Scuderia Ferrari 2014

[shelly]

Does anyone know where Mario Almondo works now? He was technical director in 2007, and was recognized by many as montezemolo successor iirc. I do not see news about him anymore

[aleks_ader]

Does anyone know where Mario Almondo works now? He was technical director in 2007, and was recognized by many as montezemolo successor iirc. I do not see news about him anymore

If i got right Almondo i belive it still works for Ferrari as Quality Director at Ferrari Spa and Vice president. Look LikendIN profile is that guy you was looking for?

[ChrisM40]

LDM..

"“Mattiacci is the right choice, we will return very soon to win. The next 4-5 races will be decisive, says Montezemolo, to understand if and how we can bridge the gap with Mercedes, I decided to focus on a young manager in which I believe a lot, on a person of the Ferrari family, avoiding to seek some mercenary. Domenicali pay the lack of results, is the law of sport. Mattiacci will certainly be a chief much less forgiving than its predecessor, for a management much closer to that of Jean Todt.”

Hm.. Seems like LDM is the real problem..

[WhiteBlue]

LDM..

"“Mattiacci is the right choice, we will return very soon to win. The next 4-5 races will be decisive, says Montezemolo, to understand if and how we can bridge the gap with Mercedes, I decided to focus on a young manager in which I believe a lot, on a person of the Ferrari family, avoiding to seek some mercenary. Domenicali pay the lack of results, is the law of sport. Mattiacci will certainly be a chief much less forgiving than its predecessor, for a management much closer to that of Jean Todt.”

Hm.. Seems like LDM is the real problem..

What a perfect piece of wishful thinking.

[Kiril Varbanov]

Interesting times, really. I can imagine tifosi being frustrated by the lack of titles and had too much humiliation, but there are cycles in the sport. Ferrari did not want to invest money in the right people - instead, they invested in car sales, brand image, offices and entertainment parks around the world, and this is the result. And don't get me wrong - I love Ferrari, but this was the wrong thing to do (in a hindsight, of course!).

They have underestimated their rivals, and they have been on the conservative side for many years. Logically, there must be a good reason for that. And it should be either lack of creativity, or fear of failure. In both cases, this is a management culture problem - whether this is Luca or Stefano, or someone else. The great leader will inspire his people to be rock stars. All of them.

In the meantime, Mercedes started to invest in this engine back in 2008, when there were discussions about the potential issues with the sound in 2014. They have promoted Andy Cowell to Engineering director, locked him into a cell with large budget, and here's the result. Nothing like that happened in Ferrari, which have kept calm and carried on with the old, erroneously working wind tunnel, which has costed them three precious years.

Now that Domenicali is gone, his supporters have emerged. But it's too late. Next is LdM. Or Pat Fry. I don't know whether this will help, but it's just a summation and a 10,000 feet overview. Don't get angry at the messenger. Or at Alonso. He just wants to win. If I were in his shoes, I'd do the same, even more outrageously - apparently his samurai inner-self has helped him to stay calm most of the time and to have just occasional public outbursts.

The morale of the story is: blame prevents learning. I will have to quote myself, although this is narcissistic:

Blaming others is a poor strategy. Not simply because everyone can see through it. Or because it's dishonest. Or because it destroys relationships. Or even because, while trying to preserve our self-esteem, it actually weakens it. There's a more essential reason why blame is a bad idea: Blame prevents learning.

Best of luck, Ferrari, but don't be afraid to innovate. Come on, guys, you have done it on the road - there's a an AWD Shooting brake Ferrari model! And we accepted it.

The post above was sponsored by a heated discussion among couple of local Bulgarian tifosi

[Chuckjr]

LDM..

"“Mattiacci is the right choice, we will return very soon to win. The next 4-5 races will be decisive, says Montezemolo, to understand if and how we can bridge the gap with Mercedes, I decided to focus on a young manager in which I believe a lot, on a person of the Ferrari family, avoiding to seek some mercenary. Domenicali pay the lack of results, is the law of sport. Mattiacci will certainly be a chief much less forgiving than its predecessor, for a management much closer to that of Jean Todt.”

Isn't this just Monty code speak for...

"I've hired a yes man - a guy who won't get in my way like Brawn or Flavio would, and will simply carry out my commands without any resistance or questions."

[beelsebob]

LDM..

"“Mattiacci is the right choice, we will return very soon to win. The next 4-5 races will be decisive, says Montezemolo, to understand if and how we can bridge the gap with Mercedes, I decided to focus on a young manager in which I believe a lot, on a person of the Ferrari family, avoiding to seek some mercenary. Domenicali pay the lack of results, is the law of sport. Mattiacci will certainly be a chief much less forgiving than its predecessor, for a management much closer to that of Jean Todt.”

Isn't this just Monty code speak for...

"I've hired a yes man - a guy who won't get in my way like Brawn or Flavio would, and will simply carry out my commands without any resistance or questions."

I did not read that, no. That sounds like you projecting your opinion into his words to be honest.

[Chuckjr]

LDM..

"“Mattiacci is the right choice, we will return very soon to win. The next 4-5 races will be decisive, says Montezemolo, to understand if and how we can bridge the gap with Mercedes, I decided to focus on a young manager in which I believe a lot, on a person of the Ferrari family, avoiding to seek some mercenary. Domenicali pay the lack of results, is the law of sport. Mattiacci will certainly be a chief much less forgiving than its predecessor, for a management much closer to that of Jean Todt.”

Isn't this just Monty code speak for...

"I've hired a yes man - a guy who won't get in my way like Brawn or Flavio would, and will simply carry out my commands without any resistance or questions."

I did not read that, no. That sounds like you projecting your opinion into his words to be honest.

Really? Ok then what was your take? I'm finding it hard to understand why a guy from nowhere in F1 is now going to lead this team in a sport he's had zero leadership experience within. It makes no sense to me.

[bhall]

The following could probably be said about McLaren, too.

I don't think Ferrari has necessarily done anything wrong over the last few years. If anything, I think they've just failed to recognize that F1 has changed such that year-to-year contention for a World Championship is probably no longer possible, as you'll inevitably find yourself pitted against a rival that's spent years and hundreds of millions of dollars to prepare for that exact moment in time.

For example, Red Bull was nowhere from 2005 to 2008, because their priority was 2009; everything they did in those years served that singular goal to the exclusion of all else. The same is true for Mercedes. They sacrificed any chances of realistically contending for Championships from 2010 to 2013, because their priority was 2014. Other teams generally can't compete with that unless they've similarly prepared themselves for such an attack.

That said, it should be noted that no other team was able to more consistently challenge Red Bull's dominance over the last few years. In fact, one can make a pretty strong argument that driver errors in 2010 and 2012 cost Ferrari those Championships (Alonso's inability to overtake Petrov at Abu Dhabi in 2010, and Alonso's kamikaze dive on the opening lap of the Japanese GP in 2012). Otherwise, the F10 and F2012 were good enough to win.

It's funny to me how two measly points, Ferrari's combined deficit to Red Bull in '10 and '12, can alter the perception of a team so much. Swing those points around the other way, and I imagine people would see the Scuderia's efforts in a completely different light. (Looking a bit further into the past, only three points prevented Ferrari from being F1's most successful team from 2007 to 2013.)

[ChrisM40]

LDM..

"“Mattiacci is the right choice, we will return very soon to win. The next 4-5 races will be decisive, says Montezemolo, to understand if and how we can bridge the gap with Mercedes, I decided to focus on a young manager in which I believe a lot, on a person of the Ferrari family, avoiding to seek some mercenary. Domenicali pay the lack of results, is the law of sport. Mattiacci will certainly be a chief much less forgiving than its predecessor, for a management much closer to that of Jean Todt.”

Isn't this just Monty code speak for...

"I've hired a yes man - a guy who won't get in my way like Brawn or Flavio would, and will simply carry out my commands without any resistance or questions."

I did not read that, no. That sounds like you projecting your opinion into his words to be honest.

To me LDM has made the classic mistake of assuming that because the guy is a good manager he will be a good manager anywhere he is put. Ive seen plenty of trained manager types moved into a job because they are a good manager, and fail miserably because they have no experience of managing that new thing.

[basti313]

The following could probably be said about McLaren, too.

I don't think Ferrari has necessarily done anything wrong over the last few years. ........

Very nice post. =D>

To me LDM has made the classic mistake of assuming that because the guy is a good manager he will be a good manager anywhere he is put. Ive seen plenty of trained manager types moved into a job because they are a good manager, and fail miserably because they have no experience of managing that new thing.

But why do you think Mattiacci is failing? You should at least give him some time...

Mattiacci has nothing to do with the actual development of the car. He can hire people on the basis how much money he gets from Monte, he has to decide when to drop the season and he has to sell the results in the end.
When it comes to the last two points, hiring a marketing guy is maybe the best you can do.

The first point, the human resources, is very good at Ferrari. They have the people to build a winning car as bhall pointed out. There is nothing to do for Mattiacci.

Now the only thing to do is to learn how to sell dropping the development of the car early to concentrate on the next season.

[ChrisM40]

He hasnt done anything yet, so he isnt failing yet, but im not convinced LDM picked him for the right reasons.

[erlik]

Looks like a good time that they switch focus on next season and start exploring loopholes in regulations

[diffuser]

The following could probably be said about McLaren, too.

I don't think Ferrari has necessarily done anything wrong over the last few years. If anything, I think they've just failed to recognize that F1 has changed such that year-to-year contention for a World Championship is probably no longer possible, as you'll inevitably find yourself pitted against a rival that's spent years and hundreds of millions of dollars to prepare for that exact moment in time.

For example, Red Bull was nowhere from 2005 to 2008, because their priority was 2009; everything they did in those years served that singular goal to the exclusion of all else. The same is true for Mercedes. They sacrificed any chances of realistically contending for Championships from 2010 to 2013, because their priority was 2014. Other teams generally can't compete with that unless they've similarly prepared themselves for such an attack.

That said, it should be noted that no other team was able to more consistently challenge Red Bull's dominance over the last few years. In fact, one can make a pretty strong argument that driver errors in 2010 and 2012 cost Ferrari those Championships (Alonso's inability to overtake Petrov at Abu Dhabi in 2010, and Alonso's kamikaze dive on the opening lap of the Japanese GP in 2012). Otherwise, the F10 and F2012 were good enough to win.

It's funny to me how two measly points, Ferrari's combined deficit to Red Bull in '10 and '12, can alter the perception of a team so much. Swing those points around the other way, and I imagine people would see the Scuderia's efforts in a completely different light. (Looking a bit further into the past, only three points prevented Ferrari from being F1's most successful team from 2007 to 2013.)

I agree with you. I'M not sure I like the blaming of Alonso. I think that 2012 car would have been nowhere without him. Although it did look like he made an error in that Japan race. The 2010 incident could have been resolved by him passing Petrov but I remember that passing 2010 was very difficult without a very LARGE gap between the 2 cars. Also, they pitted Alonso to match Webber (when he could have stayed out longer) which was the REAL mistake. If he would have pitted later, he would have come out ahead of Petrov.

[diffuser]

...The engine software updated was already implemented in Bahrain with new Gear Ratios...

This is not true. A video of Raikkonen in quali in Bahrain shows the same gear ratios Ferrari had in Malaysia.

How do you EACH come to these conclusions?