Ferrari - Our 'dreadful weekend' -
03-17-2008, 09:57 PM
Ferrari - Our 'dreadful weekend'
Nothing goes to plan as Ferrari suffer worse start to championship since 1992
Quote:
Originally Posted by skysports.com
Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali has said that the world champions endured a "dreadful weekend" at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.
Having dominated winter testing, Ferrari were installed as favourites for the Melbourne race and were even tipped to score a one-two victory.
In the event, they managed to claim just a solitary point - Ferrari's worst start to a season since 1992.
Not only did the world champions struggle to keep pace with rivals McLaren-Mercedes but they also suffered a series of reliability issues.
And, while attempting to restore a sense of calm to the team, Domenicali could not hide his concern at the engine failures which befell both Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa.
Reliability
"Our main concern is to understand the reliability problems," he conceded. "We had two engine failures so this is the main issue to understand. Engine problems are unusual for a team like ours.
"It was a surprise after so many kilometres we did in the winter. We need to understand why exactly did that happen.
"The result speaks for itself. Unfortunately it was a dreadful weekend. Nothing went as planned, so it was difficult. Very tough, no doubt."
Ferrari suffered in qualifying too, with a fuel pump failure demoting Raikkonen to an eventual 15th place on the grid, while Massa started fourth after struggling to find sufficient pace over a single lap.
Despite rising to eighth place on the opening lap, Raikkonen's early progress was halted by Honda's Rubens Barrichello.
Running a long opening stint, he rose as high as third before dropping to 12th after an attempt to pass Heikki Kovalainen on lap 30 resulted in an off-track excursion.
Raikkonen later left the track again when disputing 10th place with Toyota's Timo Glock. Nevertheless, despite suffering an engine failure five laps from the finish, he still scored a championship point.
Spin
Meanwhile, Massa fell to 17th after spinning at the very first corner, the Brazilian's race eventually ending with engine failure on lap 29 - three laps after a coming together with Red Bull's David Coulthard.
"Being involved in all this situation at the back is always difficult. Once again, it shows how important is to start from the first positions," acknowledged Domenicali.
"We are still suffering in the first lap performance in qualifying, and today unfortunately there were some clashes with some drivers which didn't help the situation.
"Qualifying is a key factor because starting behind you lose so much.
"We've seen Kimi staying behind Rubens for so many laps, and then when he had a clear track he was able to manage perfect times in terms of consistency and in terms of performance. It was good.
"That's why it's a shame, because once again we showed that with a few laps of clear track we showed the potential and that the performance is there during the race. No doubt.
"We need to understand now in order to improve qualifying."
Hoping that the problems will be resolved as i said before, this was just bad luck and i'm sure they will be solve the problems and get "back on track".
Looking forword too see a improved Ferrari team in a couple of days in Malaysia.
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Hamilton - We'll push harder -
03-19-2008, 10:40 PM
Hamilton - We'll push harder
Quote:
Originally Posted by SkySports.com
Australian Grand Prix winner Lewis Hamilton believes there is more to come from McLaren-Mercedes this weekend in Malaysia.
Hamilton and team-mate Heikki Kovalainen picked up a total of 14 points in Melbourne, with rivals Ferrari scoring just a single point through world champion Kimi Raikkonen.
Having stormed to victory, Hamilton nevertheless claimed to have approached the race conservatively, saying "there were a few areas where I took my time".
And, with Ferrari struggling to find a solution to engine problems that ended the races of both Raikkonen and Felipe Massa, Hamilton says he is ready to go even faster this weekend at Sepang.
"I had a great weekend in Australia but it wasn't a perfect weekend. I didn't get fastest lap," he told The Telegraph.
"I could have produced it, there is more to come. I think, being the opening race, there were a few areas where I took my time.
"If the Ferraris were fast, I was confident that I would be able to fight them. I didn't think it was going to be a case of they are quicker in the race and we're much quicker in qualifying.
"Going into next weekend we want to do the same again. We have got to push hard. Last year we were quick [in Malaysia] so that should mean we will be quick again.
"There is more to come. I think being the opening race there were a few areas where I took my time."
Good words
Hamilton also had nothing but good words for Kovalainen, who finished fifth in Albert Park and only missed out on second place when a late safety car period compromised his strategy.
"He was unlucky not to get a podium [finish]," he said. "The safety car thing was a pain in the arse. I was lucky because I was out in front - they could pull me in - but he did a great job.
"I am sure that if there is a point in a race when we are one-two it is going to be a great battle. He is pushing me very, very hard and has great pace.
"And I was very impressed with the overtaking moves he did. It was a great move on (Fernando) Alonso, who is a tough cookie to overtake."
It's not too much too talk about it, it's clear that McLaren has this year a very fiable car and Hamilton already said that in Australia if was needed he coud go faster.
Waiting the Ferrari response on the track Sunday.
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The Malaysian Grand Prix Preview -
03-20-2008, 10:21 PM
2008 The Malaysian Grand Prix Preview
Race Track Diagram:
Location: Sepang, Kuala Lumpur
Race Date: 23 Mar 2008
Number of Laps: 56
Circuit Length: 5.543 km
Race Distance: 310.408 km
Lap Record: 1:34.223 - JP Montoya (2004)
Last Year Table:
f1.com text preview:
Don’t for a moment imagine after the Australian Grand Prix that McLaren are going to get complacent, or that Ferrari have let their heads drop. Ferrari President Luca di Montezemolo might have said, after engine failures stymied Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa in Melbourne: "It was a healthy dose of humility." But, he also said: "I'm looking forward to Malaysia when I expect to see the real Ferrari."
And new team principal Stefano Domenicali added: "The result speaks for itself. Unfortunately it was a dreadful weekend. Nothing went as planned, so it was difficult. But if you remember, in 2006 we had a similar start with the two non-finishes and we were able to catch up again.
"We weren't phenomenal guys before this race and we are not stupid after it, so we really need to analyse in all the details what has happened. And of course the main concern is to understand the reliability problems. We had two engines fail so this is the main issue to understand. But we need to stay cool, calm and concentrated. We need not be too emotional now because it's very easy to go down that route. We need to stay very rational."
McLaren never underestimate Ferrari, and are not expecting another relatively easy run in Sepang this weekend.
"Every Grand Prix team experiences difficult weekends," said team principal Ron Dennis, who will miss this race because of family commitments in England. "They have got a lot of depth and we are under no illusions that they will come back and will be very competitive in Malaysia and for the rest of the season. All we can do is try and stay focused on our own efforts and that is what we will do.”
The indications in Melbourne were that the two top teams have similar pace. What was also exciting, however, is that Nick Heidfeld’s best race lap for BMW Sauber, who finished second in Albert Park, was only three-tenths of a second off McLaren, and the same as Ferrari.
“We were very pleased with the way things went,” admits technical director Willy Rampf with a big smile. “We did not get the best from the cars on Friday, but we were happy with the set-ups on Saturday and I think that showed in our performance then, and in the race. But we are cautious. Sepang is a different kind of track to Melbourne, so we must wait and see how well it suits our cars.”
Nevertheless, don’t write off the chances of Heidfeld and front-row starting team-mate Robert Kubica, in their F1.08s.
Likewise, Williams are feeling very chipper after Nico Rosberg’s strong performance won him his first F1 podium. The FW30 looked very impressive last weekend, and Kazuki Nakajima also earned points to place the team second overall ahead of BMW Sauber. On the downside, Nakajima will be hamstrung by an automatic ten-place grid demotion at Sepang, a penalty for the Japanese driver colliding with another car in Melbourne.
Then there is Red Bull. Mark Webber got no chance to show what the RB4 could do in the race, and is hungry to correct that this weekend. Meanwhile, Fernando Alonso is also out for further points. The Renault R28 may not yet be a front-runner that can challenge McLaren and Ferrari, but the Spaniard’s driving in Australia, especially when he overtook Raikkonen and Kovalainen in one swoop, served as a reminder that he has lost none of his skill or motivation.
“Sepang really is my favourite track,” the former champion says. “I took my first pole position there in 2003 with Renault, and I have won this race twice. It’s a circuit that I enjoy and I always tend to attack a little bit more.”
Renault’s executive director of engineering, Pat Symonds, is not alone in believing that it will take the next two races before the true picture of 2008’s pecking order emerges in Spain.
The challenge of Sepang lies in its fast sweeping turns, especially Turns 4 through to 8, which demand a well-balanced chassis. Good traction is also important, especially on the exit of Turn 9, the tight left hander. The opening combination of Turns 1 and 2 is also a difficult challenge for the drivers, but they get compensated by Turn 14 which demands genuine skill with its tightening entry which is approached under braking.
The high ambient temperatures also place a premium on adequate cooling, and the track is tougher on tyres than Melbourne. Bridgestone’s offering in Malaysia will be the medium and hard compounds, as opposed to the soft and medium used in Australia. That, and the ban on traction control, will force drivers to look after their rear tyres, which already tend to wear quickly here. Throw in the changes to the electronic engine braking systems, which have tended to make the cars trickier to handle under braking, and we could have another race like Melbourne with drivers getting caught out by mistakes.
As a subtle warning to the opposition Dennis added, in reference to Lewis Hamilton after Australia: “He was very fresh, and he was very comfortable. And he was saving the engine. It was very easy! I think we have shown we have a very competitive car, so we will go to Malaysia with a very positive mood.”
Kimi Raikkonen said his path to victory in the Malaysian Grand Prix was “pretty easy” once he took the lead from team-mate Felipe Massa at the first round of pit stops.
Raikkonen stayed out one lap longer than Massa and used a blisteringly quick in-lap to leapfrog the Brazilian.
Thereafter he pulled away into a race of his own, cruising to his second Sepang triumph and getting his 2008 title campaign underway in earnest.
“We were pretty similar speed-wise [in the first stint],” he said.
“Once Felipe went in my car got much better, because when you are one or two seconds behind someone [the turbulence] makes a massive difference.
“I was able to go much quicker on my in-lap and I was able to pass him.
“And after that when I was running on my own in free air the car was handling perfectly and I was able to pull away.
“It was a pretty easy race from that point on.”
Despite starting from the dirty side of the grid, Raikkonen made a better getaway than Massa and contemplated a passing move into the first corner, before deciding that discretion was the better part of valour and tucking in behind his team-mate.
“I got a bit better start than Felipe and got alongside him, but I knew that we were running one lap longer and didn’t want a risky situation between team-mates in the first corner,” the Finn explained.
“Maybe if I had pushed harder I could have made a pass, but I decided to stay behind and try my move at the pit stop, and it worked out perfectly.”
Massa had looked like the man to beat after taking pole by nearly half a second – but Raikkonen claimed he was always confident he would have the race pace to challenge for victory.
“I think we still sometimes have difficulties to get the qualifying right,” he said.
“It was good in Q2 but in the last part we couldn’t find the grip from the tyres.
“We knew we were running one lap longer so I wasn’t really panicking.
“The car usually has been much stronger for us in the race than in qualifying, so as long as we got close I thought we’d have a good chance to pass him, and it worked out at the first pit stop already.
“The car was very good all weekend but sometimes on new tyres it’s difficult to get the best out of it.
“But the team did a great job this weekend."
Raikkonen leaves Malaysia just three points behind championship leader Lewis Hamilton, while Massa has yet to get his name on the score board.
News direct from itv.com
Its shame what happend to Lews on Saturday that he had be place down few starting places. But i am sure he will do well in rest the races, he did well last race and i am sure we will see more.
If Australia was a nightmare for Ferrari, Malaysia was a dream. Kimi Raikkonen toyed initially with polesitting team mate Felipe Massa, took the lead after their first pit stops, and sauntered into the distance to a victory that puts him back into contention for a second world title.
Massa blotted his copybook by spinning out of an easy second place on the 31st lap, leaving Robert Kubica to take an excellent runner-up result for BMW Sauber. In the closing laps, though 22 seconds adrift, the Pole set a similar pace to Raikkonen.
Heikki Kovalainen was McLaren’s leading runner in a distant third place, a similar distance in arrears.
For Lewis Hamilton, it was a race spent playing catch-up. He made a great start to jump from ninth up to fifth place behind the Ferraris, Kubica and similarly fast-starting Mark Webber in the Red Bull. But then a problem with the right-front wheel during his first pit stop dropped him down to 11th place, and he lost time hand over fist in the traffic.
That enabled Jarno Trulli to come through to a good fourth place for Toyota, with Hamilton dogging his wheel tracks after a great recovery drive. The truth, however, was that this time out Ferrari were stronger, and the pace of BMW Sauber will have both top teams keeping a close eye on the white and blue cars.
Nick Heidfeld set fastest lap in the closing stages as he thirsted after Hamilton, while Webber was able to hold off a challenging Fernando Alonso in the Renault as they wrapped up the final points.
David Coulthard had a relatively quiet race to ninth in the second Red Bull ahead of fellow Briton, Jenson Button, who survived a late off-track moment in his Honda to lead home Renault’s Nelson Piquet, the Brazilian rookie recording his first Grand Prix finish.
Giancarlo Fisichella was 12th for Force India, a lap down, taking the place after Honda’s Rubens Barrichello had to serve a drive-through penalty for pit lane speeding.
The final finishers were Nico Rosberg, who had a most unhappy time in his Williams, the Super Aguris of Anthony Davidson and Takuma Sato, and Kazuki Nakajima who, like Rosberg, could not generate decent tyre temperatures in his Williams FW30.
Toro Rosso’s Sebastien Bourdais was the first retirement, falling off on the opening lap. Rosberg clobbered Timo Glock then, too, necessitating a pit stop for a new nose cone. The Williams continued, the Toyota was through for the day. Adrian Sutil suffered a mechanical problem that stopped his Force India out on the track, while Sebastian Vettel suffered either engine or transmission failure that brought him to a smoky halt.
The result leaves Hamilton still leading the world championship for drivers with 14 points, ahead of Raikkonen and Heidfeld on 11 apiece. In the constructors’ chase, McLaren lead with 24, ahead of BMW Sauber on 19 and Ferrari on 11.
Mclaren gave up some crucial points this past weekend and let Ferrari back into the championship.
I didn't end up watching the whole race (showed live here really, really late), but the bit that I did watch. Hamilton's car was losing a fair bit of speed. Was that due to the tyres he was using, or was it another issue?
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what i heard from the commentators, Hamilton's car was understeering a little bit, and on the straight line that understeer setup doesn't help the car to reach the top speed potential, so i think that was the main problem.
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The inability of Formula One drivers to sit still may seem natural, but Fernando Alonso may be taking it to the next level. After switching from Renault to McLaren for 2007 and then back to Renault for this season, the two-time world champion is back at it, fuelling rumors that he could move to Ferrari in another year or two.
Speculation of Alonso's potential move to the Scuderia crew began to circulate when he was on his way out of McLaren, and were furthered when his new contract with Renault reportedly left him with an out after one season. But after two disappointing races for Ferrari pilot Felipe Massa, the rumors are flying once again. Coming rather short of denying the prospect, Alonso told the press in , "I always want to be in the best car in the field... It is clear that Ferrari has one of the best cars already." Despite a contract that ostensibly secures his ride through 2010, if Massa doesn't manage to adapt to driving without traction control, Alonso just might get his chance.
FIA react to Malaysia chaos -
03-30-2008, 10:52 AM
FIA react to Malaysia chaos
Quote:
Originally Posted by SkySports.com
FIA are to set maximum lap time limits prior to next weekend's Bahrain GP following chaotic scenes during qualifying in Malaysia.
The problems arose in the dying seconds of Q3 when the majority of drivers were trundling back to the pits in an effort to save fuel having completed their final flying lap.
Some were so slow that the official F1 timing screen read 'stop' creating a dangerous situation with other cars that were still trying to complete their flying lap,
Drivers had to fight their way through the traffic narrowly avoiding slow moving cars, some of whom were in the middle of the racing line.
Debacle
The debacle resulted in both McLaren drivers being penalised for holding up Nick Heidfeld and prompted calls for qualifying to be changed before there was an accident.
The FIA are expected to announce new rules within the next few days with time limits imposed, likely to be 120 percent of a normal lap time, to stop drivers returning to the pits too slowly.
A FIA spokesman said: "The matter is under discussion and our clarification to the teams and drivers will be that cars returning to the pits having completed their flying lap or laps will be required to do so within a time that we will set.
"This could be approximately 120% of the 'normal' time as we do to prevent drivers going very slowly to the grid to save fuel."
Ferrari - Our 'dreadful weekend'
Ferrari - Our 'dreadful weekend' -
03-17-2008, 09:57 PM
Hamilton - We'll push harder -
03-19-2008, 10:40 PM
The Malaysian Grand Prix Preview -
03-20-2008, 10:21 PM
03-23-2008, 04:41 PM
FIA react to Malaysia chaos -
03-30-2008, 10:52 AM
