Ferrari finally does what they should have done years ago

Ferrari had a young driver academy for many years...it was called their F2 program.

The'd also slot in a driver into a one-off (Jonathan Williams) or few-off F1 drives (Bob Boundurant), or into their sportscar program.

 

Ferrari doesn't need a young driver program, they have the other 12 teams to pull from.

 

If SpA is serious about developing talent, they're going to need to be involved at lots of levels of motorsports that they're not involved with now. Ron Dennis has been at this for years. That said, guys like Briatore have been playing both sides of the fence for too long. Frankly, I'm surprised their ethics (let alone the obvious conflicts of interest) wouldn't have kept them from being team and driver managers at the same time. Oops, did I just suggest RD and FB could have ethics?

CW

 

That strikes me as an expensive way of recruiting. Look at the bargain Lewis Hamilton was for McLaren - Ferrari needs a superstar at those sorts of prices.

Otherwise, we'll have more Raikkonens... while a proven/rated driver he was eye-wateringly expensive and perhaps suited the ethos of other teams more than he did Ferrari. I fear Alonso is another mistake in the making and he's expensive too.

All the best,
Andrew.

 

'borrowing' drivers from other teams while one of our drivers can't drive has proven to be useless. The drivers won't get to know the car in time and that is if their team bosses are nice enough to let his driver go to drive for another team (it just shows how nice VJM really is, I don't think any other team boss would do so).

It's not really hard for a team like Ferrari spot a guy in formula ford and then guide him through F3/FBMW, GP2 and eventually F1. Mclaren took it a step further than that with hamilton and took him from karting.

I believe that if they can find a good enough driver in Formula ford and give him plenty of seat time in all his racing series they can brew a superstar.

 

Well, my problem is that he has a history of turning on his team when things are not going well for him. We saw what his character was made of when he participated in technical discussions of Ferrari data at McLaren and then tried to use his knowledge of the teams cheating as leverage against Ron Dennis to get preferential treatment. He wasn't revealing an impropriety out of any sense of honour, he wanted to exploit it for his own personal gain and to hell with the good of the team as a whole.

A move like that is not the blundering mis-step of a rookie, it's evidence of a deep character flaw - and people just don't change their character make-up for the next season. As long as Alonso feels like he's top dog at Ferrari and he's doing well against the competition, then he'll be consistent, quick, and will "deliver the goods". He won't get bored like Kimi Raikkonen did, but if things don't go well... he's not the sort of guy you want around on your team.

The only reason he was able to put up with, and develop, a poor car at Renault in recent years was because of his special relationship with Flavio Briatore and the fact that the former Renault Boss was more than willing to give Alonso undisputed #1 status within the team. There's no Flavio at Ferrari, and Massa will be more competitive than Piquet Jr.

Considering that sort of risk, Alonso is expensive. Sebastian Vettel or Robert Kubica would have been less risky to select and would have required less pay to satisfy. The only person potentially on the grid for next year that I'd pay the big bucks to retain is Michael Schumacher; he's quick, his work ethic is second to none, he's one of the best in the business at development, a cool head when the pressure is on, and the best package - justifying his expense. While there are areas in which he excels, overall I think Alonso was the wrong choice for Ferrari.

All the best,
Andrew.

 

I'm a big fan of Vettel; would be nice to see him at Ferrari one day

 

Andrew, you're absolutely right on Kubica. I was aghast when I found that he signed with Renault so early, when there was at the very least an open spot at McLaren. Luca has had a crush on Caterpillars for years now, kinda surprising he went to McLaren in the first place.

 

I am very excited about this young drivers program - I have sent them my CV. I am sure I'll get a call from Luca or Stefano soon.