quoteFerrari Formula 1 team backs Kimi Raikkonen amid struggles By Ben Anderson Tuesday, July 22nd 2014, 12:44 GMT
The Ferrari Formula 1 team says it has the "utmost confidence" in Kimi Raikkonen to turn his poor 2014 season around.
Raikkonen lies eight places and 78 points adrift of team-mate Fernando Alonso in the F1 drivers' championship after 10 races.
The Finn has failed to finish ahead of his Spanish team-mate at any race so far this year, and also trails Alonso 8-2 in the intra-team qualifying battle.
Raikkonen qualified behind Alonso again for Sunday's German Grand Prix and finished a pointless 11th after picking up wing damage, while Alonso hailed his own race to fifth as his best of the season so far.
Raikkonen is currently contracted to Ferrari for next season, and team principal Marco Mattiacci said the 2007 world champion is still the right driver for the Scuderia despite his paucity of results in this current campaign.
"Kimi is the driver that we need - we need to make more points, but he's the driver that we need," Mattiacci said.
"I think he knows what he can do better.
"He's a professional driver, he won a world championship with Ferrari; he's motivated, he knows his area of improvement.
"He sees Fernando ahead, he sees that it is tough and it's a tough moment, but we are all together in this.
"He has the utmost confidence and support from Ferrari."
quoteI hope this means Mattiacci has seen Kimi as who he truly is and not what the Spanish media wants people to think of him. I think he was spot on while saying in Formula 1 we don't keep scores like that. Because he knows the real reasons of those results, some even out of Kimi's hands. Like when Kimi was jumped by Alonso because they gave him the first pit stop even though Kimi was ahead. Or when Kimi was on his way to the podium in Monaco until Chilton exploded his tyre, etc.
This new cars seem to enhance certain driving styles and to make life very difficult to others. Ferrari can tweak little stuff for Kimi, but can't change the basic understeery car Alonso likes. If they make their car more oversteery, then Alonso will be the one suffering and would make him seem he lost it. Which everybody knows won't ever happen because of his Santander backing.
But none of this will be Ferrari's real problem in the next races. Ferrari is losing to Williams and not only because of Kimi. Massa has had a crash in the last 3 races, so he hasn't scored. Ferrari is losing to Williams because Bottas is beating Alonso. And Alonso doesn't want people to notice this, that's probably why his pointing all fingers on Kimi.
I certainly hope Ferrari does give Kimi a chance to have a car more to his liking, so he can show what he's still capable of. And for that, Tombiazis must listen to Allison, because Ferrari can't expect to have a competitive car next year if they keep on doing the same they've been doing in the last 6 years.
Now I'm just waiting the response of the two pro-Alonso fans...
quoteHungarian GP – Allison: “Much work on both projects”
Maranello, 22 July – The Tour de France, currently in full swing, has a daily prize at the end of each stage known as the Combativity Award, given out to the most aggressive rider. If Formula 1 did the same, chances are Fernando Alonso would be winning that accolade, for his duels with Vettel in the British GP and with Ricciardo in last Sunday’s German GP.
“It was good to bring Fernando home a little bit ahead of where he started in Hockenheim,” reflects Scuderia Ferrari’s Technical Director James Allison. “Sunday’s race was exciting for us because there were lots of close-fought battles, plenty of overtaking and as far as we were concerned, lots of little dramas for us to manage, arriving at the finish line having monitored fuel consumption and the ERS system, all while keeping an eye on the ever present threat of rain during the race.
“However, it was disappointing that we didn’t manage to get Kimi into the points even if some of that was down to the damage sustained to his front wing earlier in the race.” In Germany, Kimi confirmed that changes to the F14 T meant that he was beginning to feel more comfortable with the handling of the car, so hopefully in Hungary, a race that sees the biggest turnout of the year from Finnish fans, he can get a result worthy of his talent.
Hot weather was the dominant factor in Germany, apart from race day and similar conditions can be expected at the Hungaroring. “It’s usually very hot which is a challenge for the drivers but also for the cars and their cooling systems,” confirms Allison. “The heat will most especially affect the Energy Recovery System, because it’s a short lap with no real straights and there will be a fair amount of energy passing to and from the battery. The track itself is usually very dusty and dirty for the start of free practice, but then evolves very quickly as the rubber goes down.”
The mathematical halfway mark of the season was passed a while ago, but the Hungarian weekend leads into the official mid-season two week break. “One week after the Hungarian Grand Prix, we are not allowed to do any work in the factory,” explains the Englishman. “So we will be trying to fit quite a lot into that week, to be ready to be up and running again immediately after we return, to be prepared for the next Grand Prix in Belgium”.
“This stage of the season always marks the transition point between the current racing car and the next season’s car, with resources in the factory transitioning from one to the other,” continues Allison. “So it’s a time of much work on both projects, with plenty of effort still going into improving lap time on the 2014 car, while pushing ahead with the 2015 project.”
Thanks to TaniaS, it's a translation of an interview made some days ago...
quoteMark Slade was Kimi´s racingengineer 5 years at McLaren and 2 years at Lotus, and he confirmed to TS that Kimi has had similar problems as he has now before and that they had to do a hard work back then to be able to get the car to Kimi´s liking:
-" Kimi has had cars that he has had problems under braking. Those happened when we had traction contol systems and especially at years we had ABS- brakes. I don´t know the situation at Ferrari, but it feels and looks very much the same to the problems what we had with Kimi."
- "So that Kimi was able to get the car to his liking, we had to do a lot of work to improve the influence of engine and how it corresponded to the braking, at that time it was possible to setup brakingprofile. If Kimi now has similar problems, it´s much much harder to fix it, because of the mechanical transmissionsetups, Slade says."
-" Kimi is most likely the most sensitive driver when it comes to what he needs from the car. I´m sure that it´s because of that, they at Ferrari has had so much difficulties to get the car to the way Kimi wants it. I think that the biggest difference to Alonso comes from the fact that Alonso can go deeper to the details, because the car fits better for him (Slade has also been Alonso´s racing engineer back in the Mclaren 2007). Kimi has his own way to carry the speed of the car to the corners, and car has to be well balanced from correct parts. In these cars there is a naturally lower feel of grip and Kimi must hate it, Slade told".
Beate Zahnder who has worked for 20 years as a team manager at Sauber, is one of the closest friends of Kimi at the paddock. He said he has followed Kimi´s season very precisly, and he believes better times will follow:
-"I´m not worried at all about Kimi. I know Kimi as racing driver so well , that I know he will go very fast again soon with Ferrari. It has happened before and it will happend again, Zehnder said."
Joe Saward has let loose the rumour about Alonso, saying he is free to go already in 2015 if Ferrari doesnt improve by sebtember or they cannot convince him , Ferrari will be better next year...
Yeah read the article, but the question is which top teams will have an open seat? Merc? with Rosberg and HAM both have contract until at least 2016 it's unlikely. RB? unless Seb want to leave for another team? McLaren? It's a big unknown with new Honda engine in 2015. Willams? possible, but who can gurantee they will be as competitive as this year?
quoteFernando Alonso can't judge Ferrari's 2015 F1 recovery plans yet
Fernando Alonso is yet to be convinced by the Ferrari Formula 1 team's plans to improve its current poor form in 2015.
Both Alonso and team-mate Kimi Raikkonen were briefed at the Maranello factory ahead of the German Grand Prix about Ferrari's proposals for next season's car.
Technical director James Allison told reporters at the Hockenheim race he hoped the plans would convince Alonso to commit his long-term future to the Scuderia.
But the Spanish driver remained equivocal when asked by AUTOSPORT during the German event whether they had given him encouragement for next season.
"This is my 14th season in Formula 1, so I saw many projects in July and August," Alonso said.
"In August everybody is very, very competitive [in their plans], November even more, and in January super [competitive], and in February only two or three are able to win.
"You should have a crystal ball to see what is going to happen next year.
"Obviously everything remains to be seen, but it's only good prospects and good feelings at the moment for the performance we can achieve next year.
"Mercedes showed us this year that [teams in] this new era of Formula 1 can be dominant.
"We didn't make [a good] enough job with these new rules and there is a lot of room to improve - it's not like other years where everything was more or less at the limit.
"The step between 2014 and 2015 cars will be a lot bigger than what we saw in the past, so that's the hope we have and I think everyone will have the same, because everyone has very good prospects in July."
Team-mate Kimi Raikkonen reiterated his belief in the staff at Maranello, but warned Ferrari's current issues would take time to fix.
"We know our issues and what we have to do to improve things, but some of them are quite big things to fix and it will not happen quickly - and with the new rules some things cannot be changed," Raikkonen warned.
"We have to make sure we deliver those and I have full belief that we have the right team and the right tools to make a really good car.
"This year is what it is and next year is a different story.
"I believe in the people making the car and I'm sure we can improve a lot."
If Alonso leaves, Kimi stays and Ferrari makes the winning car for 2015...
Alonso hangs himself.
It's like he said, one would need a crystall ball to know for sure. The problem is that, like Kimi and Button, he doesn't have much years ahead in F1. Unless of course, he wants to do like Schummy.
quote Ferrari deny Pat Fry has been sacked Sky sources claim Engineering Director had been ousted
Ferrari have denied that Pat Fry has been sacked amid claims that the team’s engineering director has paid the price for the Scuderia’s lacklustre campaign.
Contacted by Sky Sports Online on Monday evening, a team spokesman rejected reports Fry had been sacked in the wake of their dismal start to the 2014 season.
However, according to Sky sources, Fry has been dismissed in the latest act of behind-the-scenes bloodletting following the team's underwhelming performances at the dawn of F1’s new hybrid era.
Team boss Stefano Domenicali was replaced by Marco Mattiacci in April while engine chief Luca Marmorini is also understood to have left the Scuderia earlier this month.
Speaking at Silverstone following reports of Marmorini’s ousting, a Ferrari spokesman said: “I have no comment to make on this. We are re-organising several areas of our structure and when we’re ready to make an announcement, we’ll let you know.”
Fry joined Ferrari in 2010 and his departure would leave James Allison, recruited from Lotus just twelve months ago, as the undisputed head of Ferrari’s technical set-up.
Despite, like runaway championship leaders Mercedes, being able to build their 2014 car and engine in-house – a capability seen as critical for the launch of the sport’s rules revolution and an advantage denied to both McLaren and Red Bull to telling effect – Ferrari have struggled to compete throughout the year.
While their engine has been exposed as overweight and underpowered, its erratic power delivery has frustrated both Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen since the turn of the year with the Finn’s struggles exacerbated by the uncooperative behaviour of the F14 T.
Although Alonso was able to muscle the car to a podium finish at the Hungaroring on Sunday, Raikkonen finished over half a minute behind race winner Daniel Ricciardo despite two Safety Car deployments.
In the team’s post-race press release, Fry was quoted as saying: “After the summer break, we come to two races that will be difficult for us, on two tracks where it will be important to make the most of any opportunity, just as we did today.
"On behalf of the team, I wish to congratulate Fernando and Kimi. We had promised them redemption and we were true to our word. We know that there is still a long way to go, but we will spare nothing in our efforts, continuing to work hard to improve, day by day.”
But if reports are to be believed, time may have already run out for the Englishman.
Oskari Saari said during the gp , the order to not to go to Kimi came from Pat Fry...TS writes in two sentences it is believed Hungary gp was a deadline in Alonsos contract clause regarding Ferraris position in manufactures championships. The podium secured Alonso is staying in Ferrari. Will see...
But Fernando knows that podium was reached only because the special race circumstances, if he really wants to leave, he'll leave.
In my opinion, that only shows how low Ferrari has fallen, since when Ferrari kneels for the drivers. To be a Ferrari driver you were supposed to earn it, you had to be the best. If there was someone better, you probably ended up being replaced by him.
But not this days, Ferrari's car is not that desirable anymore and also the team.
And who wants to work in Ferrari's team now, were anyone could be sacked and will be sacked if things don't go well.
Quote: WHATEVER wrote in post #659But Fernando knows that podium was reached only because the special race circumstances, if he really wants to leave, he'll leave.
In my opinion, that only shows how low Ferrari has fallen, since when Ferrari kneels for the drivers. To be a Ferrari driver you were supposed to earn it, you had to be the best. If there was someone better, you probably ended up being replaced by him.
But not this days, Ferrari's car is not that desirable anymore and also the team.
And who wants to work in Ferrari's team now, were anyone could be sacked and will be sacked if things don't go well.
If there is really such a clause then it depends on that and not what he wants. Of course contract can be broken but it's not that easy..
Not sure what you mean by that.. of course Ferrari wants best drivers. And clearly Alonso is one of the best and every team would want him. So it's not surprising they want to keep him.
Well if things don't work then things need to change too. Just sacking people is not a solution but I think there need to be structural/personal changes. The organisation is Ferrari's main problem. I read that Neil Martin, he is head of the team working back at Maranello during a race weekend, was part of the decision. And apart from Fry there is also Loverno, Head of track operations. I don't know if they all decide or not. But if Kimi and Spagnolo wanted to go out again why not just let them?
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Tue Jul 22, 2014 2:55 pm
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YiNing
for the last two last sentences apple...
