Alonso it seems, is similarly pessimistic (From: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/17252719 ): Alonso's second fastest time belies the impression that his team are struggling, one confirmed by the Spaniard on television on Saturday evening. On Saturday, Ferrari cancelled the news conference Alonso was scheduled to give after he had finished testing on Sunday. But he told TV stations while attending the Barcelona v Sporting football match on Saturday evening: "In the first races we will suffer because we are not 100%."
As I said countless times last season, Ferrari had a greater chance of moving further backwards and into another 80s recession, but I hope not. They will learn a lot this year.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/17252539 FA says they have to grit their teeth and try to improve. Sounds like the exhaust change has been tough to adapt.
Oh vey, no kidding. *shakes head* I'm getting the sinking feeling it just may be. 80's drought indeed. After this year, barring success, I think Stefano should move on to another department. -F
Things indeed look bad, how long will it take to reach 100%? half a season? by the time everyone will be far ahead
Agreed that this does not look like a promising season. OTOH even a good Ferrari would not stand a chance against the Red Bull/Vettel train. Vettel will take #3 this year. And if he doesn't, then it's gonna be #2 for Button or Hamilton. As I said before only once the new engine rules come into play will the deck of cards be mixed anew. That's when Ferrari might come back on top. Luckily Ferrari already has a team working on the new engine etc. Or so a little birdie would have me believe.
Ferrari are indeed working on their turbo engine. Mercedes HPE have already built their engine but not run it yet as I understand things. This season will be no cake walk for Vettel. He will have to fight to the death at each race as his car will not be as dominant as it has been. I would not be surprised if the battle for WDC were not decided until the final couple races. Mclaren will give them a massive fight and the Merc will be in the mix every couple races mucking up the numbers.
I was just wondering if this is a deliberate misdirection by the team so that they can surprise their rivals with unexpected pace at the season opener. LOL! All the best, Andrew.
Nope. They are in big trouble: Instead of running race simulations they used the aero "tie dye" and run the telemetry antenna on the last day. That's a clear sign that they don't understand the car yet.
I'm sure they are already working on the carbon fiber negatives to remake the rear of their sidepods. The season will be a complete wash if they don't ditch that concept. It is a great idea on paper and possibly even in the wind tunnel, but it's clearly not working at all where there are now.
Without being able to test I doubt whether we will ever see another great F1 Ferrari ... hopefully I'm wrong, but if I was Luca I'd be poaching a designer that had worked under Newey. Pete
I don't understand how they could make a mistake this big...was there really as much risk in their design as there appears to be now? It's like their the only team who can't take something from paper to the wind tunnel and finally to the track and end up with a solution as effective as they initially thought (sans HRT and Marussia I guess)...
Ferrari were talking so big during the end of 2011, on how much they've focused on the 2012 car and all. Like i said, they spoke too much, too soon. However, just like i don't trust their ending 2011 promises for the 2012 season, i just don't trust them now as well. In fact, i don't trust anything any teams are saying. It's just too early to say anything. For all you know, Ferrari are just sandbagging, and looking for ways to take away the spotlight from the team. Perhaps they want the spotlight to be shown towards Kimi and Lotus, even Mercedes. We'll find out about 12 days time, and see more less where the teams really are. Till then, everyone is lying about their cars.
