After a lackluster 2009 season, it’s easy to get carried away in thinking that Ferrari are back on top. Ferrari drivers Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso occupied the top of the time sheets at the first pre-season testing event in Valencia, Spain. The scuderia’s cars were the only single seater’s lapping in the 1 minute 11 second range with the rest of the drivers failing to break the 1 minute 12 second barrier.
A great start to the F1 pre-season, but team principal Stefano Domenicali may now face the toughest job while preparing the team for the 2010 championship, and that is keeping the prancing horse’s feet firmly on the ground.
This job will be made that much easier by team driver Fernando Alonso who has already made his stance clear on Ferrai’s recent performance. When asked by Autosport if he shared the sentiments of those attending the even that Ferrairi are the team to beat, the Spaniard replied: “No, I don’t think so. It’s just the first day and as I said now at least for me the priority was getting completely comfortable. There are many things to discover for me, many things to learn.
I think maybe if we topped the times the three days it’s related to fuel load or whatever, or maybe because it’s true we are competitive. But before being competitive we need to make sure we do a lot of laps and that the car is strong and can finish all the grands prix. We are at that period of winter testing. We need to make the car very, very strong and until Barcelona or the last test at Jerez I think we will not look for the performance.
Stefano will inevitably be faced by a team much rejuvenated by the testing performance but he is keeping Ferrari’s sucesses on the track thus far in perspective.
“There are no miracles in Formula 1: if you want to be fast you have to work hard for months and months and then you’ll meet your competitors, who have as much capacities and are as motivated as you,” read the quote on Ferrari’s official website.
“We can’t take anything for granted and we shouldn’t delude ourselves by indications, which could be completely misleading. We can’t work like in football where two good or bad results are enough [for you] to pass from riches to rags or vice versa.”
“We know very well that the tests’ lap times, especially this year, have to be handled with care. Using an Italian expression from football, we’re still in ‘August football.’
“We can’t forget where we were in terms of performance at the last GP last year. There is still a lot of work to do to close the gap and there are still many problems we have to solve. And then we don’t know the petrol loads the other cars had on board, so it’s impossible to get a clear idea of the relative strengths on the track. Maybe someone also wants to play hide and seek, and some still have to present their cars.”
Stefano did let a bit of enthusiasm slip when talking about the success Ferrari has thus far seen in terms of reliability.
“If there is one thing we’re really satisfied with then it’s the reliability the car has shown,”
“More than 1,400 kilometres driven is a very good start and we need to ensure that the intense work at the test stand, and in terms of simulations over the weeks before the debut on the track, will bear fruit.
“In Valencia we also started to get to know the new Bridgestone tyres’ behaviour, also related to the petrol load. But the data is still absolutely relative: this track is not particularly demanding on the tyres and the temperatures weren’t the ones we’ll have for example during the season’s first three races.”
Stefano added that both Ferrairi drivers also shared his sentiments on the reliability of the F10 which had a flawless three days in Valencia letting Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso complete their testing program. Domenicali added that the ability to finish the program has already paid dividends in terms of feedback from the drivers on how to address the car’s further development.
“They were both very happy with how things went. Especially regarding the car’s reliability. They are both extremely motivated and have a great desire to drive: it would have been frustrating if we hadn’t started on the right track here. Both Felipe and Fernando know that we have to work a lot and they already gave many indications where we have to improve the car.”
The team will now head to Jerez for the next series of tests on the 10 – 13 of February.
Source: http://ferrarif1forum.com
A great start to the F1 pre-season, but team principal Stefano Domenicali may now face the toughest job while preparing the team for the 2010 championship, and that is keeping the prancing horse’s feet firmly on the ground.
This job will be made that much easier by team driver Fernando Alonso who has already made his stance clear on Ferrai’s recent performance. When asked by Autosport if he shared the sentiments of those attending the even that Ferrairi are the team to beat, the Spaniard replied: “No, I don’t think so. It’s just the first day and as I said now at least for me the priority was getting completely comfortable. There are many things to discover for me, many things to learn.
I think maybe if we topped the times the three days it’s related to fuel load or whatever, or maybe because it’s true we are competitive. But before being competitive we need to make sure we do a lot of laps and that the car is strong and can finish all the grands prix. We are at that period of winter testing. We need to make the car very, very strong and until Barcelona or the last test at Jerez I think we will not look for the performance.
Stefano will inevitably be faced by a team much rejuvenated by the testing performance but he is keeping Ferrari’s sucesses on the track thus far in perspective.
“There are no miracles in Formula 1: if you want to be fast you have to work hard for months and months and then you’ll meet your competitors, who have as much capacities and are as motivated as you,” read the quote on Ferrari’s official website.
“We can’t take anything for granted and we shouldn’t delude ourselves by indications, which could be completely misleading. We can’t work like in football where two good or bad results are enough [for you] to pass from riches to rags or vice versa.”
“We know very well that the tests’ lap times, especially this year, have to be handled with care. Using an Italian expression from football, we’re still in ‘August football.’
“We can’t forget where we were in terms of performance at the last GP last year. There is still a lot of work to do to close the gap and there are still many problems we have to solve. And then we don’t know the petrol loads the other cars had on board, so it’s impossible to get a clear idea of the relative strengths on the track. Maybe someone also wants to play hide and seek, and some still have to present their cars.”
Stefano did let a bit of enthusiasm slip when talking about the success Ferrari has thus far seen in terms of reliability.
“If there is one thing we’re really satisfied with then it’s the reliability the car has shown,”
“More than 1,400 kilometres driven is a very good start and we need to ensure that the intense work at the test stand, and in terms of simulations over the weeks before the debut on the track, will bear fruit.
“In Valencia we also started to get to know the new Bridgestone tyres’ behaviour, also related to the petrol load. But the data is still absolutely relative: this track is not particularly demanding on the tyres and the temperatures weren’t the ones we’ll have for example during the season’s first three races.”
Stefano added that both Ferrairi drivers also shared his sentiments on the reliability of the F10 which had a flawless three days in Valencia letting Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso complete their testing program. Domenicali added that the ability to finish the program has already paid dividends in terms of feedback from the drivers on how to address the car’s further development.
“They were both very happy with how things went. Especially regarding the car’s reliability. They are both extremely motivated and have a great desire to drive: it would have been frustrating if we hadn’t started on the right track here. Both Felipe and Fernando know that we have to work a lot and they already gave many indications where we have to improve the car.”
The team will now head to Jerez for the next series of tests on the 10 – 13 of February.
Source: http://ferrarif1forum.com