I'm writing this after quali, and Ferrari have just shocked me. I know that McLaren have brough improvements to the car, but throughout pre-season Ferrari was just behind Red Bull; how can we have slipped so much?! From a sad Tifoso
Mate it won't last, maybe it is down to the track, temp, the set up, you did look fast in testing so obviously you have, at its base, a fast car, it's probably just down to the driver quality to be honest, replace FA or FM with RK or Koby next year and i'm sure you will be back, FORZA an that
That was an absolute shocker. It's fairly obvious that McLaren and Red Bull were faster, so in that sense, well done to Fernando - but this is still very disappointing. On Tuesday or Wednesday when Ferrari were doing practice pit stops Scarbs noticed that Ferrari didn't have the exhaust blowing into floor that they had in Barcelona. I didn't see whether they had it in qualifying, but if they didn't it would explain the lack of pace. If not, ****ing hell!
According to FA: Alonso was using Chassis 288 Massa was using Chassis 289 Ferrari might try doing one less pit stop The problems are in the slow corners, with Ferrari lacking mechanical grip
I'm really hoping Petrov manages to nab Alonso into turn one, and the Alonso has to start the season the way he ended the last one.
Surely that couldn't happen Alonso stuck behind Petrov unable to overtake? This time round I think alonso would deck petrov
I'm very impressed by what Mclaren pulled out, and also surprised at Ferrari. Those saying it's down to tyre temp., i'm not so sure. These tyres work almost completely the opposite to Bridgestone's, and apparently they wear from OVERUSE rather than overheating. It also goes to show that testing doesn't prove anything, with the exception of Sauber, which maybe down to their driver's skill. All thats been said, this is only 1 race, and it could be that this year the Ferrari is terrible at Australia, and better at other tracks. All teams are better at some tracks over other - like Red Bull at Montreal and Spa compared with the other tracks last season. For the championship and us spectators, I hope they could be racing at the top, and we can see more racing. Well, maybe not, being a Mclaren fan.............
I think Ferrari's problem was the men behind the wheel. Massa was woeful. Alonso looked to me as if he lacked commitment, or maybe confidence, in qualifying. Then a difficult first lap compromised the rest of his race. Remember Massa outqualified him at Bahrain last year, so maybe he needs a couple of races to get his act together. The Ferrari in Alonso's hands will be a force this year though, he'll be mixing it with Seb and Lewis in Malaysia, and I expect Webber to be back up there again as well.
The recent Ferraris have never agreed with the Melbourne track. Ferrari were strugging badly yet Alonso was still popping up with fastest laps here and there. There is pace in that Ferrari. Making concrete comparative judgements off the Aus GP (which has always been unpredictable) is a tad foolish methinks.
Yeah right! He was missing Vitaly's rear end so much (well it was a long winter) that he HAD to do those laps. 3rd set of tyres, low fuel and the desperation to push that magic overtake button (DRS, we know he couldn't find KERS) that he needed to prevent the second coming of "when a race gets ruined by the impossibility of passing a much slower car, as happened to me with [Vitaly] Petrov in Abu Dhabi."
I think Ferrari need a big update for Malaysia, otherwise we'll get skinned by Red Bull, McLaren and maybe even Renault. However, I think the Mercedes car should be a lot better, and the rest of the 'midfield' is fairly even and predictable.
I think the williams has hidden pace too. Just some bad driving by rubens dashed a probable points finish
