Scuderia Ferrari 2013

[StrikeForceF1]

Hi Guys been awhile since I last posted. What is going on in the Scuderia camp? I haven't been able to watch the last few Grands Prix and maybe I should be thankfull for that but my team is Ferrari and it is painfull to see them not able to match the best. The beginning of the year was strong and promising but now my heart sinks to think we have a repeat of the last few years. I pray that they get ontop off the issues they are having and find some decent improvement for the rest of the year or they can stop developing this years car from now and focus everything on next years effort. On the personell side it seems that they are making a step in the right direction in increasing their technical ability and begin to work the way you have to work in current F1 ie relying more on simulation and less on track testing however it has taken them too long to realise their old methods of working(having their own test track) cannot be used successfully currently. This is sad for the oldest and longest running team in F1. I hope this shift in the way they work bears fruit soon and they don't go through another 21 year drought.

Kiril Thanks so much for the links and I guess most of the tifosi's prayers have been answered with the addition of Allison. His stock value in F1 has certainly grown and maybe he is the missing link to get this team in dominant form once again. I have a feeling that now the scuderia puzzle is complete with the exception of a stronger second driver, not that Felipe is bad in any way however he does seem to blow hot and cold,would like to see the Hulk in the second seat next to Fred for a few years and the partnership bear fruit. And than have the Hulk take on the baton from Fred and do what Vettel is doing at Red Bull. I certainly think that Hulk has what it takes to be champion.

[xpensive]

Fantastic, after Ross Brawn's "Real Mercedes FC" team, Ferrari is now building up a "Real Maranello FC", will there be any Technical Directors left for the other teams in Formula one?

But seriously, I was certain he was McLaren bound, only goes to show how wrong you can be.

[Shrieker]

I'm disappointed Merc didn't get him. Those guys have become sloppy

[Holm86]

I'm a bit worried about McLaren. They are loosing technical personnel and don't seem to attract any high standing personnel from other teams. I also thought McLaren would try and get Allison. But perhaps they didn't even try. Whether they didn't want him or if he didn't want to go to McLaren its worrying.

[WhiteBlue]

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/news/form ... 08914.html

Ferrari and Montezemolo publicly criticised Alonso. Unless I'm very mistaken this is completely unprecedented. Some people speak of a rift.

[myurr]

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/news/form ... 08914.html

Ferrari and Montezemolo publicly criticised Alonso. Unless I'm very mistaken this is completely unprecedented. Some people speak of a rift.

That is unprecedented, and is a very public slapping down. Not going to do much for Alonso's temperament at a time when he's really the only part of the Ferrari team that is actually performing as it should right now.

[shelly]

In this article from an Italian newspaper:
http://www.repubblica.it/sport/formulau ... ref=search

there are interesting comments from Alonso. The most interesting part is when he criticises ferrari design team (wt and simulator) while praising the race team, basically saying that people at the tracks are doing well in maximising the car's potential, that is too low at the moment.

[WhiteBlue]

That is unprecedented, and is a very public slapping down. Not going to do much for Alonso's temperament at a time when he's really the only part of the Ferrari team that is actually performing as it should right now.

.. Montezemolo also laid into his technical team, allegedly giving each member a knife along with an invitation to "put it between their teeth when thinking how to tackle the second half of the season".

Montezemolo's position is also under spotlight, the (hysterical) Italian media rapidly losing patience with a team that shows no signs of moving forward and, indeed, shows signs of slipping back into the abyss it populated for much of the 80s and 90s.

Famously, in 1991, Ferrari fired Alain Prost after he criticised the team, publicly describing his car as a truck. Having won five Grands Prix in 1990, taking the title fight down to the wire with Ayrton Senna, the Frenchman failed to score a single win the following year.

After his sacking, former Ferrari winner Patrick Tambay said the move was one of the craziest in the team's history, stating that if Prost couldn't win the title in a Ferrari nobody could.

Nicki Lauda called it spagetti culture at Ferrari when the Tiffosi and their emotions pull Ferrari even deeper into the mire.

[donskar]

This statement can be interpreted as describing a bit of a demotion (or at least loss of authority) for Fry:

"As from this coming 1st September, James Allison will join the Scuderia in the role of Chassis Technical Director. At the same time, Pat Fry will take on the new position of Director of Engineering. Both men will report directly to the Team Principal of the Gestione Sportiva, Stefano Domenicali."

>IF< Alonso should go to Ferrari, AND with Lotus' financial challenges -- Kimi back to Ferrari? Strange and far-fetched, but we are talking the Scuderia here, the team that would fit well in a Monte Python skit.

[CBeck113]

This statement can be interpreted as describing a bit of a demotion (or at least loss of authority) for Fry:

"As from this coming 1st September, James Allison will join the Scuderia in the role of Chassis Technical Director. At the same time, Pat Fry will take on the new position of Director of Engineering. Both men will report directly to the Team Principal of the Gestione Sportiva, Stefano Domenicali."

>IF< Alonso should go to Ferrari, AND with Lotus' financial challenges -- Kimi back to Ferrari? Strange and far-fetched, but we are talking the Scuderia here, the team that would fit well in a Monte Python skit.

The first part would be a blessing for any engineer - less HR work, more engineering time. I don't think that he'll be too upset about it, unless he's happier being a manager, which would make him the wrong person for the job (if it was my team).

Kimi and Ferrari .... hmmmm .... would be a very good deal. I do believe that Alonso is the fastest driver on the grid, but I can see him getting very frustrated at this point (last title is over 6 seasons ago, looking like 7 if they keep up this pace), and an open seat at the team with the best car over the past few years means that he would have one person to beat...very tempting. But Kimi and SF know each other, which means that this time around they would know what to expect from each other.

[astracrazy]

does this outburst ad fuel to the 'Alonso to Red Bull' fire a little bit? I think so

[f1universe]

Not sure what kind of game is playing Montezemolo, but criticizing Alonso in this way, first in my opinion is not fair to Alonso but most importantly will not bring anything good to the team. Really poor form by Montezemolo but is not surprising, he has a big ego.

Maybe Alonso is not always right and his is not perfect either but over the last 4 years he is the only asset of the team that is working at high level regularly.

[WhiteBlue]

Todt was the man responsible for the Ferrari triumphs of the past decade. Montezemolo tends to forget that. By chasing Todt away he has taken over the responsibility to the Tiffosi for Ferrari's success. There is a very high pressure now in the Italian press and Monte's head could roll unless he starts getting things right, which according to Alonso is not really happening. In Hungary Ferrari was not using all the new parts of the previous four or six weeks because they were not giving the performance enhancement they were expected to give. It means that aerodynamically Ferrari are still lost in the woods.

Montezemolo is feeling the pressure and he needs Alonso to keep his mouth shut about any negative trends in order to survive. That is probably a bit unfair, because Alonso only tells it as it is for him. But the Tiffosi would compare him to Schumacher in this regard. Michael never failed to praise the team even when the car was crap or mistakes were made at the pit wall. The accepted formula is "we will work even harder" if you are unhappy with the Ferrari performance. It can never be the fault of the red car. It has to be something that the Tiffosi see as bad luck but never the ineptitude of the red team.

Monte's big mistake in my view was the selection of Domenicali for team principal. It means that an Italian is controlling the ratio of Italians and ex-pats at Ferrari. That will always tweak the internationality down and promote more Italian talent. Unfortunately Italian talent will simply not be of the quality that you find in England. All teams outside the English home county cluster have learned that the hard way over the past decades. Hiring Allison may be too little too late in a situation where Mercedes has cleared the market place of all hopeful tier two F1 engineers. Allison will need more of those because he cannot single handedly transform the chassis side of gestione sportiva into Red Bull and Newey beating form.

[max_speed]

Todt was the man responsible for the Ferrari triumphs of the past decade. Montezemolo tends to forget that. By chasing Todt away he has taken over the responsibility to the Tiffosi for Ferrari's success. There is a very high pressure now in the Italian press and Monte's head could roll unless he starts getting things right, which according to Alonso is not really happening. In Hungary Ferrari was not using all the new parts of the previous four or six weeks because they were not giving the performance enhancement they were expected to give. It means that aerodynamically Ferrari are still lost in the woods.

Montezemolo is feeling the pressure and he needs Alonso to keep his mouth shut about any negative trends in order to survive. That is probably a bit unfair, because Alonso only tells it as it is for him. But the Tiffosi would compare him to Schumacher in this regard. Michael never failed to praise the team even when the car was crap or mistakes were made at the pit wall. The accepted formula is "we will work even harder" if you are unhappy with the Ferrari performance. It can never be the fault of the red car. It has to be something that the Tiffosi see as bad luck but never the ineptitude of the red team.

Monte's big mistake in my view was the selection of Domenicali for team principal. It means that an Italian is controlling the ratio of Italians and ex-pats at Ferrari. That will always tweak the internationality down and promote more Italian talent. Unfortunately Italian talent will simply not be of the quality that you find in England. All teams outside the English home county cluster have learned that the hard way over the past decades. Hiring Allison may be too little too late in a situation where Mercedes has cleared the market place of all hopeful tier two F1 engineers. Allison will need more of those because he cannot single handedly transform the chassis side of gestione sportiva into Red Bull and Newey beating form.

Very well said mate, i think stefano is not ideal person to handle this job and ferrari has become a bit political . its a fact that Luca sees political role for himself in italy and uses ferrari as launch platform for this.
Alonso can use his aging wisdom to decide to move to redbull and blame this stupid outburst by Luca as reason for doing so. he is an exceptional driver whose efforts are being wasted fast becoming a mediocre team.Stefano , he always demands for calm , new parts work or do not work he demands for calm. Fernando is right to bring out the issues in open , he is racer and exceptions racers wear their hearts on sleeves.

[Kiril Varbanov]

Alonso is not going to Red Bull, IMHO, but the situation was very intriguing for couple of reasons. I hope to provide full analysis tonight, as well as having someone who has worked both at Red Bull and Ferrari to comment.