Tag Archives: Ferrari

September 11, 2013 · 12:03 pm

Ferrari confirms Raikkonen’s return to Maranello

Kimi keeps his hands warm on the grid at Monza last weekend. Photo: AC

Kimi keeps his hands warm on the grid at Monza last weekend. Photo: AC

Ferrari has finally officially confirmed that Kimi Raikkonen will partner Fernando Alonso in 2014.

The team said simply: “Scuderia Ferrari announces that it has reached an agreement with Kimi Raikkonen. The Finn will join Fernando Alonso in the driver line-up for the next two racing seasons.”

It’s believed that it is a ‘one plus one’ deal, with the second being an option.

It became apparent over the Italian GP weekend that a return to Maranello was becoming increasingly likely for the Finn, and by Sunday night team sources confirmed to this writer that the deal was indeed happening.

Last night Ferrari allowed Felipe Massa to break the news that he was leaving after he’d been told that his tenure with the team had finally come to an end.

The news means that Ferrari has an awesome line-up of two World Champions as the team prepares for what will be a difficult first season with the new breed of turbo powertrains, when experience will clearly count for a lot.

As noted here yesterday Nico Hulkenberg had long been the preferred choice, and a contract was apparently ready to be signed, but after the Hungarian GP the team switched its focus to Raikkonen. During August Red Bull in turn lost interest in Kimi, leaving Ferrari as his only realistic alternative to Lotus.

Ferrari was in contact with Kimi last year about replacing Massa for 2013. Given that Lotus was behind with his payments, he could have walked away from his contract, but he chose to stay loyal.

This time around his decision to move on has been swayed by the ongoing financial squeeze at Lotus, and presumably the team has not been able to give him any guarantees that the situation will improve. His faith in his current team was also dented by the departure of James Allison to  Ferrari.

Allison meanwhile would have been able to give the Italian team a good insight into Raikkonen’s current form, and what he brought to Lotus.

He’s also being reunited with Pat Fry, with whom he worked  during his McLaren career.

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September 10, 2013 · 6:47 pm

Massa confirms he’s leaving Ferrari

Felipe Massa has used Twitter to tell the world that he is leaving Ferrari at the end of the season – paving the way for a Kimi Raikkonen announcement.

The Brazilian was expected to have a meeting with Luca di Montezemolo at Maranello tomorrow, but he appears to have pre-empted that or been given permission by the team to do so.

He wrote: “From 2014 I will no longer be driving for Ferrari. I would like to thank the team for all the victories and incredible moments experienced together. Thank you also to my wife and all of my family, to my fans and all my Sponsors.

“From each one of you I have always received a great support! Right now I want to push as hard as possible with Ferrari for the remaining 7 races. For next year, I want to find a team that can give me a competitive car to win many more races and challenge for the Championship which remains my greatest objective!”

As noted earlier today, Massa could in effect do a swap with Raikkonen and end up at Lotus, perhaps helped by the presence of sponsor Richard Mille, a company close to his manager Nicolas Todt.

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September 9, 2013 · 10:05 am

Christian Horner: “If he had any fillings he won’t have any more…”

Christian Horner says that his Red Bull team did an “incredible job” to deal with tyre and gearbox issues during what looked from the outside like a straightforward win for Sebastian Vettel in Monza.

Vettel made his life harder in the first stint by flat spotting a front tyre at Turn One, and later there were concerns about the gearbox. It says a lot that the German only set the 12th fastest lap as he nursed the car home – and for once he didn’t try to add to his tally in the record books.

“It was a fantastic weekend for us really,” said Horner. “We had a few issues to manage during the race, but an incredible team performance. We’ve been strong all weekend, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. We had a few issues that did need managing during the race – Sebastian locking up into the first turn created a big flat spot, which put a massive vibration into the car that he was certainly concerned about, and we were monitoring quite closely. If he had any fillings he won’t have any more!

“Then we managed to get into the one-stop window. A fantastic double stop by the guys, 2.6s and 2.7s. It was enough to get Mark ahead of Massa, get Sebastian back out into the lead on a round set of tyres, and control the race thereafter.”

Both Red Bull had their fifth, sixth and seventh gear ratios changed before the race – for identical replacements – and the team became further concerned when Webber had another issue in the race, which led to both drivers being asked to short shift to protect their equipment.

“The only issue we had after that was loss of gearbox pressure in Mark’s car in the closing laps, which we just needed to take some precautions with to get to the finish.

“We had a bit of damage to a couple of dog rings on both cars. Under parc ferme after applying to the FIA due to it being damaged they were allowed to be replaced. Of course when that’s hanging over you, and we weren’t sure why that happened, we’ve not seen that before, and it’s not something that happened on the Caterham gearbox, which is obviously something that we supply. We were concerned as to why that was there.

“When you’re sitting there in the race not quite knowing what’s caused that issue and then you start to lose gearbox pressure, obviously it was a bit of a concern.

“If it was happening to one, the chances were [it would again]– because yesterday it happened to both. So as a precaution we asked Sebastian to do the same thing.”

Meanwhile Horner was unconcerned about the booing of Vettel on the podium.

“I think anybody racing a Ferrari, and beating a Ferrari, at Monza, in Italy, is never going to be cheered! It was inevitable that there wasn’t going to be a big reaction for Sebastian beating Fernando Alonso in front of the tifosi who have come to cheer their car and team around. I don’t think it surprised any of us the reaction that there was. If anything it fuels the motivation of Sebastian just to go out there and continue to improve.”

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September 8, 2013 · 8:26 pm

Stefano Domenicali: “We need to be there like the wolf…”

Ferrari boss Stefano Domenicali says that second was the best that the team could have hoped for on a weekend when Red Bull and Sebastian Vettel were so dominant.

He also conceded that the Italian outfit has to rely on problems for Vettel to have any chance of winning the title.

“I think for sure today we clearly saw a Red Bull that was stronger,” said Domenicali. “We tried to do the maximum. We achieved I think a fantastic race with the position we had with Fernando, and it was a shame because I wanted also to have Felipe on the podium, but when you’re fighting with a stronger car you play with strategies, but it’s not always easy.

“It is clear that with the fact that also here Red Bull has shown a great pace in these conditions that the fight for the championship is very difficult, but it doesn’t change our approach. We need to stay there and as I said we need to take the opportunities if these opportunities will come. The experience of last year is still burning for us. In a sporting way if something happens with them, we need to be there like the wolf, to attack them, and to stay tuned and connected.

“With regard to the decision of how and when we are going to swap all the resource to the new car, I think we are very close to a final decision. We are already shifting progressively the resources as was planned by us before the summer break.”

Domenicali said that the decision to keep Alonso out for four extra laps after Vettel stopped – and which resulted in the gap growing from around 5s to 10s – was mainly to give the Spaniard fresher tyres for the latter part of the race, in the hope that it might be an advantage.

“At that stage the tyres were basically still in a good condition, and we wanted to minimise the use of the hard tyres. The second side was really to see if their tyres were having a drop on the last lap maybe we were able to close the gap at the end. The point is that when you have realistically speaking a car that is a big quicker you try to invent something, but today was not enough.”

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September 8, 2013 · 5:19 pm

Fernando Alonso: “We don’t have enough races…”

Fernando Alonso kept himself in the frame for the World Championship by finishing second in Monza, and while he lost another seven points to race winner Sebastian Vettel, he has at least now pulled clear of Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen.

“I think the weekend we took the maximum from the car,” said Alonso. “Practice was OK, and we learnt some good information Friday. Saturday it was very good, both cars in the top five. I think the last time was Malaysia this year, so a very, very long time, so we were very, very happy.

“Today, being in the podium again, it’s a fantastic feeling here in Monza. The fourth year that I drove for Ferrari, four times that I was in the podium, and every year is something amazing, something unique again, to be there in that moment.

“And we did the maximum and nearly a perfect weekend. We didn’t close the gap in the championship, which is obviously the goal every weekend but when Sebastian and Red Bull dominate Friday, Saturday and Sunday and they win the race we have to congratulate them. They were the best all through the weekend, and we need to do hopefully a better job next time, but from what we had this weekend I think we did the maximum. So we are extremely happy.”

Nevertheless, Alonso accepts that his title hopes are getting slimmer.

“Well, I think we need to be realistic about the championship now there’s a very big gap. We don’t have enough races and probably we don’t have the speed right now to win some consecutive races and hope to reduce the gap just by pace. We need to be lucky and we need to have some DNFs from Sebastian or something to win the championship. With the races left and the points disadvantage, it’s hard, but in a way, it was exactly the same last year.

“We could only lose the championship, with 41 points advantage in front of Sebastian after the Monza race. It was difficult for him to catch up and so it was maybe up to us. We didn’t complete the job and we had a DNF in Suzuka, and some other problems. There’s still a long way to go; we will try until the last race to be as good as we can and score as many points as possible, and then in Brazil we will see how many points we have compared to him.”

Alonso says he’s open-minded about the car’s potential form in the next race in Singapore.

“Obviously we were expecting a lot from Monza, and it was a very good Monza. It’s true that we didn’t win the race, because Red Bull and Sebastian did an even better job and they were very, very good but in our level of competitiveness that we had this year, Monza is one of the best weekends, as we expected before.

“We came from Silverstone, from Nurburgring, from Hungary where we had Red Bull in front of us, Lotus in front of us, Mercedes in front of us and some other cars sometimes, so here in Monza we were able to beat all those cars and fight for the wins, so if we can repeat this good performance in Singapore, we hope so but this will be the real test for us. We made some changes in the car, they seemed to be positive in Spa, seem to be good and positive in Monza, but when we reach the maximum level of downforce in Singapore, like we had in Hungary, we need to check.

“If we still have Mercedes in front, Lotus in front and some other teams, we will be more or less the same as in Hungary and we don’t want to be. I think we prepare the car and we prepare everything to make a step forward and in Singapore hopefully we can see it.”

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September 7, 2013 · 2:25 pm

Fernando Alonso: “I will be able to see the Red Bull rear wings on the grid…”

Fernando Alonso insists that he’s happy with how qualifying unfolded in Monza, despite being beaten by team mate Felipe Massa.

The two Ferraris tried to co-ordinate a tow to help the Spaniard, and while he complained initially on the radio that the Brazilian was too far ahead, he said that in the end it had worked out. Alonso will start fifth, right behind Massa.

Fernando was clearly annoyed that a negative message that showed him criticising the team, when the plan for a tow appeared to be unravelling, had been played on TV.

“In Q3 we had Vergne in the middle out of Turn 4,” he said. “And then I was ready to take the slipstream of Vergne, because he seemed to want to follow Felipe at that stage. So I prepared the tyres a little bit, and then he let me by, and I had no one in front.

“So I said on the radio Felipe is too far away now if we want to do this, so they slowed down him and he was waiting a little bit in Parabolica, so we started the last attempt more or less the same distance as always.

“I just have to say thank you to the team and thank you to Felipe again for this tenth that helped me to do the last attempt in Q3. They didn’t put the last radio message when I said thank you to the team, thank you to Felipe, it was perfect at the end.

“It’s the first time in many, many races that I will be able to see the Red Bull rear wings on the grid, and on the first lap I can attack. It’s been an extremely, extremely good qualifying for us.”

Alonso believes that he can at least keep in touch with the Red Bulls.

“I think so. Normally in a race the worst point for us is the Saturdays, there are always three or four cars between us and the Red Bulls, so we start, we pass those cars, and we see the Red Bulls 10s ahead of us, and more or less we keep that distance or that gap throughout the race.

“We are very happy today because hopefully tomorrow after the start and the first corner we don’t have these three or four cars in the middle of us, we don’t have Hamilton, we don’t have Kimi, we don’t have Grosjean, we don’t have all these people who slow us a little bit in the first part of the races, because we have a great pace normally on Sundays. If tomorrow we have this great pace that normally we show on Sundays I don’t see any reason why not to follow the Red Bulls.”

However he concedes that Vettel will be hard to beat.

“He was fast all weekend, in all practices, in qualifying, in the race pace. It’s going to be tough. I think we need some changeable conditions tomorrow, maybe the rain, a mixed race, if not we know that it’s going to be tough, because they are very, very strong this weekend.”

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August 27, 2013 · 3:02 pm

Allison a great asset for Ferrari, says Fry

Ferrari engineering director Pat Fry says that the arrival of James Allison at Maranello will allow him to focus more on improving the performance of the F138.

Former Lotus man Allison, who officially starts work next week, will have Fry’s former job title of technical director (chassis). This will be his second spell at the team after he worked under Ross Brawn from 2000 to 2005.

“I think getting James on board will be a great asset for us really, I mean he’s a top bloke, isn’t he?,” said Fry when asked by this writer about the change in his workload. “In reality there’s been a huge amount of work for me to do. It’s almost like changing the organisation and the running of the company, as well as trying to look at the car.

“For me it’s good because I’ll have more time to be able to concentrate on really what’s going to make the car quick. Between the two of us we’ll divide the work up. There will be more minds thinking about things, so it can only help.”

Meanwhile Fry made an interesting comment about balancing preparations for 2014 with developing the current car.

“We’re still pushing as hard as we can. We’ve got updates coming through from the tunnel, a few more for Monza and another set for Singapore. So we’ll keep on pushing until Singapore, and then see where we are and revise things then.”

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August 24, 2013 · 2:16 pm

Fernando Alonso: “We need to be lucky tomorrow…”

Fernando Alonso was quick in the early stages of qualifying in Spa, but the Spaniard didn’t get it right when it mattered in Q3, and thus will start only ninth.

However, he believes he can still emerge from the weekend with a good result.

“Obviously when these conditions come you need to be a little bit lucky as well,” he said. “At the end of the Q3 some people chose to run fuel for the whole session, some people not, some people did extra lap at the end, and suddenly it stopped raining and it was getting very dry. You need to have a mix of things.

“I think we were not in a lucky position today, but we need the luck tomorrow – on Sunday, that’s when the points are given. We expect also a very chaotic race tomorrow with the weather. We need to be lucky tomorrow, and I’m confident we will be.”

Alonso made the point that even if his grid position didn’t reflect it, the Ferrari had looked good in all conditions.

“The car showed today a good performance. In Q1 in wet conditions we were first, in Q2 in dry conditions we were second. So the car seems to perform more or less OK in all conditions, so we are ready for tomorrow, challenging from ninth position.”

Alonso looked back to 2012 for a little inspiration.

“It’s true that we need to pass some people, but also last year Vettel started 10th, finished second, so anything can happen. We need to keep believing that the podium at least is possible, but we need to do a good race and get some luck.

“I remember last year, we were leading the championship, we did a good qualifying, and Vettel was out of Q3. So it was fantastic for our championship hopes. In Turn One he was P5, and I was out of the race.

“It’s not that I hope that he goes out in Turn One, but I mean Sunday for us is always the final result of the weekend, not Saturday, so we need to keep the hopes high because this particular race, this particular circuit, with the overtaking opportunities that you have anything can happen if you have the pace, so we need to prepare for tomorrow perfectly.”

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August 22, 2013 · 4:20 pm

Fernando Alonso: “We need to keep believing that we can do it…”

Fernando Alonso is adamant that Ferrari is still in the title fight, but stresses that everything will turn on the next few races.

Alonso has lost momentum in recent weeks, and the gap to leader Vettel has grown.

“The title will be decided by what the performance of the cars in next four races, in my opinion,” he said today. “We have Spa, medium downforce, Monza, light downforce and Singapore, maximum downforce. These three circuits, with three completely different setups and configurations of the cars, will tell us which is the main contender for Vettel. He is the big favourite. Who will catch him or put him in some difficulties, we will see.

“After the form of Lewis in Hungary, he at the moment can chase for the title. Raikkonen will always be there, because Lotus with the tyre degradation that they have will always be a contender on Sundays. We hope and we believe that Ferrari will win that group, we work for that with some changes that we have made in the car for this race.

“More will come in Monza, more will come finally in Singapore, and in these three races we need to have the answers on our side. From the other side, we are not so interested, but Mercedes looks good and Raikkonen will also be good.”

Always keen to do the numbers, Alonso pointed out that recent history showed that the gap to his rival could be closed.

“It’s difficult, but we need to keep believing that we can do it. I was 42 points behind in 2010 and I arrived leading in Abu Dhabi, Vettel was 41 points behind me last year, and arrived leading in Texas. So the last two or three seasons we have some good examples of what we can do, what we can hope for if we do things right.

“For this, we need to improve the car, we need to make some parts work and the first step in that programme is here in Spa, to try to see some performance gain and try to deliver what people expect from us.”

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July 30, 2013 · 1:03 pm

Felipe Massa: “You can never be satisfied to finish eighth…”

Felipe Massa endured a disappointing race in Hungary after damaging his front wing on Nico Rosberg’s Mercedes on the first lap.

The Ferrari driver eventually finished eighth, and was clearly very frustrated by his afternoon.

“It was a difficult race for us, and for me especially,” said Massa. “I lost a part of my front wing in the first lap, and I’m sure that was a big problem for my car. I lost the balance, more understeer, more oversteer, using the tyres a bit more than I was supposed to because of that. I’m sure that was a big problem for me.

“To change the front wing would take a lot of time, and for sure my race would have been worse.

“You can never be satisfied to finish eighth. It was a difficult race anyway for us, we didn’t have the pace we expected to have. For sure, not satisfying.”

Regarding the team’s current form he said: “We need to work to bring more new pieces to the next race. We have a little bit of time. It’s important to understand things and to bring everything which can work to our car, and have a second part of the season much better than the first.”

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