Ferrari in Trouble?

[lkjohnson1950]

Kate Walker at F1 Kate Walker thinks Ferrari has problems:

The biggest story to emerge from testing today was Ferrari's apparent struggles, which have been admitted to - in semi PR-friendly terms - by both Pat Fry and Felipe Massa.

I've spent a lot of time trackside over the past three days, watching the cars corner and trying to determine who's on rails and who's sliding about like Bambi walking on ice.

And while it was immediately obvious that Fernando Alonso was getting more out of the F2012 than his teammate has been able to, it doesn't look like the best car out on track. Far from it.

The car looks to be reliable-ish, in that Massa and Alonso have both logged a decent number of laps but have never been top of the miles-completed lists. It's not caught fire, as happened to Massa in Valencia last year, and that's always a bonus.

And Alonso was certainly putting the car through its paces in the last half hour of running this afternoon, kicking up clouds of dust as he skimmed the edges of the circuit with every pass through the aptly-named Ferrari Curve.

But the team's not happy overall. The car is okay, but it's not the dominant-out-of-the-box beast the Maranello design team were hoping they'd built. After a few years of nearlys and not-quites, the Scuderia need to be in with a real chance of taking the championship to keep the big bosses back home happy.

http://www.f1katewalker.com/index.html

[Scott]

I wonder if Luca is looking back on his decision to replace Todt, Brawn and even Schumacher (who are all still working for others in F1), and kinda regrets it.  I think present Ferrari management is a bit lost.

I hope they put things right, not because I'm a Ferrari fan, but because I'd like to see Alonso get back on top before his career fades.  I think if he could convince RBR to hire him, he'd give Vettel a run for the money.  It's too bad Ferd seems to think he should have outright #1 status in a team because he's got enough talent to dominate pretty much anyone anyhow.

[vintly]

Ditto all you say there Scott. To me Ferrari are a team in slow decline, still on the way down, hanging on to a pedigree that means less and less each year. (Ok that's a bit extreme, but they're heading in that direction.) Domenicali doesn't instil confidence, and the competition has stolen a march. Hopefully they can sort it out and get back to winning ways.

[Jugirl]

I was a little worried to hear about Ferrari's problems and really hope they can sort it out quickly.

I think Fernando would do more than give Vettel a run for his money hehe

Ju

[lkjohnson1950]

Ferrari can't get the aerodynamic balance right. It's good in, bad out or good in and out, bad it the center of the corner. Fixing one area disturbs another according to the BBC.

[Scott]

Fry says Ferrari is still feeling the pain.  Malaysia was a bit of luck?  Interesting the entire article doesn't mention RBR, even Whitmarsh.  Are they less worried about RBR this year?

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/98422

[lkjohnson1950]

I think they all assume RB will be up to speed shortly. Keith has an interesting article at F1 Fanatic; he thinks the problem is with the pull rod front suspension:

http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2012/03/28/ferraris-front-pullrod-suspension/

If he's right 1012 may be another bad year for Ferrari.

[John S]

I think both McLaren and Ferrari feel the need to deliver this year, Macca have not won a constructors title in the new millennium   their last was 98. Whilst Ferrari has taken several crowns in the noughties, their last in 08.

So instead of us just discussing heads rolling at Maranello perhaps we should consider that over at McLaren, with two world champs driving for them and a decent car, Ron will not be happy to let it rest if it slips through their fingers this year.

Not sure Red Bull is under any real pressure having just done a double, so maybe they can spoil the party by turning things around at the European rounds.