Ex-Ferrari designer says Alonso no good at car development

[John S]

"Great race driver, but not good test driver" Oh my.

Therefore Nando does not compare with Ferrari’s last great driver, claims Mauro Forghieri. Can't think who he means???     
Viva Schumi! 

http://www.grandprix247.com/2015/01/30/ex-ferrari-boss-says-alonso-not-a-good-test-driver/

[Dare]

Funny I remember a big fuss  when Alonso was at Mclaren........
seems Lewis was copying his setups.Maybe that has nothing to do
with being any good as a test driver but?????

Schumi tested in a different F1,endless testing until it
suited Michael...no can do any longer

[John S]

Remember Lewis was a rookie in 07 and it's natural for him to be learning from his teammate. He's improved since. 
 
I think in the past quite a few really fast F1 race drivers had trouble setting cars up, team managers would have one development driver and the other the best quick driver he could get.

The 2nd driver did all the donkey work and then got his nose rubbed in the brown stuff when the Ace then took a second out of his best time with the same settings. 

I seem to remember a suggestion that the adorable Ronnie Peterson was one such Ace, could be wrong though. 

 

[Alianora La Canta]

I heard Fisico did a lot of the setting-up at Renault when Fernando was his team-mate, but I have to admit I never connected that with Fernando being bad at car development. It would be more accurate, I suspect, to say that Fernando knows what he likes and it's not what most other drivers like. While Michael Schumacher's set-up/development preferences took some getting used to, he had the advantage that at least some of his would-be team-mates could tolerate them. Fernando doesn't really have that advantage, as the only team-mate he's had so far that was truly OK with his style of set-up was a bloke he detested.

[cosworth151]

Can't think who he means???

Rubino?   

Seriously, Schumi did have a reputation as being as good at setup as he was at racecraft. Alonso doesn't strike me a someone who has the proper attitude for the trial & error nature of set up work.

[Dare]

I wonder how Button,Massa,and Kimi rate as test drives?

[Alianora La Canta]

I doubt Kimi would be much good at test driving as he's apt to drive round any problem he finds, and has been known to forget to tell important information to his team until he is reminded by someone else hitting the same problem.

Button has a good reputation for development, though it's difficult to point to a specific car's development to justify this. That said, Button has a history of being in teams who aren't very good at listening to their drivers until all other options have been exhausted!

I have no idea where Massa fits into all this.

[F1fanaticBD]

In the age of no developmental routine, where track testing is very limited, all development is done by upgraded video games, how come someone comment that the best in the grid is not a good developmental driver. 

[Alianora La Canta]

In the age of no developmental routine, where track testing is very limited, all development is done by upgraded video games, how come someone comment that the best in the grid is not a good developmental driver. 

By watching what they do.

Parenthetically, it is known that until a couple of years ago when Pedro de la Rosa was hired, Ferrari had (by luck of the draw) a serious shortage of drivers capable of using the "upgraded video games" in the format Ferrari's simulators used, basically due to inner-ear issues. (50% of people have problems getting perceived and actual gravity to balance when they're not equal. The only way to know is to test it, and what tests it are outer space, zero-g aircraft... ...and advanced vehicle driving simulations).

I suspect Mauro was looking more at Ferrari's apparent lack of direction. It happens to fit evidence we have, but I wouldn't have said it was the most persuasive bit of evidence given that Ferrari has had a revolving door for some time.

[Scott]

I suspect the same will be said of Vettel.

[F1fanaticBD]

When Fernando Alonso joined Ferrari how much of a provision was there to test the way Schumacher used to. I am absolutely certain given that much of exposure and liberty Fernando would have proved how he would have been.

Also how much is it down to driver, if he could not improve the car in the simulator? What are the chances of simualtor being calibrated not enough to correlate with the real world. Also the generation of Alonso did not come from the time where they excel at something this much artificial.

The comments seemed to me just bad sportsmanship, and ego-centric.

[Alianora La Canta]

When Fernando Alonso joined Ferrari how much of a provision was there to test the way Schumacher used to. I am absolutely certain given that much of exposure and liberty Fernando would have proved how he would have been.

Also how much is it down to driver, if he could not improve the car in the simulator? What are the chances of simualtor being calibrated not enough to correlate with the real world. Also the generation of Alonso did not come from the time where they excel at something this much artificial.

The "amount of testing" point is a good one - Mauro left F1 well before the testing ban and may not fully appreciate its effect on this aspect of driver leadership. Not only could Alonso not test a physical car, but nor could any of the usual testers. It is unclear how much of Schumacher's development prowess in the Ferrari era was his own and how much was Luca Badoer's.

In this case I suspect 100% of the simulator issue was the driver's, but not something Fernando could do anything about (he was after all at Ferrari when it discovered it had a lack of drivers able to use the simulator back in 2011). Remember Michael Schumacher had the same problem with the inner ear issue when he did his comeback for Mercedes and it didn't exactly help him guide Mercedes onto greater things...