F1 248 still struggling...

Times have improved significantly though so at least they are stepping forward in the right direction with speed. Still a little off of the best the BAR's were turning but then again you dont know fuel load...Only what 3 weeks left now?

 

It would be a shame to have Michael have another awful season, especially if it is his last. What's even worse is that some people (especially younger fans) seem to think that MS's driving suddenly went south, which is obviously not the case. The man still has the talent, Ferrari needs to deliver.........

 

LOL! Don't be a sucker for drama Ferrari is going to do well this year

 

I agree and personally think they are sandbagging. Ferrari have the right people and experience to have a great 06 season. A lot of 05 was down to the tyres, now we move back to tyre changes i see no reason why bridgestone should not be the better choice this year. If you were michelin would you throw unlimited funds at tyre development knowing that you are bowing out of the sport anyway? Michael is still the best, even his biggest critics would have to agree with that. I think he will have a great year...i only hope he signs on for at least 2 more years. The place will not seem the same without him, i cannot gather any real excitment about the rest of the drivers. I have enjoyed watching the guy so much!! 96 in spain in the wet- he just took the piss out of all of them. i think coulthard spent more time going backwards through hedges than on the track. Silverstone winning in the pit(classic), overtaking hakkinen at monza and watching the crowd go demented...trying to lamp coulthard at spa in 98 for "trying to kill me", watching him dissappear at monaco.......I will always watch f1 but after watching michael and the team do so well after all those years of misery, it truly will be the end of an era. I count myself fortunate that i got to follow his career live in the team i love rather than the history books!!! The 8 time world champion has a ring to it!!

 

While I'll agree that you count on any times being posted during the winter testing as indicative of a cars true speed, I fail to see how multiple engine and technical failures can bee seen as "sand-bagging." This car currently has some real reliability issues. One fast lap does not make a F1 car. If the race were run this weekend the F1 248 would not last the distance to the checkered flag.

Let's hope they can get it sorted out for the first few races.

 

More bench racing here but the 248 ran ok today...

Schu in the F248 01:30.375 today
Button in the Honda 01:31.278 on Feburary 15th

its all just bench racing but thats a VERY fast time by the Ferrari around that course....who knows if the car will hold up BUT it appears to be fast none the less.

 

You can easily sandbag by pretending something isn't working when it really is. Look at professional sports all over the world and you can see this happen...infact its an art to be able to read injury reports correctly.

I wouldn't deny they have had some issues but then again how major are they we don't know...are they testing parts that wont come on the car until mid season? Who knows....ahh I cant wait for the start of the real season instead of the silly season!

 

Indeed, this is history in the making, and I'm glad to have witnessed it. The last 2 years in particular have been great seasons with so much cutthroat competition!

 

Ahhhh sooo good to read about some of those things again!!! I think there will never be any career like MS's.
I can't agree with you more, of how much of an honour it is to have seen such events happen with my own eyes, rather than reading about it in history books!!!
Lets hope the fun doesnt end here!

 

ditto

i think we will a fantastic year this year, it has to be our year!

 

The V-8 is now as fast as the V-10 was! Even with the reduction in downforce... Let's go, TEAM!

 

It seems that it does not matter what rule changes are made, the cars continue to get faster, year on year.

The death of the turbo era was supposed to be the death of F1, yet within a very short period of time, the lap times where back where they where at the height of the turbo's.

One of the interesting things about the V8 is that on the bench it is cracking the 20K rpm 'limit'. Mainly due to the shorter crank (the V10's where cracking cranks at much over 20K). I personally wonder what the next weak point will be on these engines - piston crowns maybe ?

Whatever, it looks like this may be an interesting season, and not just for Ferrari fans, but for F1 lovers in general....

 

Who cares if he has another bad season, which great Grand Prix Driver has not in their career? He should be happy that he had the best car for the last 5 out of 6 seasons. Its nice to see others win as well, as long as Ferrari has the same opportunity. Also sometimes when he doesn't have the best car his driving shines even more (Season 97-99 come to mind). What's sad was the guys that had similar talent but didn't live long enough to display it (G. Villeneuve, S. Bellof) come to mind.

 

Truth or not? - I just read a new report claiming that Ferrari cut their test short due to the fact that they "ran out of parts for the reliability-striken 248 F1."

Not so good . . . .

Carol

 

Throughout history, downsizing engines has never reduced performance for very long. By fairly early in the 1.5 liter era in 1961-65, the cars were already going faster than the 2.5 liter cars had been in 1960.

 

I'm somewhat happy to see them having reliability problems. Michelin and McLaren had the right idea IMO in pushing the envelope. It didn't quite pay off b/c of early troubles (maybe pushed a bit too far initially) but it was the direction teams had to take to win.

Ferrari had the most reliable car on the grid last year... great if you want to be 3rd... If they weren't having trouble I'd be worried they were still complacent like in 2005. I'd rather see them be this year's McLaren, fast and unreliable early on, than be slow and steady like "Thomas the Tank Engine" again.

 

I've read that felipe massa's laptime in a restricted v10 f2004 is still faster than schumacher's laptime in the v8 f1 248. i'm confused as to how that is possible. the restricted v10 and new v8 are supposed to give the same amount of power. the aero regs have changed admittedely but the teams were claiming that the deficit had been wiped out at the end of 2005. so ferrari have had 2 years to develop the chassis and a winter to improve the aerodynamics. And schumacher is a much better driver than massa. And STILL the f2004 is faster than the 248? Has anyone else beside me noticed the dramatic decline in the car performance has coincided with Aldo Costa taking over from Rory Bryne?

 

Lets not give up just yet. Lets not forget that this team have created records that were unheard of in formula 1. Last years problems were down to tyres, pure and simple.

Did anybody watch the race at IMOLA. Michael was 2 seconds quicker than
Aonso!!! The tyres were working on that track and the car & michael showed what they were made of.

Ferrari reliability is Legendary. Nigel Stepney and the crew are all still there. These guys have broken records that will never be surpassed in motor racing from a reliability stand point.

My major concern is that I think Michelin may still have the upper hand this season. I think they still come up to working temperature quicker than the bridgestone which will give the michelin guys the jump at the start and also immediately after a safety car period. its all about track position these days...

 

The F2004 they're testing is still running with the 2004 regulation aerodynamics. I.E. it's got more downforce than the current car. At least that's the impression I've been given by what I've read. There were aero rule changes for the 2005 season, and now further ones for this season.

 

We were there at Imola and will be again in April.

Re: Post #21: Has anyone else beside me noticed the dramatic decline in the car performance has coincided with Aldo Costa taking over from Rory Bryne? . . . . YES, I noticed that too.

Carol

 

Here's 248F1 with new aero package. It looks good to me.
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