Ferrari was weak in that arena last year. Domencali should know. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/90090
Given the confusion these new tires will cause, he is mistake prone and this will enhance the potential for him to make more. I have zero faith in his abilities. The drivers will need to push a strategic angle on him from the cockpit.
So, in effect, the drivers should take on his job as well as their own. Either someone at Maranello really, really likes him in that special way or he knows where the bodies are buried. There seems no rational reason for giving him yet another chance.
MS was actively involved in strategy from the cockpit. With Domencali it cannot be avoided again this year. The tires are right in front of the drivers. They are going to be providing input. I see no way that can be avoided. He should have been fired. He is best kept in the factory not near a track.
Honestly Ferrari were screwed at Abu Dhabi either way; there was no way they could have covered both Red Bulls. They were both in contention, it was impossible to devise a strategy considering where Webber & Vettel were at the time. I give him more slack....
It's being reported that the drivers will be more involved in strategic calls this year, because the tires degrade linearly for a while, then dramatically lose grip - the drivers will need to be sensing that fall-off of grip and calling for pit stops that same lap, so no time to wait for the pit wall to analyse sector times to make a pit call. Re Domenicali - he doesn't make strategy calls any more than Jean Todt did when Ross Brawn was on the pit wall with him. Last year, Chris Dyer was making the pit wall strategy calls, and he did take the fall for the last race fiasco. This year, Ferrari has hired an engineer from McLaren (name escapes me at the moment) specifically for strategy decisions. To me, it sounds like Domenicali IS doing the right things, and has made moves to address issues with strategy last year. Blaming Domenicali for pit wall strategy decisions last year is not fair or appropriate, since it wasn't his role - and he has acted to correct the problem.
"This year, Ferrari has hired an engineer from McLaren (name escapes me at the moment) specifically for strategy decisions." Pat Fry i think Lets hope he can bring some order to chaos that seemed to plague SEFAC last year. The omens are not good, more pit stops=more cock ups x 10^6
Strategy is vital ? Well maybe, but what's vital is getting it right! Ferrari used to have excellent strategy when Brawn was there, and pocketed several victories because of it. Under Domenicali, it's not so good. With the new Pirelli, we could see some dramatic changes, and tyre wear could be the most important factor on 2011.
No Sh*t. Like it wasn't last year? And all of a sudden it's different this year? This guy's a bum. Alex
As of last year only Mercedes GP, McLaren and to a lesser extent Renault had an actual Race Strategy division. So basically he is saying they are creating a race strategy dept. to run the races.
Brawn's role when at Ferrari is not the same as Domenicali's role at Ferrari. Jean Todt = Domenicali Ross Brawn = Chris Dyer 2010 (for race strategy on pit wall) Ross Brawn = Pat Fry 2011 (for race strategy on pit wall) Really, all these posts complaining about Domenicali and race strategy are completely off-base to start with, unless you also start crediting Jean Todt for all Michael Schumacher's brilliant strategic victories from 1996 through 2006! Since everybody credits Ross Brawn, who was actually responsible for race strategy, rather than the team principal, during the Schumacher era, why is suddently the team principal blamed for current race strategy? Makes no sense. Blame Chris Dyer for last year's race strategy miscues, since that's who had the responsibility - and he got demoted back to the factory. Looks like Domenicali was actually doing his job managing, right? He then hired a strategic expert from McLaren to address the race strategy concerns - again, not a bad move, right? Sorry, but I must reiterate, it looks like Domenicali IS actually doing his job managing the team properly and has properly addressed the concerns about race strategy as best as possible.
