Scuderia Ferrari 2012

[nacho]

News in Finland is that Ferrari has made Mika Salo a seat and he will be driving an F1 car soon, bizarre. Maybe it's a promo thing or testing the 2014 engine? BIZARRE

[Pierce89]

That does concur with some opinions that the Ferrari actually has core pace in it; but that pace is very hard to unlock - either due to setup concerns or due to needing a specific driving style to actually get the best out of it.

This is basically the impression I had.From what I've read, the car makes good downforce that just magically switches off, like Lewis claimed of the Mclaren all through 09 even after it got much faster. However, I get the impression it only of a severity to affect balance not to the point where the car seems to lose all grip.

In 09 Mclaren eventually seemed as though they just used SUPER STIFF suspension to hold it out of the parts of the aeromap where the crazy stuff happened.

[Pierce89]

News in Finland is that Ferrari has made Mika Salo a seat and he will be driving an F1 car soon, bizarre. Maybe it's a promo thing or testing the 2014 engine? BIZARRE

Probably just rewarding him for driving the nuts off GT Ferraris

[raymondu999]

That does concur with some opinions that the Ferrari actually has core pace in it; but that pace is very hard to unlock - either due to setup concerns or due to needing a specific driving style to actually get the best out of it.

This is basically the impression I had.From what I've read, the car makes good downforce that just magically switches off, like Lewis claimed of the Mclaren all through 09 even after it got much faster. However, I get the impression it only of a severity to affect balance not to the point where the car seems to lose all grip.

In 09 Mclaren eventually seemed as though they just used SUPER STIFF suspension to hold it out of the parts of the aeromap where the crazy stuff happened.

FWIW it seems as though it's a loss of balance by tyre deg - Gary Anderson is saying that starting on the 3rd/4th laps of stints; the fronts would wash out on fast corners; and soon after they would have slow speed oversteer

[raymondu999]

I notice he's also followed by Peter Windsor

You just wiped out a great deal of his credibility

[amouzouris]

wasn't joseluis the same guy that was talking about all the things the new ferrari would have like the detached sidepods with the blown woofers or something??:P he was also the one talking about the byrne floor and all the other updates that didnt come i think...

[f1316]

I notice he's also followed by Peter Windsor

You just wiped out a great deal of his credibility

Well, in fairness, he's followed by me too, which no one would want if they had a choice in the matter!

Still, I'd like to think that an analysis of the data could help make sense of the bits they "just don't understand". That's the most puzzling thing for me in the last two years at Ferrari, that these experienced people can't seem to correlate what they're trying to do with what actually happens.

Which, of course, also makes you wonder if their analysis can be trusted...

[radosav]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UmMa7hX ... page#t=14s[/youtube]

[Crucial_Xtreme]

Georgia born and raised.

And it's not so much that I suddenly changed my mind as it is that I finally lent words to thoughts I've held the entire time. For one thing, I think only a fool would cement any sort of judgment by putting into words an assessment of performance based on initial testing alone. But, I've seen enough now that I'm willing to say exactly what I'm thinking.

"If it looks fast, then it is fast." There's a reason why that saying persists despite its superficial nature.

F2012 has never looked fast.

(And I certainly hope it's not weird to edit grammatical errors after you've made a post, because I do it all the time. I'll often make style edits, too. I have OCD, so that's my excuse. I even text in complete sentences.)

You must have not been looking. This is especially true of the last test. Most trackside observers indeed the F2012 is quick. It's been said the F2012 has no problem getting to it's maximum performance of its current configuration. It's the fact that after a few laps it drops off then the car is completely out of balance.

The car is no a dog, and is very quick. But it can be quicker & if they can get the balance issues under control the car will be competitive. As it stands now, it sounds like the car is quick enough to Quali on the first two rows, the questioin is can it maintain that throughout the race distance...

[Scootin159]

They also look like a new design for this year. However, can anyone think of a (non-medical) reason why the guy on the right is wearing a carbon fiber shield over this abdomen?

My guess is that it's a rather silly reason, but it's probably to just keep his uniform from getting dirty while handling the tires.

[Crucial_Xtreme]

Jet wings it was Piola. Jose Luis never talk about that.

The new floor and new diffuser had been test sunday or saturday.


Someone could translate this ?

[img]http://i40.tinypic.com/bf2ya9.png[img]

Ferrari: Pro: Reliability. After initial problems, they've managed a lot of laps.
Con: Tires. Performance crumbles after only a few laps.

[f1316]

Someone could translate this ?

[img]http://i40.tinypic.com/bf2ya9.png[img]

Unlike earlier when I Google translated (yes, I typed it all in!), I'll give this one a stab with my limited ability:

Red Bull: pros - basically their rear end continues to show everyone how it's done (or "do school") cons - only 23 laps on final day of test

McLaren: pros - it adopted an original solution that already works; cons - it's not the height of the Red Bull (I guess it's still not as good, is the point)

Ferrari: pros - After the initial problem it's done a lot of km; cons - the performance drops after few laps

Merc: pros - the air passes through the muzzle (nose, I guess), improving aerodynamics; cons - their goal is to be the third best team

Lotus: pros - begins and ends testing with the best times; cons - small fault but a pretty serious one

[Lorenzo_Bandini]

If you look at this video without the sound, and you concentrate on Fry's face, he didn't look like a guy very concerned about the car. He looks like a guy happy with the car. He smile a lot for a guy who announce that the car is not good enough for podium, after having said that they will produce a car capable of winning by the start of the season.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... UmMa7hXAnw


Perhaps he is always like that, but his body language is weird if you think about what he is saying ( F2012 is not good enough for podium )


Ferrari is not in good shape, but the main goal for Ferrari this year was to win at start, and to be better than Red Bull. And perhaps the Ferrari disappointment after the test is just to be behind Red Bull and Mclaren, and they know they are not behind Mercedes, Lotus and Force India.

Yes, i know, a lot of " maybe " " perhaps

[bhall]

Code: Select all

      Team 	    Driver 	         Time      Gap
1     Lotus       Kimi Raikkonen     1’22.030 	
2     Sauber      Sergio Perez       1’22.094  0.064
3     McLaren     Jenson Button      1’22.103  0.073
4     Toro Rosso  Daniel Ricciardo   1’22.155  0.125
5     Ferrari     Fernando Alonso    1’22.250  0.220
6     Williams    Bruno Senna        1’22.296  0.266
7     Force India Nico Hulkenberg    1’22.312  0.282
8     Caterham    Heikki Kovalainen  1’22.630  0.600
9     Red Bull    Mark Webber        1’22.662  0.632
10    Mercedes    Nico Rosberg       1’22.932  0.902
11    Marussia    Timo Glock         1’26.173  4.143

Those are the best laps from each team set throughout the Barcelona tests. And for what it's worth, they're a great example of why I don't pay any attention at all to testing times. I'm not expressly trying to rain on anyone's parade, but does anyone really think that list is truly representative of the running order we'll see in Melbourne?

And on that note, gentlemen, I'm off to see Radiohead...again.

[donskar]

It's far too early for definitive comments on the ultimate competitiveness of the 2102. Who knows -- maybe Ferrari really is sandbagging (I doubt that!)

Some have said Ferrari should have continued what they do best: develop an existing design. But that assumes -- wrongly IMHO -- that a basic design can go on being developed indefinitely. Eventually a new design generation must begin, and that is what the 2012 MIGHT be -- the first of a new generation, a design from which many cars will spring.

Others have predicted "heads will roll." Maybe, but I think the foreboding silence from Luca de M indicates some patience is being exercised. I think we'll be hearing from Luca de M very soon -- then we might see the fate of Domenicalli and/or Tombazis. Even if the 2012 is as great a disaster as the F93A, I think the "Fry team" will be given one more chance.