Ferrari

Formula 1 Team reports for the 2009 F1 season includes race previews, reports and reviews
Ed
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Ferrari

Post by Ed » Sat Mar 28, 2009 1:11 am

Australian Grand Prix – Melbourne

The first two sessions of free practice for the Australian Grand Prix confirmed that the rule changes introduced this year have jumbled up the pack. “One cannot really draw hasty conclusions after just three hours of free practice, but the first signs seem to support what we saw during winter testing,” commented Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro Team Principal, Stefano Domenicali. “The pecking order that had established itself in recent years seems to have been overturned and we now find ourselves up against different and more numerous rivals. We did a lot of kilometres, pretty much completing the planned programme and now we have to carefully study all the data gathered. The most important data that catches the eye today concerns tyre management, which this year as never before, seems rather delicate: the softer tyres seem to degrade considerably over a distance, while the harder ones suffer from a lack of grip. We knew this to be the case and we have to concentrate on this problem and on how to improve the overall performance of the F60.”

Felipe Massa: “We are more or less okay with the set up, although there is still room to improve the performance. I was not able to do a time on the soft tyres in the second session as I made a mistake because of oversteer: in this phase we had a different balance on the car compared to when we had used the hard tyres, which proved not to be the ideal choice. On top of that, towards the end of the session, the wind got up a bit, which definitely did not help. Tomorrow, with everyone on the same fuel load, we will see what the situation is.”

Kimi Raikkonen: “This morning, the car went well, while in the afternoon, we didn’t manage to find a satisfactory set up, even though we tried various solutions. I think there is every chance we can improve our performance, but I can’t say by how much compared to the others. Today, it’s difficult to say where we are compared to them and we will see after tomorrow’s qualifying.”

Luca Baldisserri: "The first Friday of the season always throws up some surprises and that is even more than usual the case this year, given the numerous rule changes. Today, we did a lot of running and had no technical problems: reliability will be one of the dominant themes of the championship and it will be vital to try and pick up points every time. In these three hours of free practice, we saw that our performance over a long run seems to be very consistent but we have to see how to improve outright performance for tomorrow’s qualifying.”

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Post by mlittle » Mon Mar 30, 2009 11:16 am

Scuderia Ferrari
Australian GP Race Report


K. Raikkonen: 16th 1:28.59.301 3 laps 55 laps 276 chassis
F. Massa: R 1:12.45.106 - 45 laps 275 chassis
Weather: air temperature 22/21 C, track temperature 31/26 C, sunny.

No points for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro at the end of the Australian Grand Prix, the opening round of the 2009 season. Kimi Raikkonen was classified sixteenth, after retiring on lap 55 with a differential problem, while Felipe Massa stopped in the pits on lap 45, with a broken left front nose support.

Stefano Domenicali: "This was definitely not a start worthy of Ferrari, from any point of view. We were lacking on the reliability front, with two cars forced to retire. Our performance was not up to the potential we had expected after our winter testing: we struggled to manage the tyres. Furthermore, our strategy choices did not work out, especially in the case of Felipe. To sum up, it was a day to forget from the result point of view, but to remember well so as to try and analyse everything we failed in, in order to improve immediately. From that point of view, it's good we have a race coming up immediately next week in Malaysia. It will give us the opportunity to react as long as we draw the right conclusions, calmly but also decisively. Australia does not seem to have been a happy hunting ground for us these last few years: the circuit is a bit untypical where it could be that the pecking order is not so clear. It will be more evident in Sepang, but we are well aware that, apart from one team that was untouchable today, there are numerous other strong competitors."

Felipe Massa: "We knew the Brawn GP cars would be unbeatable today, but all the same, we thought we could have a good race. The start was great, but after five or six laps, we ran into trouble with the soft tyres, to such an extent that we had to pit early. We then switched to a very aggressive strategy, which with hindsight turned out to be the wrong one, as shortly after the pit stop, the safety car came out on track. I found myself third, but after the restart, I had less than ten laps to try and make up ground on those who were behind me, but with more fuel. At the second stop, we filled it for the finish, but then I was very slow and finally, I had the problem which forced me to retire. In my opinion, apart from the Brawns, we are competitive, but we have to work perfectly to get to the front. Here, it is very difficult to get the tyres to work, partly because the track surface does not provide much grip. The solution for Malaysia? Work and work hard."

Kimi Raikkonen: "When I ended up in the wall it was my mistake. A shame as, given what happened later, I could have finished second. We lost valuable points but we will try and make up for it starting right away in Malaysia. There, we will get a clearer picture of the situation because this circuit is not very indicative of performance. The KERS worked well at the start, but there was not much room to go anywhere. If we did not think it gave an advantage, we would not use it. Definitely the main problem was in managing the tyres, but we also need to improve our overall performance."

Luca Baldisserri: "We opted to start on the softer tyres, a gamble that did not pay off today, because, given the huge degradation suffered by both drivers, we had to bring the first stops forward. We then went on two different strategies: with Felipe, in hindsight, we went the wrong way, especially as the safety car period did not help. Apart from this, we must admit that today, our performance was not up to that of many of our rivals. We must work out why and react quickly, starting in Malaysia."
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Post by mlittle » Fri Apr 03, 2009 10:31 am

Scuderia Ferrari
Malaysian Grand Prix Preview


---------Malaysian GP - The team knows how to react

Maranello, 31st March 2009 - Whenever a team has a bad race weekend, the general feeling is always one of impatience to try again as soon as possible and after failing to score points in the opening round and only one car classified at the finish, Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro gets a chance to redeem itself immediately this weekend, with Round 2, the Malaysian Grand Prix, at the Sepang Circuit, outside Kuala Lumpur.

In Malaysia one of the key areas the Scuderia will be looking into from the start of free practice, will be optimising the useage of the tyres, as this is one area where the F60 appeared to struggle in Albert Park. One of the major changes in the rules is the fact that Bridgestone has been instructed to bring two types of tyre that are significantly different one from the other, whereas last year, the two types of tyre that had to be used during a race were often very similar in terms of wear and performance characteristics.

The result is that not only do you have make your car work on two different tyre compounds, it has to work in two different operating ranges of temperature, for example a soft tyre that works at high temperatures and a hard that works best at lower operating temperatures. These rules are the same for everyone of course and teams have to find the best possible solution, which Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro clearly failed to do in Melbourne last weekend. Both Ferrari drivers started on the softer tyre in the Australian Grand Prix and although this did not work for Felipe and Kimi, it was not necessarily a bad strategic decision as other drivers did the same and went on to finish in the points. Tyres now seem more sensitive to individual circuits, because during winter testing in Bahrain, the team managed to complete longs on these same tyres with absolutely no problems.

Another interesting element that came under the microscope after the first race of the season, is the effect of KERS on tyre useage. It was clear that, particularly with the super-soft, wear rates were higher than expected on the rear tyres because of the extra strain created by the KERS system. The team needs to continue analysing the best way to use it, having seen the advantage it brings, specifically at the start, where Felipe gained two positions (not counting the third, as Barrichello was just slow.) This means it is a useful tool, even if there might still be a question mark over its use for overtaking.

In terms of reliability, the broken upright from Felipe's car has been taken back to Maranello for metallurgical analysis, to see if its failure was due to stress, quality control or some contact made earlier in the race. Its failure is all the more surprising as the uprights are one of the few components on the F60 that are virtually identical to those on previous years' cars. Kimi's differential problem is still under investigation after a quick look on Sunday night prior to shipping the car to Malaysia where a more thorough check will be carried out.

The mood in the team was not the best on Sunday night, but Ferrari has been in this situation many times before and knows what it must do in terms of working hard to react. This is one of the hardest starts to any recent season, as the crew did not finish work in Albert Park until around four o'clock on Monday morning, flying to Malaysia a few hours later and on Tuesday morning, work was already underway on setting up the garages and preparing the cars at the Sepang circuit. The team is confident it will fight back, although there are bound to be some unknown factors in Malaysia as the race runs to the same late-start schedule as Australia, which means running the cars on track at a time of day when traditionally, tropical storms are commonplace. As to the question mark regarding visibility, there might still be one in Sepang, but instead of a dazzling setting sun, drivers might have to contend with a lack of visibility as darkness falls.

As a general comment regarding the state of the championship after the opening round, the teams seem much more closely matched than last year, so that the slightest difference can result in drivers missing out on Q3 on Saturday, therefore more effort will have to be concentrated on qualifying performance this year, making better use of the tyre choices available, at the expense of looking purely at race performance. However, it has to be said that one team is, for the moment, going to enjoy a far easier time. For the other nine, the fight looks like being very tight.
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Post by Ed » Fri Apr 03, 2009 10:00 pm

Malaysian Grand Prix – Sepang, Free Friday practices

F. Massa - 5th / 1.36.561 / 21 2nd / 1.35.832 / 38 / 275
K. Raikkonen - 6th / 1.36.646 / 18 / 1st / 1.35.707 / 40 / 276

Weather
First session: air 29/33 °C, track 33/41 °C, sunny.
Second session: air 33/29 °C, track 41/33 °C, cloudy.

Almost 650 kilometres completed by the Ferrari F60s of Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen, in the two sessions of free practice that got the Malaysian Grand Prix weekend underway. The two Ferrari men ended the day at the top of the time sheet, with Kimi ahead of Felipe by little more than one tenth. “These three hours of free practice would seem to offer a different view of the situation to the one we saw in Australia, which indeed was predictable given the characteristics of the two circuits,” commented Scuderia Team Principal, Stefano Domenicali. “Obviously, it’s much too early to say what is our level of performance when compared to all the other teams, but it is clear that it very finely balanced, given that the first fifteen in the second session are all covered by less than a second. Reliability remains the main priority: again today we had a technical problem which, if it had happened in the race, would have led to a retirement. Having said that, we must remain focused and calm, while allowing ourselves to look forward to the rest of the weekend being aware that we will have to fight hard to bring home a good result.”

Kimi Raikkonen: “This morning we had a problem with the KERS, which cost us a bit of time, but we managed to make up for most of it in the afternoon. We had felt that the situation here could be different to Melbourne, but it is still too early to say where we are up against the opposition. What we can be sure of is that when the car runs trouble-free, we are competitive. We hope we can do a good job in tomorrow’s qualifying.”

Felipe Massa: “The situation seems different compared to Australia, at least in terms of how the tyres operate. There is more grip and the softer tyres work well, even over a long distance. At the start of the long runs, I had a bit of understeer in the high speed corners and oversteer in the slow ones, but towards the end, the handling of the car improved continuously and I could set some great times. Clearly, looking at the time sheet today, there’s a slight feeling of relief, even if it has to be treated with caution: we are very motivated and the whole team will be trying its best.”

Luca Baldisserri: “This morning we experienced a short circuit in the kinetic energy recovery system fitted to Kimi’s car, which cost us a bit of time, but it didn’t compromise our completion of today’s programme. The main aim was to understand how the two types of Bridgestone tyre we have here perform, both over a single first lap and over a distance. From what we have seen today, the situation seems very different to what we experienced in Melbourne, especially when it comes to the consistency of performance from the softer compound. From this point of view, it’s been a good day, but we have to work very carefully on every detail when it comes to the reliability of the car.”

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Post by Ed » Sun Apr 05, 2009 12:06 am

Malaysian Grand Prix – Sepang

Qualifying session
Session Driver Pos. Time Laps Driver Pos. Time Laps
Q1
RAI 14th 1.35.476 4
MAS 16th 1.35.642 4
Q2
RAI 7th 1.34.456 7
Q3
RAI 9th 1.36.170 6

Chassis: F. Massa 275, K. Raikkonen 276

Weather: air temperature 31/30 °C, track temperature 39/35 °C, partially cloudy.

Qualifying was something of a struggle for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro, given that Felipe Massa was knocked out as early as Q1 and Kimi Raikkonen could do no better than ninth in Q3.

“This result is definitely not up to our expectations, even if we knew it would be a difficult qualifying,” commented the Scuderia’s Team Principal, Stefano Domenicali. “However the aspect that really leaves a bitter taste in the mouth is the way in which we tackled the first part of the session. We made a false assumption that cost us dear with Felipe, who was immediately out, failing to make the first cut. Tomorrow, it will be a long and difficult race, with a question mark over the weather which can change really quickly. We will have to make the most of our race pace and the start: in Australia, we saw that anything can happen and we will have to be ready to pounce on every opportunity, with the obvious proviso that we cannot make any more mistakes.”

Kimi Raikkonen: “Honestly, the main problem is that, at the moment, we are not quick enough to fight for the top places. The car is not lacking in any particular area, but we do not have enough grip to be as quick as those who finished ahead of us today. Tomorrow’s race will be very tough. We will try to make the most of the start. In Australia, it was very good but there was nowhere to go, whereas here, the straight is long and the track is wide. Furthermore, as we saw yesterday, our pace is competitive. We have to improve our performance but obviously, it is important to have the regulations clarified as quickly as possible, to understand in which direction to go. Both types of tyres work well over a distance and we will try and exploit that.”

Felipe Massa: “I am very disappointed. If I had ended up sixteenth because of a lack of performance, then I could have accepted the result, but like this it hurts even more. The track improved so much with each passing lap and my first run was not perfect and nor was it enough. We did not react in time and lost the chance to have another go. No one person is to blame: we are a team and we lose or win all together. We have to change our approach and tackle qualifying in a different way to the past. There is no room for error and we have to give it our all, right from the first session. Nevertheless, I am very motivated. It won’t be the first time I will have to tackle a race starting way down the order and I know I can count on having a strong pace. We will have to try and exploit every opportunity to make up places.”

Luca Baldisserri: “We opted to do just one run on the new soft tyres in Q1 in order to save a set for the following sessions and to do that run right at the start of qualifying as we were worried about the threat of rain. Then we did not react quickly enough in recognizing that the track was improving much more than we had expected and we watched our two drivers slide further and further down the order, to such an extent that Felipe didn’t make it to Q2. Now we have to concentrate on the race. We know our potential over a distance is better than that shown over the first lap and tomorrow we will have to make the most of that.”

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Post by Ed » Mon Apr 06, 2009 12:30 am

Malaysian Grand Prix – Sepang


Driver Position Time Gap Laps Chassis
F. Massa 9th 56.47.554 + 1.16.932 31 275
K. Raikkonen 14th 57.53.463 + 2.22.841 31 276

Weather: air temperature 31/28 °C, track temperature 37/33 °C, cloudy then rain.

Another difficult race for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro: just as in Melbourne, the team failed to score points. When the race was stopped because of the rain, on lap 32, Felipe was ninth and Kimi fourteenth. However, the Finn would not have taken the restart, because of a problem with the isolation of the KERS, which led the team to bring the car back into the garage. The race was then definitively abandoned with the classification set as of lap 31.

Stefano Domenicali: “We are very disappointed because once again today, we leave a circuit empty handed. With hindsight, it’s clear that we took some wrong decisions, especially in Kimi’s case at his first pit stop: the information we had at the time was that the storm was due to hit in a very short time, when in fact it took a few more minutes for the rain to come. Felipe was very unlucky: another forty seconds or so and he could have stayed on track with the extreme wet tyres, finishing in a good position at the end of the race. Clearly we have to extricate ourselves from this situation, without panicking, but with every one of us taking on our responsibilities: we have to dig deep and react, starting immediately. We have to change our mentality and accept that we are in a different situation to the past and that therefore we have to tackle it with a different approach, both on track and in Maranello.”

Felipe Massa: “It was a chaotic race and it’s easy in these conditions to take decisions, which later in hindsight, turn out to be wrong. When we fitted the rain tyres, we expected heavy rain to come soon and unfortunately it was just a light shower. Therefore, I came back in to fit intermediates and immediately after that, the downpour arrived. It’s a shame, as I could have managed to get into the points. We definitely need to analyse our mistakes and understand how they can be avoided, but I don’t think it needs a revolution which the always emotional onlookers demand: it would be wrong because it’s not a case of us suddenly becoming stupid. It’s the playing field that has changed. We must be aware of that and tackle the situation with a different approach.”

Kimi Raikkonen: “We were in a good position at the time of the first pit stop and then we made a mistake, fitting the rain tyres when the rain had yet to fall. And that was where my race was pretty much over. When the race was halted, the conditions were very difficult. There was so much water on the track and I was struggling to drive the car even in second gear. Clearly we cannot be happy with our start to the season: in Melbourne, I was the one to make a mistake and today it was the team, the result being we find ourselves without any points.”

Luca Baldisserri: “Another disastrous race, and we can’t make any excuses for it. Once again today we tried to second guess what might happen and every time the opposite of what we expected happened and so the race was turned into a continual struggle to make up for that and in the end we finished empty handed. In the dry, our race pace was not really exceptional, but it did reflect what was our true potential today. Now we must try to turn things around and get out of this situation in a hurry.”

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Post by Ed » Wed Apr 15, 2009 11:09 pm

Statement from Ferrari concerning the diffuser ruling

Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro has taken note of the ICA’s decision to reject the appeal placed by Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro together with the ING Renault F1 Team, Red Bull Racing and the BMW Sauber F1 Team regarding the conformity of three single-seaters to the Technical Regulations.

“We are waiting to hear the reasons the ICA rejected the appeal,” said Stefano Domenicali, the Scuderia’s Team Principal. “Unfortunately this decision forces us to intervene on fundamental areas of the car’s design in order to be able to compete on an equal footing with some of the teams from a point of view of the technical regulations, and that will take time and money. We will now double our efforts to get the team back to the highest level of competitivity.”

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Post by Ed » Fri Apr 17, 2009 8:59 pm

Chinese Grand Prix
Free practices

First Session Second Session
Driver Pos. Time Laps Pos. Time Laps Chassis
F. Massa 15th 1.38.418 20 12th 1.36.847 34 275
K. Raikkonen 11th 1.38.223 23 14th 1.37.054 33 276

Weather
First session: air 18/20 °C, track 27/33 °C, sunny.
Second session: air 21 °C, track 35/34 °C, sunny.

“Abruzzo nel cuore” (Abruzzo in our hearts.)
This message of solidarity with the people of the area hit by an earthquake on 6th April, appeared this morning on the Ferrari F60s of Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen, here at the Chinese Grand Prix. “President Montezemolo was keen to give a sign of support for everyone who lived through this tragedy and we are proud for our cars to carry the name of a region of Italy which is very close to our hearts, especially at a time like this,” commented Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro Team Principal, Stefano Domenicali. “As for today’s track activity, I can say it turned out much as we had expected. We will have to run a few races on the defensive and try and do the best we can. Clearly, without KERS, we lose a bit of performance and initial indications are that we are not seeing any improvement in the balance of a car that, let’s not forget, was designed to carry this system. We are in a difficult situation and we must try and stay calm and work hard on all fronts.”

Felipe Massa: “We are in a difficult situation on the technical front, but when one thinks of what happened to those who we are close to and in the daily life of the people of Abruzzo, everything else takes on a different perspective. I hope that having the “Abruzzo nel cuore” message on the cars, as requested by President Montezemolo, might help to make these people feel less alone. As for the track, I can say our fight for the championship is ever more compromised. Here we are also running without KERS and as a result, we are losing even more performance, in addition to not having as much aerodynamic downforce as the best cars. We must try and push as hard as possible on the development of the car, but we know it will be very hard to catch up. The only recipe for getting out of this difficulty is to work.”

Kimi Raikkonen: “The balance of the car isn’t bad and one doesn’t feel the lack of KERS. The point is that we are too slow compared to the teams currently at the top of the order. We must try and improve the car: at the moment, we are not able to fight for the title. We must not give up the fight because, with the whole team working hard, we can get back into a winning position. It’s not an easy time, but our group is strong and we know what needs to be done to get out of this situation. The softer tyre seems to work better than it did in Australia.”

Chris Dyer: “We worked mainly on evaluating the two types of tyre made available to us here by Bridgestone, in terms of Sunday’s race. Here, the softer tyre seems to work better to what we saw in Australia, while the harder one has performed as we had expected. We had no technical problems during the three hours of practice and we were able to evaluate new aerodynamic solutions, that, today, were fitted to Felipe’s car. Tomorrow, they will be used on both cars.”

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Post by Ed » Sat Apr 18, 2009 9:23 pm

Chinese Grand Prix – Shanghai

Qualifying session

Session Driver Pos. Time Laps Driver Pos. Time Laps
Q1 Raikkonen 6th 1.36.137 7 Massa 7th 1.36.178 6
Q2 Raikkonen 9th 1.35.856 6 Massa 13th 1.36.033 5
Q3 Raikkonen 8th 1.38.089 6

Chassis: F. Massa 275, K. Raikkonen 276

Weather: air temperature 23 °C, track temperature 40/41 °C, sunny.

One car in the top ten, another on row seven: that was the outcome of qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro. Kimi Raikkonen was eighth fastest in Q3, while Felipe was eliminated when in thirteenth place at the end of Q2.
“A team like Ferrari cannot claim to be happy with getting one car through to the final part of qualifying, but given our current technical situation, that’s what we could aim for today,” commented Stefano Domenicali. “It was a shame for Felipe who could also have got through to Q3. We knew this would be a difficult weekend, fought out on the back foot and that is proving to be the case. Now we have a race to run, in which there will be many unknown factors to contend with. Reliability will be crucial: we will try and get the most out of the potential at our disposal, to bring home the best possible result.”

Felipe Massa: “The first run in Q2 was pretty good, but on the second, I made a mistake going into Turn 9 which kept me out of Q3. I had a bit of traffic on my out lap which meant I didn’t get the tyres up to the right temperature. We must try and get through these two difficult races, bringing home a few points, working in the meantime on the development of the car. Not having the KERS is definitely a handicap in my case, especially in qualifying. This is another area where we must work, to go back to using it as soon as possible.”

Kimi Raikkonen: “Of course I’m not happy with eighth place but, given our current potential, we have to settle for this. We got everything out of the car but we had no more new tyres for Q3 and therefore, it’s already something to have put quite a few of our competitors behind us. The problem is still the same, we are just not quick enough. The car’s handling isn’t bad, but as I’ve said before, we are giving away a second to the best. I hope we get some developments quickly but, in the meantime, we try to do the best with what we’ve got. I hope we have a good race and pick up a few points. I don’t know where we might have been if we had the KERS: at some points it gives you an advantage, but in others it can be a disadvantage. It would have been useful to run it on at least one car to understand the situation better.”

Chris Dyer: “After the disappointment of Malaysia, this qualifying had some light and shade. Kimi secured a good position, managing to make it through to the top ten, while unfortunately, Felipe was out of the final part of the session because of a mistake that prevented him from improving on his second run in Q2, just missing out by less than a tenth. In Q3, on worn tyres, Kimi did a great job, managing to put two cars behind him. We have a good strategy and hope to pick up a few points in tomorrow’s race.”

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Post by Ed » Sun Apr 19, 2009 10:54 pm

Chinese Grand Prix – Shanghai

Driver Position Time Gap Laps Chassis
K. Raikkonen 10th 1:59.15.235 +1.31.750 56 276
F. Massa R 46.32.964 Lap 21 20 275

Weather: air temperature 20 °C, track temperature 22/21 °C, rain.

In China, Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro has yet again ended a race with no points to its name. In a race run entirely in the rain, Kimi Raikkonen finished tenth, while Felipe Massa retired on lap 21, when lying third, because of an electrical problem.

Stefano Domenicali: “Today, we are very annoyed about what happened to Felipe. He was driving an amazing race, when an electrical problem saw the engine die. He was third at the time and even though he had a heavy fuel load, he was lapping in the same time as the fastest and he would have almost certainly finished the race on the podium. Kimi switched his strategy, going from a two to a one stop, but he could not get higher than tenth. On his first set of tyres, his pace was reasonable, but with the second he suffered constantly from a lack of grip which kept him out of the points. The great shame is that at a time when technically we are not at our best, once again we failed to capitalise on circumstances. Now we look towards next weekend’s race in Bahrain in a realistic frame of mind: the car will be the same as here, even though we will look at running the KERS again. In the meantime, we have to work intensively on getting the new aerodynamic components to the race track, when the European part of the season gets underway in Barcelona.”

Felipe Massa: “Obviously, I’m very disappointed and a bit upset but my motivation is still intact. All of us must work together to get out of this situation. The team is united and there is a real will to turn things round as soon as possible. We should quickly be getting some significant aerodynamic developments, but it’s true we also have to sort out as soon as possible our reliability problems, because if we want to win, first we have to finish the races. Today, I was in with a good chance of getting on the podium. I was third and lapping in the same times as the leaders, even though I had enough fuel on board to go for a one stop. The car was going well, except when running behind the Safety Car: at those times, there were a few moments when the power seemed to drop. Then, without warning, the accelerator would not work and the car went quiet. I would say to our fans that they should not give up on us, as this is a difficult moment, but the championship is still long.”

Kimi Raikkonen: “In the early stages, it wasn’t too bad but then, after my stop, I lost grip from the tyres and I was no longer able to push as hard as I wanted, because it meant the car was sliding a lot. A few times, the engine seemed to lose power, especially when I found myself close behind other cars, but then the problem went away on its own. Clearly the championship situation looks very difficult. We have made mistakes and we are not quick enough. In Barcelona, when we will have new aero parts, we should be able to pick up some of the grip we are lacking now. I am sure we can be competitive enough to win again but this work will take time. The team is motivated, I’m sure of that and we will all do our bit. Now it is easy to criticize, but we know how to turn things round.”

Chris Dyer: “We embarked on the race with the two drivers on different strategies and with the rain and the safety car periods, we managed to get ourselves into a good position, especially with Felipe, who at one point was third with a lot of fuel on board. Unfortunately, a software management problem meant the engine cut out and forced him to retire. It’s a real shame, because we could have got a good result. Right from the start, Kimi complained about the lack of visibility when following others and several times that the engine power was dropping due to the water, but above all he suffered with a lack of grip after his stop. In the meantime, we changed his strategy and he was unable to get any higher than tenth. Once again we’ve had reliability problems which prevented us from picking up valuable points.”

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Post by Ed » Sat Apr 25, 2009 1:54 am

Bahrain Grand Prix – Sakhir, 24th April 2009

Free practices First Session Second Session
Driver Pos. Time Laps Pos. Time Laps Chassis
F. Massa 8th 1.34.589 17 16th 1.34.564 34 275
K. Raikkonen 10th 1.34.827 19 18th 1.34.670 28 276

Weather
First session: air 33/35 °C, track 42/46 °C, sunny.
Second session: air 38 °C, track 51/49 °C, sunny.

Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro was back on track today for the Bahrain Grand Prix free practice, at a circuit where it carried out two winter test sessions in preparation for the season. In conditions very different to those experienced last February, the team worked solely on race preparation, both in terms of assessing the performance of the Bridgestone tyres and in a comparison of two different configurations on the F60.

“Our car is unchanged from the way it was in Shanghai and therefore, we couldn’t expect a different picture,” commented Stefano Domenicali. “Our aim is to bring home some points: we have to be realistic and at the moment, we cannot aspire to more than that. We have to tackle this difficult phase with a cool head, working on all fronts to try and get back to being competitive as soon as possible.”

Felipe Massa: “This was definitely not a good day. We worked a lot towards the race, but we have to try and improve the handling of the car to move up the order for tomorrow and Sunday. The harder tyre is very difficult to use, while the soft one seems to be the best, not just in terms of outright performance but also over a distance. The KERS helps: without it, I would have certainly been slower. I made a mistake at the final turn on my last set of soft tyres, which cost me at least three tenths. We must be patient at the moment and try to do the best possible in these conditions.”

Kimi Raikkonen: “Even if we don’t know what fuel loads the other teams had, it’s clear that we are not as quick as we would like, but we have to try and make the best of this situation. Anyway, we knew that the picture for this race would be no different to what we’ve seen in previous ones. Today we opted to run in two different configurations and did a lot of work on finding the best set-up for the car. We collected a lot of data which we will now analyse, to be as well prepared as possible for the race. We can expect a difficult weekend, but we were never in any doubt about that.”

Chris Dyer: “Today, we had a very full work programme, based mainly on race preparation and on a comparison between the two cars that ran in different configurations: Felipe’s was fitted with KERS, while Kimi’s was not. We acquired a load of data which we will now evaluate very carefully before taking any definite decisions regarding the rest of the weekend. Today’s conditions were very difficult, with high temperatures. We struggled a lot with the harder tyres, while the softer ones worked better. We had no reliability problems, which is the most positive aspect of the day. As for performance, we have a lot of work to do to try and improve it, while well aware of our current potential.”

Ed
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Post by Ed » Sat May 09, 2009 12:34 pm

Bahrain Grand Prix – Sakhir, 25th April 2009
Qualifying session
Session Driver Pos. Time Laps Driver Pos. Time Laps
Q1 RAI 6th 1.33.117 7 MAS 9th 1.33.297 7
Q2 RAI 4th 1.32.827 6 MAS 9th 1.33.014 6
Q3 MAS 8th 1.34.818 6 RAI 10th 1.35.380 6

Chassis: F. Massa 275, K. Raikkonen 276
Weather: air temperature 40 °C, track temperature 53/51 °C, sunny.

Two cars in the top ten: that’s the outcome of qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix, for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro, with Felipe Massa in eighth place and Kimi Raikkonen tenth. The two Ferrari men got through Q1, with the sixth and ninth fastest times and Q2, fourth and ninth; in both cases with Kimi ahead of Felipe. In the final part of qualifying, Felipe was able to get the most out of his last remaining set of the softer tyres, while Kimi used two worn sets, also the softer ones. “We were aware of the current situation in terms of the pecking order and how difficult it would be to get into Q3. You only had to look at the times in the second part of the session, with five cars all within half a tenth,” commented Stefano Domenicali. “The slightest thing and you wouldn’t make it. Cleary this is not a Ferrari-style result, but we have to make a virtue out of necessity. Tomorrow, it will be vital to ensure that first and foremost, we make it to the chequered flag. With these high temperatures, car reliability faces a stiff test. Our aim is simple, to wipe the zero off our score card in the championship.”

Felipe Massa: “It seems we have made a small step forward, but we know we still have a long way to go. Personally, I’m happy to be back in the top ten in qualifying and I hope I can have a good race and make it into the top eight. This morning, the car was handling very well, but in the afternoon it lost a little bit of performance because of oversteer, probably down to the track conditions. Tomorrow it will be very hot and that will have a considerable effect on reliability and tyre performance. We must try and make it to the finish and bring home some points, maybe making the most of the KERS, especially at the start.”

Kimi Raikkonen: “It would have been difficult to do better than tenth. In the first two parts of qualifying, the car handled better than we had expected, but in Q3 I no longer had any new soft tyres, having already used all four sets. The car’s performance has improved with KERS. Tomorrow, the race will be very tough because of the high temperatures. Let’s see what we manage to do. The aim is to finish in the points.”

Chris Dyer: “We can’t claim to be happy in absolute terms with our performance, but at least for the second time this season, we managed to get both cars into Q3. In the final part of qualifying, Kimi struggled a bit more than his team-mate, as he had no more new soft tyres, but all things considered, that’s the best we could have expected today. We have a good strategy and hope to bring home both cars in the points tomorrow. Yesterday afternoon we decided to fit the KERS to both cars. We studied carefully the data from free practice and that led us to go for this solution.”

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Post by Ed » Sat May 09, 2009 12:40 pm

Bahrain Grand Prix – Sakhir, 26th April 2009

Driver Position Time Gap Laps Chassis
K. Raikkonen 6th 1:32.30.239 + 42.057 57 276
F. Massa 14th 1:31.55.016 + 1 lap 56 275
Weather: air temperature 38/36 °C, track temperature 51/49 °C, sunny.

First championship points for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro, which ended the sixth running of the Bahrain Grand Prix with one driver, Kimi Raikkonen in sixth place and the other, Felipe Massa, in fourteenth.

Stefano Domenicali: “Today we were aiming to get both cars home in the points and we got it half right. Unfortunately, Felipe’s race was compromised when he collided with his team-mate in the messy moments just after the start, damaging the front wing: he dropped to the back of the pack and not able to do much, apart from demonstrating a good pace with a heavy fuel load. Kimi drove a strong race, putting the finishing touches to a positive weekend. His sixth place is a fairly accurate reflection of our current situation. We were well aware that we have to work on reliability, and again today we had a few problems. But above all, we have to work on the performance. We have to push really hard on development of the entire car, not just concentrating on one admittedly very important part like the diffuser. Now we can expect a pretty hot time going into the start of the European leg of the season. This will be a key phase in the championship, although I’m not implying everything will hinge on Barcelona. We are Ferrari and we will never give up until the moment when the maths says it’s over.”

Felipe Massa: “My race was decided at the start. I was sandwiched between Kimi and Rubens and the front wing got broken after making contact with my team-mate’s rear wheel. At first, I didn’t realise what had really happened and so I came in after two laps to change the nose. Then, after a good start with a clear track, I found myself in traffic and my hopes of climbing up the order evaporated. Throughout the race, my telemetry wasn’t working and so my engineers couldn’t help me with the management of the car. The KERS did not work perfectly either, especially at the start. A shame, as once again today, we lost an opportunity to score points. Now I expect to make a good step forward in performance terms in Barcelona. One thing’s for sure, we won’t give up because all of us want to get back up the order.”

Kimi Raikkonen: “I am happy to have picked up a few points but I can’t be that pleased with our performance level. I’ve been around long enough not to get very excited about a sixth place. We are well aware we have to improve. In theory, the new package we will have in Barcelona should see us make a good step forward, but we won’t know just how big it will be compared to the others until we are on track in Spain. Today, we got the most out of the F60’s current potential, even if I lost a bit of time in my final pit stop because of a problem with a part of the fairing on the left front wheel which cost me the chance of exiting pit lane ahead of Barrichello.”

Chris Dyer: “Unfortunately, Felipe’s race was soon turned into a climb up the order after he made contact with Kimi, breaking the front wing and having to come in immediately. With so much fuel on board, the Brazilian’s pace was pretty good, but he then found himself in traffic and could not get all the potential out of the car. Furthermore, he had a telemetry problem on the car, which meant he was racing in the dark. Kimi drove a good race and his sixth place represents what we could have reasonably expected to do. Maybe we could have been in the fight for fifth with Barrichello if we had not encountered a problem at his final pit stop because of the fairing on the left rear wheel. All the same it was important to get the ball rolling in the classification, wiping out the zero. We still have a lot of work to do to improve, both in terms of reliability and in being competitive.”

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Post by Ed » Sat May 09, 2009 12:44 pm

Spanish Grand Prix – Barcelona, 8th May 2009
Free practices
First Session Second Session Driver Pos. Time Laps Pos. Time Laps Chassis
F. Massa 9th 1.22.855 15 15th 1.22.878 35 275
K. Raikkonen 11th 1.22.873 20 10th 1.22.599 40 279

Weather
First session: air 19/24 °C, track 24/31 °C, sunny.
Second session: air 25 °C, track 35/38 °C, sunny.

One hundred and ten laps completed by Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro over the two Friday free practice sessions for the Spanish Grand Prix: 60 for Kimi Raikkonen and 50 for Felipe Massa. “We had a very busy day: having so many new parts on the F60, the work sheet was full and we managed to complete it in its entirety,” commented Stefano Domenicali. “It was important to be able to work without major reliability problems on an aero package which is pretty much making its track debut today. We managed it and that’s definitely a positive thing when evaluating the day. As for performance, it is always difficult to draw conclusions. We have certainly made progress, but how much when compared to the competition we will only find out as the weekend continues.”

Kimi Raikkonen: “We have definitely made a step forward in performance terms on the car: you can feel a greater level of aerodynamic downforce and that’s what we needed. Sure, it’s Friday and it’s always difficult to draw conclusions, but the feeling is that we have closed the gap to the top cars. Here, just as at the last race, the harder tyre is a bit difficult, while on the softer one, we’re reasonably good. Tomorrow morning, we’ll work on qualifying, given that today we concentrated on race preparation. All in all, I am happy with how things went today.”

Felipe Massa: “We have done a good job over the past weeks and the car has improved, but of course, the others haven’t been standing around with their hands in their pockets. As from tomorrow, we will see if we have managed to move up the order, because today’s classification is difficult to interpret and I reckon it doesn’t represent the true pecking order. We worked towards Sunday’s race. On my final run I had traffic and that cost me a bit of time, but what matters is the performance tomorrow. I will do my best to get through to the final part of qualifying and then aim for a good grid position.”

Chris Dyer: “We are reasonably pleased with how things went this Spanish Grand Prix Friday. The team, both back at home and at the track, has put in a big effort to bring this aero package to Barcelona and the fact we had no reliability problems is already a positive element. The track confirmed our first impressions, that the handling of the car has improved and, from what we can learn from an initial analysis of the situation, we are in better shape than at the previous races. Tomorrow, our aim is to get both cars into Q3 and then to have a good race on Sunday. The tyres are behaving as expected: on the harder ones, we are struggling to get good grip, while we are fine on the softer ones, both in terms of grip and consistency of their performance.”

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Post by Ed » Sun May 10, 2009 1:57 am

Spanish Grand Prix – Barcelona, 9th May 2009
Qualifying session

Session Driver Pos. Time Laps Driver Pos. Time Laps
Q1 MAS 1st 1.20.484 5 RAI 16th 1.21.291 5
Q2 MAS 4th 1.21.149 7
Q3 MAS 4th 1.20.934 6
Chassis: F. Massa 275, K. Raikkonen 279

Weather: air temperature 26/25 °C, track temperature 39/37 °C, hazy sky.
One car on the second row, the other on the eighth: that was the outcome of qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix. Felipe Massa qualified fourth in the final part of the session, having been fastest in Q1 and fourth in Q2. Kimi Raikkonen failed to make it through to the second session and is thus left to start from sixteenth place.

“A day of varying fortunes,” commented Stefano Domenicali. “On the one hand there’s the satisfaction of Felipe’s result and on the other, disappointment for Kimi’s. Felipe’s showing in qualifying confirms that all the work of the past few weeks aimed at improving the car’s performance is going in the right direction. However, that can only add to the disappointment of how things went in terms of managing his team-mate’s session. We had the potential to get both cars into the top three rows and we only got it half right. Tomorrow, we can expect a long and difficult race, as usual in fact. Felipe has a chance to do well, while Kimi will have to try and climb up the order in the hope of making it into the points.”

Felipe Massa: “We demonstrated that the car has improved and is much more competitive than at the other races. I am happy to be back at the front end in qualifying and the credit for that goes to everyone at the Scuderia, who have worked day and night these past weeks to get so many new elements on track so quickly. There is still a long way to go, but we are working in the right direction which is a good sign for the future. From fourth on the grid, my aim is to fight for a podium finish. At the start, the KERS could be very handy in helping me make up some places and then we know we can count on running a good race pace. I feel more comfortable at the wheel: the car is more stable and doesn’t slide so much everywhere as it did in the past.”

Kimi Raikkonen: “We made a stupid mistake. It’s a real shame because the car was much better than the one we had in the previous races and we had every chance of getting a good result. I didn’t get any particularly good laps on my only run in Q1, but we thought my best time would be enough to make it to Q2 and so I stayed in the garage. There’s no point in saying whose fault it was, because we can’t do anything about it now. I certainly wasn’t keen on doing another run as I was thinking of saving a set of new soft tyres for Q3 and the team reckoned we could make it. Tomorrow’s race will be tough and we will try and make the best of the situation. The F60 has improved, maybe not yet to the level of the best, but we’re definitely getting closer.”

Chris Dyer: “We have worked so hard to bring new components here for the F60 and the result of those efforts was confirmed today by Felipe’s performance. Unfortunately, we were unable to fully exploit this improvement, because we made a serious mistake in our evaluation of Q1, believing that Kimi’s time would have been good enough to get him through to the next stage. It was a serious error which is really regrettable. We will try to make up for it tomorrow in a race which he will start from way down the order. Felipe is on a good strategy and although we wait to see the fuel levels of the other drivers, we can aspire to a podium finish. As usual, reliability will be the number one priority.”

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