari have not moved in the right direction despite their massive resources and the input of the most complete driver on the grid

F1 experts are suggesting that it might be best to do just this;

http://www.crash.net/f1/news/167972/1/ferrari_an_eternity_behind_red_bull_should_focus_on_2012.html


How would this affect the teams reliance and subjugation to Alonso? Let's not forget that Briatorie orchestrated Alonsos 2 WCs as his team boss at Renault and knows his development capabilities better than anyone else

Is it best to put all ones eggs into the bag of a driver that demands complete involvement in the development of the car?

Constructive opinions welcome

 

Is - 'don't be silly ' constructive?

 

No.

 

If this gap still exists in race 12/13 then year look to next year, but to suggest it now is ludicrous.

 

After one GP, it's a bit silly to suggest they should give up. Ferrari underperformed in Australia but it wasn't as bad as it looked. The car was quite fast in race pace in Alonso's hands and if he wasn't pushed wide at the start, he would have been on the podium. The car has potential.

Lack of front downforce can be fixed. Looking at Alonso onboard, you can see the car was very difficult to drive. When Ferrari sort out their front wing, the car will be a lot more driveable and Ferrari will be much quicker.

 

Ifs and buts, he wasn't pushed wide he put himself in that position and lets not forget his team had a pawn working for him, holding up Button to get Alonso past.

The car has looked shaky in the corners all testing and during the weekend. It was never looking good on the corners. Bit more than an easy fix I'm afraid.

 

Just so you know, the link is broken, where was it suppose to go?

 

A car with poor looking handling in a major team can get sorted in 1 or 2 more races !! To imagine Ferrari throwing the towel in now is just laughable. Certainly they will have to raise their game, but they will.

 

No, fix this year's car! If they're 4th by August maybe, but now?! Ludicrous.

 

They should fight until a top 2 finish in the constructors becomes impossible/unlikely. Then they can move onto next year. Its not like moving on to next years car will give a long term benefit anyway, what with the 2013 Regs.

 

It does sound premature at first glance but .......

This is a suggestion by 2 ex team bosses, one of them the current manager of Alonso who would be passing on inside knowledge

The Ferrari towards the end of last season was the best car at preserving tyres
It is now a tyre shredder and that's why it is slower than three others
Alonso has had lots if time testing the tyres and providing input to the engineers
They are 1.5 seconds slower in quali pace, that's massive, however their competitors are going to also use vast resources to continue developing, two of them have better drivers, how is Ferrari going to catch up if they have royally screwed up making the car work well with the new tyres and regulations?

I think Alonso's manager might be preparing for a fight by saying this to the press, remember if the car has gone backwards a large part will be down to Alonso for whom everything has been built.

Ferrari are having an enquiry into what has gone wrong

So know this, something is wrong

When we thought McLaren were 1 sec off the pace we were ready to write off their WC chances

What if the Ferrari actually gets slower against the rest in quali and chews the tyres even more?

Why is Alonso the most complete driver, renown for input in development, now in the fourth best car when he was handed a WC car by Kimi?

Why is Alonsos manager telling the press that his clients employers are better off writing off the season?

Interesting times ahead

(link fixed)

 

Imagine the response from the Tifosi if Ferrari came out and said "Nope, we've done a crap job this winter, we'll try harder next year". Its just not going to happen! One race is far to early to really judge anything, you at least need half a dozen to get a decent estimate.

As for what Briatore has to say, well, he's a manager isn't he? Your job is to present your driver in the best light possible, and to get him the best seat in F1. Saying these sort of things generates publicity which is bad for Ferrari, but very good for Alonso.

With regards Ferrari, firstly, yes Kimi had a good car, but he also drove fantastically (not to say Alonso doesn't). Also, you underestimate the impact Red Bull have had recently. When Kimi raced, RBR finished 5th in the constructors championship, and were never a serious threat. Now, they're the leading team, with Ferrari and Mclaren the two closest to them. Now they know they have problems in a race situation, they can work on them, they have very specific goals. Its easier to make gains in performance when you know exactly where the issue is. Its far harder for Red Bull to innovate new ideas onto an already good car. Also, Ferrari have the advantage of being able to copy some of the features of other cars to aid performance.

They aren't that far off the pace now, and I'm sure in a few races they'll catch up a bit, and be back solidly within the top 3/4 teams, and challenging for wins.

 

All it takes is one clever innovation and your suddenly at the front of the field. Its a long season...

 

I wouldn't listen to a single word from that unspeakable thug Alonso allows to run his affairs.

Ferrari would be equally daft to listen to him. I'm sure the flab (deliberate lower case: it suits him) is doing the well-known 'posturing'; his standard manoeuvering for a better deal. Anyone falling in with flabbermouth's idea would be daft. It is far too early in the season to throw the towel down the toilet with the cockroach…

 

Ferrari are born winners, I dont think they will give up after 1 race as they know there is potential in the car.

how ridiculas!

 

Watch this space folks

 

Update after Sepang qualifying

I am becoming ever more convinced that Ferrari's root problem is fundamentally not their mechanical package. I believe it is a product of their driver line-up, with Alonso wanting (demanding?) to do the whole car development thing but actually needing help from a properly motivated team-mate. These drivers do not appear to be working well together behind the scenes.

What a contrast to McLaren who were nowhere during the winter testing but have a driver line-up second to none, whose different styles are being morphed into a Red Bull headache…

 

I am pretty convinced (as are Ferrari) that the mechanical package is the problem - and the car is horrible with the tyres. They have 2 very experienced drivers, both race winners, both provide good input.

The blame should not be placed on the drivers or their relationship, but instead to the boys at Maranello, who need to sort out the issues holding them back.

 

The initial opinion was that they'd been far too conservative, and I think this is the case. The car lacks the innovation of the McLaren and Renault and the aggressive packaging of Red Bull and Williams. At the moment I think Alonso is maximising his points potential if he just picks up fourths and fifths. I don't think the car really has the potential to compete, it's certainly not going to be an easy fix because they've homologated a conservative chassis. I think the only real hope they have is if they unlock the key to the flexible front wing, this sounds like a bit of a dark art though, with Red Bull investing a lot of time and money in developing flexi carbon lay up techniques a few years ago.

 

Yes, you've both put forward logical and reasonable arguments. I have held a similar view until recently.

My reasoning is that the development of any package relies heavily upon driver input, and that Massa appears de-motivated. If on the other hand, Ferrari are trying to develop the car without getting a cohesive sense of direction from the drivers, what we are seeing is precisely what I'd expect.