'Stupid' problem has Ferrari scratching their heads Wednesday 22nd April 2009 - From PlanetF1.com Felipe Massa has bemoaned Ferrari's bad luck after a "very small and stupid problem" forced him to retire from last weekend's Chinese Grand Prix. The Scuderia are under pressure to start producing after Massa and team-mate Kimi Raikkonen failed to pick up a single point in the opening three races of the season. Neither Ferrari driver finished the season opener in Australia while Raikkonen was forced to stop due of a KERS-related problem in Malaysia. Things didn't get much better for the team in China as Massa was forced to park his car on lap 21. The Brazilian says electrical problem which forced him to stop in China was "a failure we had never seen before". "At the factory, we continue to push very hard to overcome these reliability problems. The electrical fault that forced me to stop at the side of the track was, once again, a failure we had never seen before. "It has to be said that luck doesn't seem to be on our side at the moment, as it was a very small and stupid problem that made the car stop, because it was simply a faulty reading within the on board data that indicated to the control unit that the throttle should be shut down. "So, even though there was actually nothing wrong, the car's computer decided to shut down the throttle and I had to park it." Massa and his team will hope they can turn their fortunes around at this weekend's Bahrain Grand Prix. The Brazilian is searching for a hat-trick of wins at Sakhir. "I have always gone well at the Sakhir circuit, winning for the last two years, so I hope this is a good sign," he said. "In more practical terms, we tested here during the winter and the car was not too bad to be honest and the tyres seemed to suit the package we have. "I really do expect to be more competitive, especially if we have KERS, as it should be a significant advantage at this track. I hope that finally we can make life difficult for the other teams and fight for a very good result. "I am very motivated, despite the difficult times until now. But change must come and hopefully that will start this weekend."
I think that Ferrari are going to finally pick up some points here, but if the F60B sh!ts the bed in Spain and Monaco then its time to pull a Brawn and concentrate on 2010.
One would hope they have a cut-off date in mind as you have posted. Clearly this car is NOT the car they hoped. I would imagine they knew during testing it was not quite there, or had some small indication of its lack of pace. The reliability issue is a hold over from last year.
The major reasons for no points have been: stupid tactical decisions, relatively poor driving from Kimi, and the reliability problem for Massa. The car is not GP-winning fast, but I think there are two contributing factors for that: first, there was very limited testing allowed for the first time. Second, naturally Ferrari has their eyes on McLaren and BMW and guess what, the Ferrari seems very much on the same pace, maybe a little quicker if we look at qualifying. I don't think we've ever seen such a reversal of fortunes with the top four contenders for the podium places in 2009 all performing badly after the winter. Remember how strong Renault was at the end of the 08 season? Where are they now? It's like Formula 1 from a parallel universe. Nice shake up, but now it's time for the old guard to hit back. Onno
I think that's going to happen sooner than some think. Even though Alonso was quite a bit lighter you can't just put a crap car on the front row. McLaren finished both cars in the top six in a race with very few DNFs. Massa was right on the pace with the leaders before his technical problem put an end to his race.
Kimi defence commitee here; I woudlnt say that Raikkonen has driven especially poor this season. He has out qualified Massa at each session so far. I wont ignore the fact he dropped his car in Australia though, silly mistake one wouldnt expect from a top of the line driver. In china he had an engine problem from the beginning of the race explaining is lower than average pace.
