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F1 News & Discussions => General F1 Discussion => Topic started by: rmassart on October 09, 2017, 11:09:01 AM

Title: Ferrari: Better performance, worse reliability?
Post by: rmassart on October 09, 2017, 11:09:01 AM

I've not followed the upgrades Ferrari made to their engines over the season (and to be honest I don't have a clear view of how and when you can make changes), but I am wondering if Ferrari's reliability issues have come as a result of engine upgrades (not just replacements). It strikes me that in Italy Mercedes utterly dominated Ferrari, but all of a sudden in Malaysia and Japan Ferrari were able to put them under real pressure (as well as of course Singapore). They would probably have won the last two races if not for reliability issues.  These things are usually put down to bad luck, but maybe they've been pushing their engine development too fast in a bid to keep up with Mercedes?  I don't believe that three severe "power unit" issues in 2 races is purely bad luck...    (Vettel Malaysia Qualifying, Raikonnen Malaysia Race, Vettel Japan Race).

Title: Re: Ferrari: Better performance, worse reliability?
Post by: cosworth151 on October 09, 2017, 12:37:24 PM

You might be on to something. Ferrari does seem to have a hand grenade, powerful but very short lived.

One other thing all three incidents have in common - the team seemed to not know what to do about the problems. They worked long & hard to sort out the issues without good result.

Title: Re: Ferrari: Better performance, worse reliability?
Post by: Robem64 on October 09, 2017, 12:41:46 PM

I was rather astounded though that a broken spark plug was the reason for the Japan retirement...sounds pretty basic to me that one!

Title: Re: Ferrari: Better performance, worse reliability?
Post by: Jericoke on October 09, 2017, 01:57:02 PM

I would imagine that engineers come up with a conservative 'guaranteed' design, and a fast but 'risky' design.

You've got to start the season with the guaranteed design, but at some point a risk must be taken.  Mercedes stayed with their conservative design, Ferrari expected them to take a risk and had to take a risk to keep ahead.

It's easy to see it was a poor choice now, but the race is run at HQ as much as it is in the first corner

Title: Re: Ferrari: Better performance, worse reliability?
Post by: lkjohnson1950 on October 09, 2017, 07:07:58 PM

According to what I've read (Autoweek, Racer??) the Malaysia failures were both cracked intake manifolds, a part Ferrari has been using all season. It took them totally by surprise and they have somehow strengthened the part going forward.