Alonso 'better' for Ferrari than Raikkonen - boss

Sadly we don't. Already.

 

Another county heard from

 

Lid lifting?, what does that involve? and did Mosley have to pay extra for it?.


Back on topic (kinda), I remember reading that Schuey would often make suggestions to the engineers about changes to the cars spring rates, anti roll bar settings, dampers etc and the engineers would tell him that it would only make the car slower.
He'd insist on the changes and so they would do as asked and were then baffled as to how he was going 3 or 4 tenths faster. It turned out that the changes whilst making no sense on paper, gave him more confidence in the car and he could push harder. He was able to explain exactly what he wanted and why in terms the engineers could understand and so they delivered what he asked for.


Another story was Ayrton Senna who, during free practice at one race, told his engineers that there was a vibration in the engine that didn't feel right and he wanted it changing.
The Honda engineers checked all their telemetry readings and told him there was nothing wrong with the engine. Senna insisted there was something wrong and said he wouldn't get back in the car unless the engine was changed.
They changed the engine and sent the "faulty" one back to the factory in Japan. When they stripped the engine down they found one of the camshafts had a hairline fracture in it and would have failed in the race.

It's that sort of feedback Ferrari are looking for from Alonso that they know they would never have got from Kimi.
Engineers thrive on information, be it from the wind tunnel, telemetry or the driver. One thing they get frustrated with is a driver who complains about the car and when they ask: "what's wrong with it?", they get a vague: "It's too loose at the front" or "I'm loosing time in the middle sector, don't know why". That tells them practically nothing. If they then ask: "is it aero grip?, mechanical grip?, damper setting?,rebound rate?", the last thing they want to hear is: "Dunno, it's just not right so fix it!".

The feedback they got from Schuey was an engineers dream, the closest they could get to being in the car and driving it themselves.

 

Wonderful post. Very articulately stated. The examples you listed above are outstanding examples of the difference a mechanically knowledgeable driver can make. Many drivers can drive fast, but they don't have the mechanical knowledge to improve the car like the drivers mentioned above.

Again, just wanted to say outstanding post...

 

That Senna story is 100% true, and shown in McLarens great documentary in 1993....

 

Thank you very much sir!, I appreciate the compliment.

Thank you also for reading the entire post. I appreciate that sometimes I get carried away while writing a post, which can put people off reading them, but I find it helps explain My thinking on a subject better than simply writing comments such as: "Kimi's c**p at car development!", as some people do.

I just hope I'm not suffering from Ronspeak! ("Ronspeak: Why use one word when you can use a hundred!").

 

Qualcuno si aspettano la squadra Boss a venire fuori e dire, "così ha provato se stesso come un grande pilota, ma dovremo aspettare e vedere ...
di grossolani non

 

Excellent post on car development, Phill - that's the most sense I've seen to explain the thinking behind the Alonso hiring.

I'm not sure what you're trying to say.

All the best,
Andrew.