RON DENNIS WARNS FERRARI TO EXPECT MORE DOMINENCE

(from autosport)
McLaren boss Ron Dennis has warned rivals Ferrari to expect a repeat of his team's domination of the German Grand Prix at the Hungaroring in a fortnight's time.

Lewis Hamilton was in a class of his own at Hockenheim, despite being forced to stage a fightback through the field after a strategy gamble by his team went wrong.

And with the Briton's pace forcing Kimi Raikkonen to concede that he believes McLaren are now ahead of Ferrari, Dennis is predicting more of the same at the Hungaroring next month.

"I can't see that we'll be any less strong in Hungary," said a delighted Dennis after seeing Hamilton extend his lead in the drivers' world championship. "And the car will look a bit different there, so we'll see."

McLaren are expected to introduce a range of aerodynamic and mechanical updates to their car for the Hungary race - which could include their shark fin engine cover that is set to be tested again at Jerez this week.

Dennis has also dismissed any suggestion that Hamilton was slightly annoyed by the team's decision not to refuel him under the safety car in Germany, which forced him to stage his fightback through the field.

"No, you heard him on the radio," said Dennis. "We were laughing. At the end of the day we are a racing team. In Canada we all took responsibility. We take responsibility for each other's actions and that is being a team. You can't be perfect all the time, but you try hard."

The trip to Hungary also marks a return to the scene of McLaren's troubles there in 2007 – when the qualifying row between Fernando Alonso and Hamilton sparked the beginning of a troubled few weeks for the team.

Dennis says he has no worries of a repeat situation occurring this year between his drivers – especially judging by the way Kovalainen readily moved aside to aide Hamilton's recovery in Germany.

"I think you can see that there is harmony. Sure if you spoke to Heikki immediately after the race he wouldn't have been too cheerful, but he knows he didn't have a particularly good race.

"But if you spoke to him later he was completely comfortable and understands that he has got to raise his game from where he was.

"He has been qualifying very well, he has good race pace most of the time, but he has struggled sometimes a little bit with the balance of the car. He has done a good job though."

 

http://f1.automoto365.com/news/controller.php?lang=en&theme=default&team_id=&month=7&seasonid=18&nextMode=GpNewsForm&news_id=32239

and will be banned again...

 

OH NO !

Something smells "fishy," again at McLaren. I hope they are not mis-interpretng the rules, and that they have an excellent car on it's own legal merit. It's getting more like NASCAR.

Ciao...Paolo

 

What goes around comes around....he needs to remember he HAS NOT won a title and this type of rubbish post race is not a gracious way to win....As Ive stated he needs to shut up and drive win a title, then he can be the man. Funny how Kimi or others do not gloat this way or trash drivers who have BEATEN them before and not put this out....

Lewis Hamilton has congratulated himself on his "fantastic job" to win the German GP and admitted that he was surprised that Felipe Massa allowed him such a straightforward route through to second place.

Effectively required to win the race twice after the deployment of the Safety Car wiped out the ten-second lead he had constructed, Hamilton delivered a barnstorming final flurry to overtake Massa and then the Renault of Nelson Piquet junior to claim a deserved victory. While relatively subdued after the race, Hamilton was not shy of congratulating himself on his performance.

"I think I did a fantastic job," he declared. "The pace I had was incredible. It [the Safety Car] just made it more exciting and the win look even better."

But it is Hamilton's remarks on his overtaking move past Massa that is bound to draw the more interest. While the Ferrari driver was suffering from a clear speed disadvantage compared to Hamilton's McLaren, the Brazilian's feeble attempt to retain his second place has drawn strong criticism - and Hamilton himself has now echoed those sentiments.

"All I know is that if it was the other way around then he wouldn't have got past," the 23-year-old commented when invited to study a replay of his move. "He didn't defend very well."

 

Oh you will have to explain that one to me. How and were did it say they are cheating??

 

If this is true, I suspect it'll be just like Ferrari's moveable floor. Not illegal, but against the spirit of the rules, and would, possibly, be banned going forward.

FWIW - I thought the wheels had 4 paddles already...

 

That's how it is illegal...

 

So this is a fact then? They are breaking the traction control rule?
Thats not what i read in that link, so i wondered were your statement came from. Or is it just your opinion?
Anyway so now that its illegal (in your opinion) there will be news of a ban then very shortly .

 

Traction control is banned.

Levers to select engine torque is not traction control.

The rules state that torque modifying devices are allowed, but cannot be "in one move" with gear changes.

The McLaren has FOUR levers for this.

Therefore the McLaren is legal.

So, what's your point?

 

Nothing really, just the usual sycophantic drivel.

 

Like Massa predicting a Ferrari 1-2 at an earlier GP this season??

Here we go again, the sycophantic brigade turning an innocuous comment into yet another opportunity to bash the opposition while ignoring similar behavior on the part of Ferrari...

Oh, the hypocracy!

 

So what your saying Mike is that the gear shift paddle and torque reduction paddle cannot be blipped at the same time? Who is monitoring this?

 

No, what he's saying (IMHO) is that simply changing gear must not affect engine torque (or any other parameter come to that). However, *IF* if McCheater do indeed use a second paddle for this latter purpose, it can only be activated by another movement - Which as it's a separate "control" and hence has another "movement" associated, then it's legal...... Now, the layout of the paddles may be conducive to "hitting 'em both at the same time", but it remains a separate control.....

Now, exactly *how* they control torque is another question - I'm certainly not hearing the intrusion of TC as in years past.

Cheers,
Ian

 

Yep - thank you!

 

But then it "may" be considered not in the spirit of the rules. We will soon see I guess.

 

I don't understand you. You just lurk in the shadows and don't contribute anything to any of the discussions here until you see the opportunity to just attack someone and call names.
I am not going to return the favor, but I would like you to tell me which Ferrari driver and when dusted his shoulders on the podium and when did another Ferrari driver have said that they had the win in the bag and that winning the race was a walk in the park, right after taking their closest rival out of the race in the pit lane?

 

What's wrong with saying it as it is...!!

What would you like him to say, I'am so sorry for winning..

Lewis Hamilton says the extent of his superiority during the German Grand Prix came as a complete surprise to himself and the McLaren team.

The 23-year-old was a dominant force in Sunday’s race at Hockenheim, winning despite the handicap of a safety car period and an ill-timed pit stop to take sole possession of the world championship lead.

At some stages of the race Hamilton was as much as a second per lap faster than his pursuers, and regularly had a 0.5s/lap advantage over his closest rival Felipe Massa.

Afterwards he said the team had not expected to deliver such a pummelling to Ferrari, especially after a close battle with Massa throughout practice and qualifying.

“We had absolutely no idea that we would be that much faster than them,” he said.

“I think we knew that we had made a step forward, but if anything we felt that maybe we had caught them and we were just with them, rather than before when we were just a little bit behind them.

“I think that it was extremely close this weekend as you saw in qualifying, yet we were able to just get that little bit better.

“I don’t know if it was the conditions or what, but the car was fantastic throughout the race and I was able to push and push, manage the tyres to the best I probably ever have and really the car was fantastic.

“So it’s a big, big step from the whole team.”

Hamilton now has a slender four-point lead over Massa in the drivers’ standings, with reigning champion Kimi Raikkonen a further three points adrift in the second Ferrari.

But he played down suggestions that he is now the man to beat for the title and emphasised that McLaren could not afford to let up in the development race.

“I think it’s too early to say, to be honest,” he said.

“We’re looking strong, we’re looking good, and we’re in a good position, but as you know, in a Formula 1 season things change and the teams always make steps here and there.

“As you saw last year, we were chopping and changing who was quickest and you will see in the next few races, [so] I don’t know what to expect.

“All I know is that we will have a competitive car and if we can challenge for wins, then great.

“I’m not going to say that we are the ones who need to pull their finger out.

“We need to keep on pushing, simple as that, and I’m sure everyone else will be.”

Hamilton added: “Overall it’s been a very good weekend; I think it has been our best weekend up until now.

“I think we have just been very strong throughout the weekend as well as last week’s test.

“It’s just been a great job by the team. We are really on top of our game right now.

“But I think we have to not get too far ahead of ourselves.

“We have got a lot of work to do for the rest of the season but if we can continue with this momentum we have got we are looking very good.

“So on to the next race and Hungary is a very good one for us, so fingers crossed.”
From ITV

 

I have no idea how this whole situation will be dealt with by FIA, but I think there are two main factors helping feed the fire.
First of all the McLaren team was caught cheating big time (and lying about it) just last year, for which they received (realistically) just a slap on the wrist. The other factor in my opinion is the standard ECU. FIA should not have allowed any one team competing in the series to be the supplier for the rest of the teams.
Now even if the McLarens were just the better cars and perfectly within the rules and regulations, there is always going to be people who are going to say that they have an unfair advantage, just based on last year and the ECU contract.
I don't believe that it would have been any different if it was any other team, even Ferrari. Maybe if it was Ferrari in McLaren's place the criticism was not going to be that pronounced on F-chat, but just imagine the crucification in the mostly British press.

 

+1

Around here, they are called "sycophants".

 

Last year F1 had traction control which was the ECU selecting the amount of torque and horsepower to apply to the wheels based on grip so it was banned to make sport more competitive. Today McLaren allows the driver to do exactly the same thing as Electronic Traction Control did last year which allows them to have traction control, which was banned to make the sport more competitive. This new system from McLaren will be banned and soon or the FIA will be sued for not clarifying the rules and providing an unfair advantage to one team. Trust me when I say that Renault, Ferrari and BMW attorney's are already looking this over and in contact with the FIA....

 

Yawn.

There is a whole thread on this site about Massa's 1-2 prediction.

I fail to see anything excessive in RD's comments and I fail to see how his comments are any different than any of the comments we have seen coming out of the Ferrari camp over the last several seasons. His team is very competitive and his driver is leading the WDC. Personally, if I were him I would worry less about Hamilton's performance and more about HK's lack of pace. I don't think his comments are excessive but I do think his attention is misguided, McLaren might well win the WDC this year but they certainly won't take the WCC. If I were him, I would be more worried about that.

 

I am not interested starting an argument or what do you think some people should be called. I don't believe that it is your duty to make this call, so you should stick to contributing to the discussions at hand and leave the name calling to the 2nd graders. I believe that you have enough F1 knowledge and useful information to share with everyone, to limit your posts to just insults and trowing gloves left and right.

 

I think the intent was to ban electronic aids. As far as I understand this, the driver has to manually activate the switches. I am not sure this is any different than having cockpit-adjustable brake bias systems or cockpit-adjustable engine mapping...or a throttle pedal, for that matter. The point is that the driver is initiating the action rather than a computer doing it for him. Ferrari and BMW would be better advised to put their engineers to work rather than their lawyers.

 

EEERRRRR, we were talking about LH's comments post race and the attitude on the podium. Every driver in F1 (well the really good ones anyway) is cocky and pretty full of them selves. Some more than others. Senna, Prost, Schumi were not exceptions, but LH is taking it to a whole new level. He is more full of himself than Schumi, who has won 7 world titles and resurrected Ferrari after all.

 

They banned *electronic* TC:

1. If this "system" is giving them TC I've certainly not heard it (no misfiring BS).
2. If true (and I haven't seen anything really "credible" to confirm) I'd have to doff my cap to 'em - Smart move providing a "separate control" to allow the driver to tweak the torque settings. As I said previously, I think the tone would be very different if Ferrari had come up with it - "Brilliant engineers at Ferrari etc....."

Source?