I do like GA's back to basics F1 analysis. Its like the BBC pay him to be the strategist/Designer/scout/team boss of their imaginary team
I'd love it if when the rights end up on one broadcaster or another he and Ted could both be employed, Gary to do the real technical analysis (like the articles he does for the website and that video) and Ted to do the pitlane reporting...
please log in to view this image An update; Ferrari copy Sauber and Red Bull by adding slots just ahead of the rear tyres. Not long now until the Mugello test - can't wait to see the new F2012.
It didn't really work though, the car was still pathetically slow by Ferrari's standards. it's not as bad as the 91/92 cars, but it's not much better.
They were slow, but they openly admitted before the weekend that this circuit will be the worst for them. Even McLaren struggled in the race for some reason. Based on qualifying pace I think they're making progress but obviously they still have a lot of work to do. If the Mugello update is as big as it's rumoured to be (and the update works), Ferrari could be quite close to the frontrunners in Spain.
In theory (and in layman's terms) Ferrari are the furthest behind of the classic big teams and so have the most time to find in the car. They need to find about 1s in quali time to catch up to the front runner which will be a lot easier than say McLaren finding 1 second. The question is if they can match the pace of McLaren, Red Bull et al, can they then keep up with any updates they then bring, or will they be a few races behind with any update till well into the season?
I just don't see them gaining the 1.5 seconds that they need. I know Alonso adds 6 tenths to any car, even with that they have to find a second, and the same people responsible for this dog, are responsible for the updates. I wouldn't hold your breath.
This is an extract from an omnicorse article: http://www.omnicorse.it/magazine/17322/f1-il-mugello-chiama-la-ferrari-risponde
Maranello, 23 April â This evening the last of the team will head back to base after the back to back races in China and Bahrain. After such a long time away, itâs good to be home and back with oneâs nearest and dearest: it is all the more appreciated at this time of sadness at the death of a colleague and in many cases a friend, Matteo Vignali, who passed away suddenly yesterday morning. There were few dry eyes at the Sakhir track yesterday nor in Maranello today at the factory and many will be in Sestola tomorrow afternoon to say a final farewell to Matteo. One has to move forward because grief like this is part of life, but the work of a Formula 1 team and in so many other walks of life in fact, imposes incessant demands with no chance to pause for breath. Thatâs even more the case for a team that is in a hurry to make up the gap that has grown to the best, and that applies to the Scuderia in this first run of races this season. âA first cycle of four races came to an end yesterday and so we can make a very early first assessment,â said Team Principal Stefano Domenicali to www.ferrarif1.com. âClearly we cannot be happy with the way our season began but, after the winter tests, we knew the first four races would be very tough. We managed to limit the damage, especially in the Driversâ championship, in which Fernando Alonso is fifth, just ten points off the leader. However, it is equally clear that now we must step up a gear, right from the next race. Our engineers are well aware of this and are working day and night to give our drivers a much more competitive car than we have seen on track in these first four races.â After Fernandoâs fantastic win in Sepang, Shanghai and Sakhir proved less satisfactory for the Spanish champion who had to settle for a ninth and a seventh place. âIn both races, Fernando gave his all and managed to get all the potential out of the car,â continued Domenicali. âThe team worked well: honestly, if when setting out for Melbourne, it had been suggested we would be in this position with one of our drivers, I would have struggled to believe it. Felipe has also reacted in a positive fashion to the initial difficulties and I am sure the fact he has finally managed to end his scoreless run in terms of points will give him confidence for the forthcoming races. The coming days will be very important, during which the primary objective will be to push as hard as possible on the development of the car: next week we have three days of testing at Mugello, but itâs not definite that all the updates planned for Barcelona will be seen then. We must try and make the most of every minute available to us to increase the performance of the F2012.â It is not just the short term that is on the agenda for the Scuderia in these coming weeks, as Domenicali confirmed: âWe are intensifying the process of changing our working procedures in all areas and, at the same time, we are strengthening our efforts in areas where we are weakest, such as aerodynamics. Itâs a long term project and one that President Montezemolo is studying at first hand and it is vital to the future of the Scuderia. Formula 1 has changed so much these past few years and we have not always been up to speed with these changes. In this area too we need to step up a gear.â âThe theme for the start of this championship is that everyone was very closely matched: the statistics show that itâs been nine years since there have been four different winners in the first four races, but more than that, you have to go back 29 years to find the last time four different cars won,â added Domenicali. âTyres seem to be the most important factor: understanding their behaviour in order to settle on a strategy for the race and also for qualifying, as we saw last weekend in Bahrain, pinpointing the right moment for the pit stops, knowing how best to set a time on a single flying lap, based on the track evolution are all crucial elements in the fight for the top places. I expect that, in Barcelona, there will be many teams all bringing significant updates on track and we will have to do a better job than the others.â Statistics from the last three years show that the ten point deficit is the smallest Alonso has had to the leader of the Driversâ table at this point in the season: it was eleven in 2010 (60 for Button, 49 for Fernando) and no less than 52 last year (93 Vettel, 41 the Spaniard.) Although the F2012 has shown itself to be less competitive than the F10 and the I50 Italia when compared to its rivals, Fernando is still very much in the race for the title. Of course, the Spaniard is the first to be hoping for a step up in quality in the short term, as indeed does Felipe: it is a wish they share with âFerraristiâ everywhere and everyone at Maranello is working hard to achieve it. http://www.ferrari.com/English/Form...ent-after-the-first-races-outside-Europe.aspx
La Gazzetta says that Ferrari will be copying Sauber's exhaust, but the new exhaust wont be seen on the car until Barcelona. I'm a bit surprised by this, but if true it means the exhaust is just a small part of the upgraded F2012 - which suggests that Ferrari's main focus will be the on the change of radiator position and revised cooling system/rear end. I wouldnt be surprised to see the Mugello specification car feature an RB8 launch spec rear and exhaust.
It is surprising but I suppose there are advantages to taking a step-by-step approach and dealing with underlying issues that require a redesign first and then refining the external aero parts once they understand how the redesign has panned out. It's not really a 'Sauber exhaust' any more with all the iterative improvements all the teams have made but, in terms of using exhaust flow to seal the diffuser, why would delaying the initial implementation of that be an advantage?
I suspect Corriere dello Sport are jumping to conclusions but maybe that's just me hoping they are wrong. I guess it could explain why some of the unique design concepts on the F2012 have failed miserably. Even if the article is true, there is still hope for Ferrari this year. Toyota's wind tunnel is brilliant - they used it last year when they significantly cut the gap to Red Bull, but unfortunately by that time Vettel was too far ahead in the championship.
Ferrari first to replicate The DDRS? http://www.f1today.net/en/news/ferrari-getting-ready-to-equip-f2012-with-fduct
How have they worked that from these end plates and the cutaway behind the DRS flap right where the inlets would be? please log in to view this image
Marc Gene: "[The Barcelona circuit] is not the best for us, but neither is it the worst, like China, Bahrain and Malaysia. This will help to see a more competitive Ferrari. We will still have deficiencies in top speed but we will see that the Ferrari in three corners will be the most competitive car together with the Lotus." He also says that the updates in Mugello worked: http://www.f1aldia.com/15161/marc-gene-nos-podemos-ilusionar/
So can Ferrari/Alonso gain a second a lap on RBR/Vettel (in comparison to Bahrain). 4-6 tenths sounds about right for Spain, another 1 or 2 tenths come Canada with a bit more tweaking. But will it be enough considering the RB8 is also still being considerably modified. As a Ferrari fan of the past it's a shame that Ferrari have slumped so badly this year and that they should really be at the front fighting for the WCC, not 4th place as for that's a disgrace with their history in F1.
Alonso doesn't need the fastest car - he just needs a fighting chance. It'd be boring if Ferrari gave him the 2012 equivalent of the RB7.
That Ferrari is undergoing some major changes at the moment and it will take a while to fully understand and then exploit those changes. I expect them to be playing catch up for a while but with such big changes theres a lot of potential to be potentially unlocked.
