Maranello, 19 August – Eight races in fourteen weeks; that’s the schedule now facing the F1 circus as battle is joined again and it gets back to work for the second half of the season, after the official summer break. It leaves hardly any time to pause for breath as the teams crisscross the globe from east to west.
However, before the final six “flyaways” we come to two of the most evocative and historic events on the calendar, starting with this weekend’s race at Spa-Francorchamps.
The objectives. For Scuderia Ferrari, the objectives for the hectic dash to the 2014 finish line are clear: to finish as high up the order as possible in the Constructors’ classification in which it is currently third and, given that the technical regulations are more or less unchanged for 2015, to use development of the F14 T to learn valuable lessons for next season. This weekend’s race in the Ardennes takes place on a track that often throws up surprises, because of its high speed nature, that sees cars run in low downforce configuration, so that even teams usually regarded as backmarkers can be in the mix. It means the current front-runners are not necessarily the odds-on favourites and in terms of the show, spectators usually get to witness a fiercely competitive weekend.
A track for real drivers. It is also true that the challenges posed by the 7.004 kilometre track tend to highlight the abilities of the most talented drivers, but strangely enough, in this case Fernando Alonso is the exception that proves the rule, as he has never won here, his best results being two second places in 2005 and again last year. But given the Spaniard’s incredible driving this year, nothing can be ruled out this weekend. On the other hand, team-mate Kimi Raikkonen, with four wins in Belgium is the most successful of the current drivers, equal with Jim Clark, one win behind Ayrton Senna and two behind Michael Schumacher. “Spa is probably my favourite circuit because it’s an old-style track which climbs and drops through the forest and I like the fact it’s fast and flowing,” says the Finn. “Also, it usually provides good racing to watch for the spectators. I think you can make a difference as a driver at every part of the circuit, but as with every track, it’s a combination of factors. At Turn 1, the hairpin, you can actually lose or gain a lot of time and you need good speed out of it because after it comes the very long straight including Eau Rouge. That corner has been easily flat out for quite a long time now, although actually, with this year’s cars, that might not be the case. Last time I drove here in a Ferrari (in 2009) I won, and that was in a year when we had been struggling since the start. But in Spa we managed to get things going a bit more in the right direction and it would be good if the same thing could happen this year. That would hopefully mean the racing would be a bit more fun. It’s always more fun when we get the results!”
The weather factor. Of course, no Spa preview can be complete without a nod to the weather: not only is rain a frequent player, but given the fact this is the longest track on the calendar, parts of the circuit can be bone dry and others wet, all adding to the unpredictable nature of the race, which means teams have to really be on top of every situation. Another effect of the long lap is that those who do the best job of managing the Energy Recovery Systems could reap the benefit of a performance advantage. All in all, Spa is a great way to end the holidays! - See more at: http://formula1.ferrari.com/news/belgian...h.qYHvmRMQ.dpuf
quoteBelgian GP – Raikkonen: “The sport is more straightforward now”
Spa-Francorchamps, 21 August – The Spa circuit is famous for its high speed challenge and, at his usual Thursday meeting with the media in the Belgian paddock, Kimi Raikkonen was asked if he regretted the fact the current cars are a bit slower than in the past. “In a way yes, if you think of F1, you’d think we would have everything possible in the car to make them go faster, as it was in the past,” began the Scuderia Ferrari driver. “But obviously, now the rules have changed aimed at making the cars slower, while improving the show. I think the cars looked nicer in the past and were much more challenging to drive and it was more fun in some ways. On the other side, maybe we have more overtaking now, but sometimes I think it would be nice to go back and race with the cars from the past.”
When Kimi made his F1 debut there were concerns voiced about his lack of experience, so he is ideally placed to comment on the story of the day, next year’s arrival of the currently 16 year old Max Verstappen at Toro Rosso. “I did one full year, 23 races in a car before coming to F1,” recalled the Finn. “He has probably done more. I did well; time will tell how he will do. The sport is more straightforward now than in the past, the points are given out to more finishers. So I don’t think he will have problems and I hope he does well.”
Kimi’s last win at Spa came at the wheel of a Ferrari in 2009, which at the time he described as “a miracle.” He was asked what a victory would represent on Sunday. “It would be a similar story!” he said. “That year, we were one of the few teams running KERS and that was a good help for us here. Hopefully we can have a good weekend overall and a good race, so that we start improving. But here and Monza are probably not the easiest places for us as we are missing some straightline speed, which is very important at this circuit and the next one. I think that the final part of the season can only be better for us, especially as I’ve had a much better feeling from the car at the last two races.” - See more at: http://formula1.ferrari.com/news/belgian...h.HD7CrNuU.dpuf
quoteBelgian GP – A teaspoon per lap
Spa-Francorchamps, 21 August- For Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen, energy saving was the first item on the agenda at Spa-Francorchamps, the backdrop to Sunday’s twelfth round of the Formula 1 World Championship.
Along with Shell Project Leader Mike Evans, they met students who had designed highly efficient cars to take part in the Shell Eco-Marathon, in which teams from all over the world compete to see who can cover the furthest distance using the equivalent of one kW/h of energy or one litre of fuel.
Before having a go at the wheel of six of these unusual prototypes near the famous La Source hairpin, Fernando and Kimi spent a long time talking to the young engineers, about environmental sustainability, at the event organised by Scuderia Ferrari’s technical partner Shell.
Much less powerful but greener than a Formula 1 car, the best of these innovative cars can cover one lap of the track using just 2.2 millilitres, or about a teaspoonful, whereas a Formula 1 car requires around two to three litres to cover the same distance. - See more at: http://formula1.ferrari.com/news/belgian...h.X1TADrU7.dpuf
quoteKimi “I already met some of the students this year in Goodwood at the Festival of Speed and drove their simulator. It’s normal to drive apart from the low speeds and they look simple on the outside but actually they are more complicated cars and the students that build them are very smart people. I think the Shell Eco-marathon is an excellent event and gives the students a good way to learn and improve and hopefully move into bigger things in the future.”
Kimi Raikkonen is one of many drivers who believe Max Verstappen will have a good chance of succeeding in F1 when he makes his debut next year
Verstappen will be racing at the age of 17 for Toro Rosso after being confirmed as Daniil Kvyat's team-mate for 2015 earlier this week. With Verstappen currently competing in his first season of single-seaters, obvious comparisons have been drawn with Raikkonen – who made his debut for Sauber after just one season of Formula Renault – and the 2007 world champion believes his own experience shows Verstappen can be successful.
“I don't know how much he has done or what he has done,” Raikkonen said. “I did one full year, I only had 23 car races so he's probably going to have more than I had. Obviously I was a bit older than him but I did well.
“Time will tell how he will do but obviously it's more simple now than it was in the past; more people get points… I think you can prepare yourself more easily now than in the past so I don't think there will be issues but obviously time will tell. Hopefully he will do well for himself.”
Having competed against Verstappen's dad – Jos – in the early part of his F1 career, Raikkonen says he isn't concerned by who he is racing. However, asked how he feels to be competing against two generations, Raikkonen replied: “Old!
“He's very young so for me it doesn't matter who I race against, it's supposed to be the top guys in here. Obviously from year to year some guys go, some guys come back and there's some new guys. So to win you have to beat everybody, the name doesn't make so much difference.”
In first free practice Alonso felt good in his car right away and Kimi had ERS and other problems as usual. It seems he still doesn't feel the car the way he wants it.
So I'm hoping he finds the right set-up in free practice two (that it's starting with a crash of Maldonado) because it would be a shame to see Kimi at SPA without a car to his liking.
Which looks highly unlikely at the moment because a half hour has pased and Kimi is still at box because he has ERS problems again.
quote James Allison says underachieving Ferrari have been guilty of short-termism Technical Director sure team can satisfy both Fernando Alonso and struggling Kimi Raikkonen's styles in 2015 car design
By James Galloway. Last Updated: 22/08/14 6:06pm
Ferrari technical chief James Allison believes short-term thinking has been central to the once all-conquering team's fall from grace at the top of the F1 order in recent years.
Since winning a total of six Drivers' and eight Constructors’ Championships in the space of a glorious record-breaking decade between 1999 and 2008, F1's most illustrious team have fallen short in their attempts to add to the rich title-winning history at Maranello.
Despite signalling their intent to return to the front of F1 by pairing together their first all-World Champion line-up for six decades, and hiring the highly-regarded Allison from Lotus, Ferrari have been conclusively overshadowed by Mercedes at the start of F1's new turbo era this year and head into this weekend’s Belgian GP on a 25-race victory drought.
In an attempt to reverse their fortunes, new Team Principal Marco Mattiacci – who replaced Stefano Domenicali in April – has been charged with restructuring Ferrari's F1 operation with the Italian already having overseen an overhaul of their underperforming engine department.
And Allison, who returned to the team last year having previously worked at Maranello during the ultra-successful Schumacher era, says that while Ferrari still have all the tools to succeed, improved organisation and more long-term planning are two areas where they must up their game.
"I don't think Ferrari has ever lacked for resource or quality of people or quality of drivers. We have many of the key parts for being a successful team," Ferrari's Technical Director said in the team bosses' press conference at Spa.
"What all of us are trying to do, with Marco spearheading that, is to identify the areas where we are not yet championship-leading material to put those rights. Most of us those weaknesses are organisation and a tendency to work a little short-term in the past."
James Allison is charged with leading Ferrari's technical revival
While the current performance of the F14 T has handicapped both Ferrari drivers this season, Kimi Raikkonen's struggles have been especially pronounced with the Finn having been dominated by team-mate Fernando Alonso.
Raikkonen, yet to finish higher than sixth this term, worked with Allison during a more successful stint at Lotus and the Briton admitted: "We have had a car that is not especially easy to drive. Particularly in Kimi's case, he doesn't much like the front-end of the car. "Kimi is a driver who likes to have a strong and predictable front-end – then he can bring out the skill that he has. That isn't yet something he has found in Ferrari and something we haven't provided for him."
However, despite Alonso leading Raikkonen by nearly 100 points at mid-season, Allison believes wholesale improvements to the team’s package for 2015 will aid both drivers.
"There's no reason why we shouldn't," he said when asked if Ferrari can build a car that satisfies both drivers' styles.
"Any drivers responds to more downforce, any drivers responds to more horsepower, any drivers responds to more mechanical grip – and we are putting all of those things into next year's car. My hope is that both of the drivers will be satisfied with the outcome."
quote#Kimi: “They were quite difficult conditions and I made quite a few mistakes on the last lap. I was held up on the out-lap by a few cars, which affected the way I wanted to start the whole lap and get the tyres ready, but I just made some mistakes and didn't get a good lap on that last run. In the wet conditions, it's a bit more tricky to say. They were difficult conditions and I was sliding a lot, so it was quite tricky. In the dry yesterday, I had so many problems that we couldn't really do much. This morning, [in FP3], it didn't feel too bad - the lap probably wasn't anything good, but the car felt quite good, so everything seems to be okay. Obviously, the wet is always wet and bit tricky, but it was not a disaster. Running [on Friday] was a bit limited by the issues on my side and, this morning, there were just two or three laps [in the dry], so not many, but I think we should be okay knowing what we should do. The weather can change a lot here - and quickly, as we have seen - so we'll try to make the right decisions at the right time and hopefully get a good result. Obviously, the weather will be the same for everyone, and sometimes it works for you and sometimes not. Hopefully, whatever the conditions are, we'll make the right call and get a good race. It'll be a long race and different conditions from start to finish, so let's see how it is.”
and once more Kimi is far away from Alonso but they both have the same car..........Where is the problem with Kimi? This goes on since the beginning of the season......
Quote: jpp47 wrote in post #13and once more Kimi is far away from Alonso but they both have the same car..........Where is the problem with Kimi? This goes on since the beginning of the season......
I think unchanged the car don´t suit Kimi. Read what James Allison said in the PC at friday, I post it just in the Ferrari thread.
Print view
Tue Aug 19, 2014 12:10 pm
reply
Did he say all this? 
He is nominated!
