Ferrari F60

[donskar]

Funny how this figure is always rising. First I read it was around 5 million pounds, I think James Allen said so. Than I read it was 20 million euro and practically building a new car, the F-60B ,and now it is 30 million.

I wonder what is the true number...

Whatever the number, it makes a mockery of the new "low cost" F1. Others have posted elsewhere (ad infinitum) about the Brawn/Toyota/Williams diffuser. It seems possible, if not probable, that pretty significant changes might have to be made to adapt a car to the new diffuser. In other words, more money.

And KERS, what a joke.
Q: How do you tell if a car has all that extra power that KERS provides?
A: It's slow.

[wrcsti]

Anyone noticed this in the coverage?

Sidepod and shield at work.

[dave34m]

I think everyone noticed it, but remember that the water was being washed by the front wheels and has little to do with normal airflow, and also it is at very low speed. Im not sure how much you can take from it really, but certainly very interesting.

[wrcsti]

The water is flowing around the front wheel, about the area where the flat part of the front wing is.

[allan]

i doubt the number is more than 5 mil. Just think about it, why would they waste an extra 30 mil pounds (equivalent to the Marlboro sponsorship budget) to design a diffuser?? They wouldn't spend all that money if they're not gaining even more money out of it... It's interesting,however, how brawn is giving the Ferrari's a run for their money after leading them to success in the past decade... I'm pretty happy with the current situation as an F1 fan, simply because Brawn and Button are attracting more and more English spectators, although deep inside, i really want to see the Ferrai cars at the front again

[donskar]

Looks like Luca Baldisseri is being demoted in a re-shuffle supposed to address the F60's lack of success. Naturally, moving him from track to factory is NOT being called a demotion.

[mike]

i agree with you donskar
KERS cars are really not as competitive as people thought, it gives a theoretical 3 tenth, but if you look at Heidfield and Kubicas time, its 2 tenths slower in Q2 Malaysia. So if you drive a KERS car without using KERS you are essentially .5s slower per lap.
If you take out the KERS on the Ferraris, kimi may have done a lap that is 2 tenth faster, which would have put him in 3rd in Q2 behind the double deck diffuser cars of Brawn and Toyota which is about .5s faster. Im not going to go into how the diffuser affects the car, but Ferrari doesnt seem to be as slow as people think.
Given better diffuser and a getting rid of the KERS Ferrari would be right up there, which comes back to my point of view that KERS is a waste of time, nothing but a marketing exercise for rich people to feel good about green technology.

[timbo]

Given better diffuser and a getting rid of the KERS Ferrari would be right up there, which comes back to my point of view that KERS is a waste of time, nothing but a marketing exercise for rich people to feel good about green technology.

Yeah, you really think about Ferrari that bad? Why BMW works flat out to give KERS to Kubica?

[DaveKillens]

Fundamentally, the F60 is a good car. But it suffers from two disadvantages. First off, the rear diffuser design is substandard compared to others. That issue will be addressed at the FIA hearing, and then a clear path is laid down for continued development. Second, Ferrari as a team have shot themselves in the foot. It really reminds me of the Ferrari of old, before Michael Schumacher and Co arrived to mold a band of talented misfits into a cohesive team.
I have no reservations about KERS. For it's inauguration, it is more of a technology demonstrator, with just a minor performance gain if working properly. And it appears some teams are making it work as intended. To me, you really don't measure KERS purely by lap times. Instead, it adds a new dimension to the actual racecraft. A car with KERS has the ability to be quicker than it's competitor at certain times and certain places on the track. I like how this KERS allows the cars to mix it up on the track.

[Rob W]

Looks like Luca Baldisseri is being demoted in a re-shuffle supposed to address the F60's lack of success.

Yep. .. this also lets us now know who made the decision to put Kimi onto full wets. =D> ... seriously, why shift one of the most experienced guys away from race-day if not as a punishment? If their real problem is holes left by top brass leaving the team then moving Baldisseri to a test role will worsen that aspect of the operation.

[mike]

Given better diffuser and a getting rid of the KERS Ferrari would be right up there, which comes back to my point of view that KERS is a waste of time, nothing but a marketing exercise for rich people to feel good about green technology.

Yeah, you really think about Ferrari that bad? Why BMW works flat out to give KERS to Kubica?

dont get me wrong, i dont think bad about Ferrari, i think bad about the introduction of KERS to formula 1
What is the point of overtaking if you are 3 tenths slower per lap. you get to be in front, but not after a pit stop

[sunny1304]

guys do you think that the late diffuer (double decker) designer like ferrari , red bull be will gain some more advantage than brawn because they already haven seen the lacking of their ordinary diffuser and also saw the strong area of brawn diffuser ???

and how much team may have to change the car's basic design to accomodate the double dcker diffuser ???

[noname]

(...) why shift one of the most experienced guys away from race-day if not as a punishment? (...)

to make better use of his knowledge and experience back in factory, when development of the car is going flat-out ?

[Rob W]

to make better use of his knowledge and experience back in factory, when development of the car is going flat-out ?

He'd be there already if he was the best person for the job. If he is and isn't there already then they have done a poor job of recognising where people should be placed.

[noname]

He'd be there already if he was the best person for the job. If he is and isn't there already then they have done a poor job of recognising where people should be placed.

ferrari recently admitted they have to accept the fact they are not at the front at the moment. they've been there for more than 10 years, and so they had all the reasons to be confident in what and how they are doing.

developing f60 is top priority task for them right now, and I do not think you would choose to this job someone who failed (to punish him). I would rather bet they count on his on-track experience (no testing this year) as a very useful support tool for the development team.