Ferrari faces adversity: 2018 1st half of the season

Now that the first half of the season is behind us and we undergo the 2wk summer break, let's discuss the adversities that Ferrari has faced and how their engineering team has performed brilliantly through these adversities....along with the drivers, pit crew and pit strategists.

1.) Huge plumes of smoke eminating from the pits - it was investigated and nothing was warranted to make Ferrari stop this. Nothing was found.

2.) Batteries - FIA wanted clarification and moniterization of Ferrari's batteries as rumours surfaced of Ferrari's legality of using said batteries......again, nothing was found and Ferrari was cleared. Batteries are still being monitored.

3.) Pirelli's spec or shaved tires (Pirelli-Mercedes tires) : were to be used in 3 GP's --> Catalunya(SpanishGP), Paul Ricard (FrenchGP) and Silverstone(British GP).


Spanish GP - Ferrari tries a new rear suspension.....it does not work on these special tires (note pics) as they try to get this new setup worked out.


Image Unavailable, Please Login


Spain (right) .................................vs Azerbaijan (left)
Image Unavailable, Please Login


Mercedes has a front row lockout in Spain and wins 1-2

Lewis 1st place = 25pts......... Vettel 4th place = 12pts
Bottas 2nd place = 18pts ......... Kimi DNF = 0 pts

Total pts for Mercedes = 43pts.......... Total pts for Ferrari = 12pts



Next comes the French GP with a front row lockout by Mercede but there's a twist. FP's and Quali were overcast days so track temp was 20 C cooler than race day which was 20 C hotter on these special tires. Mercedes has a front row lockout for the race. Ferrari refining the rear suspension setup at this race. Note the upper arm..

Image Unavailable, Please Login

Lewis 1st place = 25pts......... Vettel 5th place = 10pts
Bottas 7th place = 6pts ......... Kimi 3rd place = 15pts

Total pts for Mercedes = 31pts ......... Total pts for Ferrari = 25pts

Cumulative pts for Mercedes on these special tires = 74pts
Cumulative pts for Ferrari on these special tires = 37pts


Lastly, the British GP and all 3 days are hot. Note the rear suspension of the Ferrari is more refined and almost "wing-like" with regards to the upper arm. The winglets in front of the rear arm are serated now along with a new floor.

Image Unavailable, Please Login

Image Unavailable, Please Login


Image Unavailable, Please Login

Image Unavailable, Please Login


Lewis 2nd place = 18pts ........ Vettel 1st place = 25pts
Bottas 4th place = 12pts ........ Kimi 3rd place = 15pts

Total pts for Mercedes = 30pts ........ Total pts for Ferrari = 40pts

Cumulative pts for Mercedes on these special tires = 104pts
Cumulative pts for Ferrari on these special tires = 77pts

 

Excellent Joe.

 

As always!

 

While Mercedes has arguably the "faster" car, the Ferrari has been the most adaptable all season. Were it not for thrown away points, Vettel would have a larger lead in the WDC. With Spa, Monza, Suzuka all winnable tracks for the Scuderia, I think there is a TON of pressure on Mercedes to come up with answers to the tire issues during the brief summer break. I don't think the answers are there as they cannot change the fundamental design of the car.

I think both Austria and Silverstone results have shifted the elements of the championships, with Ferrari the favorite, imo. Hamilton will scrap to keep it close, but it just seems like Ferrari has been the only thing stopping Ferrari this season. I fully expect the WCC goes to the Scuderia.

 

This is a great thread. Thank you Joe for making it.

 

Correlation is not the same as causation. The tire conspiracy theorists sound more and more like the driver they love to hate so much. Seb, meanwhile, is getting on with business and winning races.

 

So please explain when this tires do not help Mercedes more than Ferrari why Lewis criticized Pirelli for not bringing them to Austria. And why does Pirelli concider bringing them to more races although Ferrari proved very well that one can drive with these tires without having blistering.
Fact is that Mercedes is facing more trouble with the tires than Ferrari does so why does one change the tires mid season? This directly affects the WDC and WCC and you do not have to be a "conspiracy theorist" to see that! You just have to open your eyes

 

Arrivabene slams Mercedes after accusations

JULY 9, 2018


Ferrari boss Maurizio Arrivabene has hit back with fury at Mercedes, after an accusation of deliberate foul play at Silverstone.

There had already been Ferrari vs Mercedes trouble in Austria a week ago, so when Kimi Raikkonen hit Lewis Hamilton at the start of the British grand prix, tempers flared.

"To word it like James Allison, was it deliberate or incompetence?" Mercedes boss Toto Wolff said.

Sebastian Vettel, who re-takes the championship lead after winning at Silverstone, called the accusations of deliberate Ferrari sabotage "silly".

But Wolff's counterpart at Ferrari, Arrivabene, was livid.

"Who is incompetent? Kimi? Who is he to judge what the drivers are doing in the car?

"If he really said something like that, he should be ashamed," he told Sky Italia.

"Allison worked at Maranello for many years, but now we are here in England teaching him to be a gentleman.

"I accept it from Jacques Villeneuve because he was a driver. But this guy?"

Red Bull's Christian Horner said it is obvious that "tension" between the top two teams is hotting up at the mid-point of an intense championship fight.

"When you have that growing tension, speculation is unavoidable when these incidents occur," he said.

"But I believe it's nothing more than a racing incident. I would be surprised if there was anything else or if Kimi is that kind of driver."

Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas also played down the incident and the accusations.

"We are always racing closely with Ferrari and there can always be contact," he said.

However, Mercedes team chairman Niki Lauda commented: "The accident was just unfair. It was the second time a Ferrari has hit us in the first corner. That's not funny."

 

No Niki, it wasn't funny because our cars got penalized, otherwise i would LMAO

 

I agree with Horner. In the context of a race, most people will see this as a typical racing incident between two guys at a corner. In the context of a championship which will seemingly go down to the last race, it's a HUGE shift in fortunes and so the team on the losing end of things will certainly feel it was a deliberate attempt to shift things. It's a tense battle

At the end of the day, these things tend to even out over the course of a season (and NO, that does not mean that Merc will return the favor. It means dnf's, engine penalties, bad safety car timing, etc will give advantages that rightfully belong to the other team)

 

I'm personally tired of Horner and his opinions. He likes to kibbitz about other teams to distract attention from his own problems. Nice to see both MBAMG and RBR on their back foot....

As for the accusation against Kimi, (a ridiculous assertion on its face) well, you can be sure that if he had intended to take out Louie you can be sure he would have been well and truly taken out.

 

Technically I have read they did get trouble with the tires however I think Ferrari managed it perfectly though. Merc's own team tactics caused them at the second pit stop for Ferrari when they still led. Either

A. Pit Lewis and Bottas on slightly worn softs so that they can push for victory in theory, but lose major gap on Seb for Bot meaning 2nd would of been the finishing position guantee and Lewis is struck behind with 2 RBs and has to deal with Kimi from behind when he pits for fresh softs also in addition Lewis loses more points over Seb than what happened.

B. Both stay on mediums to allow them to leap frog both Ferraris and to hope they last enough for Bot to keep 1st. And lessen points difference with Seb and Lewis coming 2nd and 3rd respectively.

That's how many people think of what Merc could of done.

Plainly they gamabled on B. And that failed majorly for them. Oh and Toto is hypocrisy over team orders with Ferrari since plainly doing that made sure that Ham would of gotten the 2ND place over Bottas that had worn tyres even with him defending. So petty much was team orders lol. Bot could of pitted for soft to have 2nd at least, but Lewis had to have maximum chance for wdc. So petty much Bot was led to being the one who had to fall to make it look like they no choice to swtich. As people said.

And I think Lewis would of lost 2nd if Kimi had more laps. He would of overtake Lewis since plainly Lewis tyres are not much older than Bot's so plainly he could of lose more.

Seb keeping 1st before the 2ND pitstop and having a fresh soft allowed them to beat Merc. So as you said they did well on those different tyres. And I think it's a much sweeter victory for us fans that they won despite that disadvantages. I don't think Lewis would walk the win definitely not even with Kimi shutting him off. He would definitely have to fight Kimi and Seb for the win guantee. So yeah Ferrari performed to near perfection on everything in that Gp. So cheers for Ferrari for doing that.

 

You corect on both some problems like their gearbox are not from Renualt, but are from RB themselves.

Also Kimi toke the fault as a proper sportsman in front of tv which deeply appreciate by almost everyone (except LH ofc). He definitely wasn't malice and he didn't do it on purpose so LH comments are just plain stupid and made him look like a complete idiot to the world. No thanks to Toto also of which give even more reason to make Lewis even more stupid looking to the world.

 

You mean Ferrari engineers are able to adapt to the special Pirellis whereas the MB engineers weren’t able to develop the car to the standard Pirellis at least on certain circuits and had blistering. No conspiracies, just facts. Ferrari has outworked MB thus far, which is why Vettel is winning the races. Still a long time to go....

 

Lewis and company were administered a proper chinning by Seb and company on what is basically their home circuit. Lewis for years had only had Rosberg as competition; now that the Ferrari threat appears to be consistent this is the first time in years MB is feeling pressure and it shows. The only guy not crying at MB is Bottas, that’s cause he knew going in that it was Lewis’ team. Team MB better use their brains more and mouths less; still a long way to go, and Ferrari hasn’t won anything yet.

 

That’s exactly what I mean...some people seem to think that there is a mini tire factory in the back of the Mercedes pit and use that as an excuse for any perceived performance advantage.

 

No mini tire factory, just Pirelli. There was a performance advantage-look at Spain.

 

Silverstone?

Perhaps there are a million different things that give a particular car a performance advantage...

Seb said the tires were correct in Spain and that they just didn’t have the performance. He said the standard tire would have been worse.

At Silverstone, the Mercedes qualified well, but fell off a cliff at the end of the race...I.e., they just didn’t have the performance.

The racing isn’t always great, but this is the most competitive season we’ve had in about a decade. I’m enjoying that.

 

Yes, Silverstone. The heat on the track is the achillies heal on these shaved tires; plus Ferrari had adapted to these shaved tires through the season. Remember the beginning of 2017 with the W08 and how it ate or cooked it's tires??? Mercedes seemed to rectify that problem in like the 4th GP I believe....maybe 3rd.

Also, after the Spanish GP, Ferrari went into Pirelli testing on the same track and no adjustments were made to the his car:

Seb’s best time of 1’17”659 was set in the afternoon on day 1 on Soft compound tyres, of the type used at the start of the season and not in last weekend’s GP. He went 2 GP distances as the car was fully fueled.

https://twitter.com/ScuderiaFerrari/...43084018933762 (per the Scuderia) (note the date)

 

You mean actual adapting to it previously both times before Silverstone they where tenths off with France Q3 showing about over 3 tenths off. Come Sliverstone and Ferrari are just literally hundredths for both from pole and they could of probably could of snached it. Oh and Seb didn't do much of Fp3 so there's that. So Ferrari development is on form as Vet's statement is truer than anything they have to keep this development pace to beat Merc with Ferrari's development showing it's working so keeping it up is absolutely necessary. I mean decade when 2010 and 2012 didn't have an actual dominating car altough RB car that time was still the overall best. Are you refering to the 2007-2008 era where Ferrari and MCLAREN-Mercedes from start to finish fight in the season is what you were refering to where it was hard to judge.

 

GREAT writeup. And only 2 1/2 hours away from McAllen.... Smart man

 

I frequent there...Brother has 18+ years in Homeland Security and his wife is FBI. Lived in Weslaco from '77 till '94.

 

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/137433/the-tupid-conspiracy-theory-that-can-finally-die

I doubt if it will does, but it should.

 

Apparently you don’t only need to be the fastest car to win the WCC. IMHO Ferrari is the best overall car on the field.

 

IMO, that's the beauty of a non-spec series. Different solutions work under different circumstances...the team that covers the most circumstances wins the WCC/WDC.