Yes, nobody understands that decision. It had no logic. ... What I meant before was that there was a time the best drivers wanted Ferrari and now it's mainly the other way around.
And I don't like how that has developed in Alonso's era, he does as he pleases. And they just sack people here and there, some bad, some good and one can't see any diference. The work environment must be very tense because of this. I know one have to do things differently if one wants different results, but maybe they are doing the wrong changes.
I don't know what Ferrari's main problem is, but it's to bad Kimi got cought there, right in the middle of the crisis. It has to stop someday, but it doesn't look like it will be anytime soon. Though I hope it will, for Kimi's sake.
quote Why the aerodynamic failures of the F14 T have led to a power vacuum at Ferrari Sky F1's Mark Hughes on the problems and blood-letting at Ferrari as the team consider the complex deficiencies of their radical F14 T...
As part of this week's F1 Midweek Report, Ted Kravitz looks at the unique changes Ferrari have made to their 2014 car. The F1 Midweek Report is live on Wed
Rumours continue to rumble that the blood-letting at Ferrari is not yet over, following the disappointing form of the 2014 F14 T model.
Engine boss Luca Marmorini has already departed his position even though Ferrari refuses to officially confirm as much. It’s expected that at least one other high level technical man will be a casualty in the near future.
“We must understand what this second place represents,” said team boss Marco Mattiacci of Fernando Alonso’s great result in Hungary. "The strengths of the other teams were diluted because of the weather conditions and the specifics of the track. It was motivating, but we need to manage carefully the enthusiasm for second and sixth place.”
After several years of producing relatively conservative designs, Ferrari actually went quite radical with the format of the F14 T. Details of its layout are only now coming to light – and it’s clear that an extreme aerodynamic package was at the heart of the design, but that this emphasis has led to compromises in the format of the power unit. The overall balance between the conflicting packaging demands of the hybrid power unit and the aerodynamics has turned out not to be correct in a season that is being technically dominated by the very different Mercedes W05.
Central to the philosophy of the F14 T design has been maximising airflow through the diffuser. To achieve this, the engine has been moved forward. This has been achieved by moving the oil tank, which normally sits between the cockpit and engine, to inside the gearbox case - an arrangement that was traditional up until the late 1990s but which is unique to the Ferrari today. The intercoolers for the turbo nestle in the vee of the engine, helping aerodynamically by keeping them from infringing upon the sidepod area. But critically this has prevented Ferrari from adopting the Mercedes split turbo concept, whereby the compressor sits at the front of the engine and the turbine at the back. On the Ferrari, the turbine and compressor sit together, the conventional layout.
With space at the rear so aerodynamically valuable, the layout has prevented Ferrari from being able to use as big a compressor as Mercedes – contributing to the engine being less efficient, without as much power for a given fuel consumption; or without as good fuel consumption for a given power level.
Ferrari with a particularly novel measuring device on the F14 T's front-left wheel
In the pre-season Bahrain tests Ferrari, once it had understood the extent of the Mercedes engine’s superiority, ran its car beyond the fuel flow limit maximum in order to give approximate power parity with the Mercedes – so it could more accurately assess how far off the pace its aerodynamic package was. It seemed to indicate that the aero deficit was only around 0.3s. But, running to the fuel flow limit, the car’s shortfall was over one second.
However, although this would indicate that the power unit was more of a problem than the car’s aero performance, the feeling is that the performance of the power unit was knowingly compromised to achieve maximum aero performance with quite a radical design - and even skewing the layout in this way has still led to a car that does not lead the way in aerodynamics. Therefore the finger of blame does not lie solely within the power unit department.
“It is not only in the power unit that we are lacking,” continued Mattiacci, “it’s a global around all of the car. We are about 1.2 seconds behind the leaders, which means months or even years of work.”
One very senior engineer with a rival team who recently spurned an offer to join Ferrari said one of the reasons he did so was that the team’s blame culture, with a series of high profile sackings - including Chris Dyer, Aldo Costa and Marmorini - had made the team an unattractive place to join.
quote One very senior engineer with a rival team who recently spurned an offer to join Ferrari said one of the reasons he did so was that the team’s blame culture, with a series of high profile sackings - including Chris Dyer, Aldo Costa and Marmorini - had made the team an unattractive place to join.
Thanks Olga
It's good to know I wasn't that far off in my comments, nobody wants to work in that kind of environment.
just sacking people without having built the correct infrastructure never helps a company. although nobody is irreplaceable, the gap exists and cant be filled in from one day to the next. let alone the insecure feeling it leaves behind among the ones who remain, as pointed out in this article.
quote'Light at the end of the tunnel' for Raikkonen ESPN Staff July 30, 2014
Kimi Raikkonen is not getting carried away by his sixth position in Hungary but thinks the race is proof he is turning a corner after his difficult first half of the 2014 season.
Raikkonen made up for a huge error of judgement from Ferrari in qualifying, where he stayed in the garage at the end of Q1 and dropped out of the session, to record his best result of the season so far. Despite the result, Raikkonen does not think all of his problems are behind him just yet but he welcomes the fact he was competitive at the Hungaroring.
"It's been a hard first part of the year," Raikkonen said. "When you can push and fight against people rather than just defend and fall backwards, it shows that we are doing something right and getting at least some light at the end of the tunnel. It's a good thing but the big picture hasn't changed from one result.
"We still have issues where we have to improve - mechanical grip, downforce, power. Here and Monaco seem to be a bit better for us but there is still a long way until we can say we are happy. The result is a bit better for me, and the team got a few more points, but the team hasn't suddenly made a massive change."
Raikkonen thinks the results team-mate Fernando Alonso has achieved this year proves Ferrari has a good basic package but he thinks there are still lots of little areas of improvement that can be made ahead of next season.
"It's not a disaster, that's for sure, otherwise there would not be the results the team has achieved so far. We know the areas where we have to work and it's a bit everywhere. We are not really bad anywhere but we are not fantastic anywhere.
"It's a reliable car, some places work better and some conditions work better but we have a lot of places that we know if we improve we can improve the whole thing. Things are not easy to change or improve in Formula One. You can pinpoint the issue you have but it's very tricky to suddenly come up with a fix otherwise it would be easy and nobody would have any issues."
Here they say Ferrari has tried "magic" paint in Marussias engines in order get more horsepowers out of the engine. They said they got 20 hp more. Now they are waiting for FIA: s approval. I imanigine it has something to do with the cooling of the engine , there are "paints" that do that..otherwise I dont know.. I am using now my kids computer, our laptop died for good, all the important data destroyed as the harddisk was shattered too seriously. Only one year old laptop....I dont remember being smacking it while watching gp:s but you never know....hihi.
as I understood that paint will help unit to retain more heat that Ferrari was losing from exhaust gases before they were reaching MGU-H (other engines use heat shields to keep the T high).
More heat - more power or electricity from MGU-H (unlimited currently)
Nomad, you're the rider so mysterious Nomad, you're the spirit that men fear in us
one must still have chaos in oneself to be able to give birth to a dancing star - it's a satanic drug thing you wouldn't understand...
Quote: Denorth wrote in post #669as I understood that paint will help unit to retain more heat that Ferrari was losing from exhaust gases before they were reaching MGU-H (other engines use heat shields to keep the T high).
More heat - more power or electricity from MGU-H (unlimited currently)
Ah...now I understand...So Ferraris problem is the engine that is too far forward and maybe a complicated exhaust system..but overall...if you look for example Williams..it looks aerodynamically neutral..but it has a very efficient engine..where as Ferrari looks aerodynamically ugly, like sniffing where might be the best route thru the air..and has weak engine. And all along last year there were talks the engine will be the most important..granted merc is or should I say was ahead of others miles before their suspension system was deemed illegal. Somehow I think Kimi benefitted about this..he doesnt like artificial driver aids and thats what I think the engineers mean when they say he isnt good with gadgets.
I think the new engine and all the electronics introduced this year make the car more like a video games... I guess that's why all the youngsters seems to enjoy more than the experienced guys. That's my theory anyway
quoteFerrari identify areas for change as F1 boss Mattiacci gathers steam
The reign of Ferrari team principal Marco Mattiacci is little more than 100 days old, but this week the first changes in his restructing of the team came to light.
Former Lotus technical director James Allison is in overall charge of the entire technical project, both chassis and engine.
Luca Marmorini paid the price for Ferrari’s costly underestimation of the scale of task and investment required to produce a class leading hybrid turbo engine. His role as head of the engine side goes to Mattia Binotto, who has been with the team for many years and was Michael Schumacher’s engine engineer during the glory years.
Mattiacci knows that he is not looking for quick fixes, but rather must put in place a plan to bring Ferrari closer to the front in 2015 and challenging again from 2016 onwards.
This is the first half season during Fernando Alonso’s five seasons there in which he has not won a single race and he has just two podiums to his name.
According to Gazzetta dello Sport, Mattiacci’s first 100 days of reviewing the state of the Scuderia has revealed the following key issues:
* The response times are too slow, from suppliers to internal processes, the team needs to move more quickly, to match its rivals. * Inferior hybrid technology – Mercedes invested more and for far longer in the KERS and its successor systems. The factory at Brixworth is a centre of excellence within Mercedes, competing within the company for contracts on new electric and hybrid vehicles and that has hugely benefitted the F1 programme. Although Ferrari can develop its engine before the new homologation period starts in February 2015, catching up could take years. * Too much emphasis on reliability at the expense of performance in the hybrid development phase. Alonso is the only driver to have scored points in every race this season, but he’s not been a real contender for victory. * Lack of co-ordination between chassis and engine departments. This is a huge failure, given that the two departments are a few dozen metres apart, rather than in different locations and even countries in the case of Red Bull and its supplier Renault. Hence Allison’s over arching role.
There was no mention in Ferrari’s statement this week of Pat Fry, who was in charge technically until Allison’s arrival and who now has a senior engineering role, including operational activities at races. However he continues in his role.
As for the drivers, there have been discussions about extending Alonso’s contract beyond the end of 2016, but at the same time Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton are both potentially available at the end of next season.
McLaren, which is going through its own restructuring programme under Eric Boullier and is likely to see some significant changes on the technical side soon, is also in the market for Alonso and even for Hamilton.
Those three drivers are sure to be much in demand next season, as the negotiations intensify and the top teams look to set themselves up for the next phase.
quoteRaikkonen has faith Ferrari will deliver winning car in 2015 ESPN Staff
Kimi Raikkonen is confident Marco Mattiacci is the right man to return Ferrari to winning ways next season and believes technical director James Allison will deliver a car to his liking.
Raikkonen has made a lacklustre return to the team this year, scoring just 27 points from 11 races and failing to beat team-mate Fernando Alonso on race day. The Ferrari F14 T lacks power and downforce compared to its rivals but the team will have to wait until the winter before it can start to address its power unit's deficiencies, meaning serious gains on Mercedes are unlikely this year.
However, Raikkonen believes Mattiacci, who replaced Stefano Domenicali as team principal in April, is the right man to organise Ferrari's resources into a winning package.
"I have 100% belief in the people at the factory," he said when asked about the team's plans for 2015. "We have the tools and the people to do the job and what we are supposed to do. I'm sure we can be where we should be, hopefully by next year. We have to do a lot of work, but like I said, we have the people and the tools and I don't see a reason why we shouldn't be at the front again, but obviously time will tell.
"With a new team boss [Mattiacci], he didn't have much knowledge of F1 when he came in, but he has a very smart head and I think he's doing good work and good decisions and he can get the best out of people. I think he's the guy that we need."
Raikkonen has struggled more than Alonso with the car this year and says it does not suit his style. But having worked with Ferrari technical director Allison at Lotus over the last two years, he believes he is more likely to get a car that suits him in 2015.
"The team know what I like and their designers are designing a new car [for 2015] and I have 100% belief in the guys in the factory, and with James I should get something that is more to my liking. We have to improve anyhow with the speed and I think we have good people who know what they should do. This year overall - not just for me - it's been pretty bad for the team, so there's a lot of work to do and I'm sure we have the tools to turn it around and be stronger next year."
quoteIs Pat Fry the next one out the Ferrari door? 1 August, 2014
Weeks after the reports first emerged, Ferrari has this week finally admitted that their former engine boss Luca Marmorini has left the Italian team, and this could be the precursor to other senior members heading out the door.
Ferrari made no mention of Pat Fry, the Briton who joined Ferrari from McLaren in a high-profile switch in 2010. Earlier this week, the fabled Italian team denied reports that Fry is also in danger of being axed.
But 1998 and 1999 world champion Mika Hakkinen, who worked closely with Fry during his successful McLaren career, has also heard the reports.
The Finn said he thought of Fry when Ferrari made a big strategy blunder in Hungaroring qualifying last Saturday that stranded Kimi Raikkonen down the grid.
“Such a thing should not happen with a team on the level of Ferrari,” Hakkinen said in his latest column for sponsor Hermes.
“I wondered a bit about such a serious error happening under Pat Fry, who I know very well,” he admitted. “The alarm bells should be ringing for everybody.”
Meanwhile Marmorini, like ousted team boss Stefano Domenicali, appears to have paid the price for Ferrari’s disappointing start to the new energy-boosted V6 turbo era.
Marmorini began working at Maranello decades ago, returning late in 2009 after heading to the now-defunct Toyota F1 team as head of the engine department. The Toyota engine won no F1 races during the period of its existence which included powering Williams.
In a short media statement, Ferrari said it has promoted from within to replace Marmorini, and affirmed that James Allison and Nikolas Tombazis remain in charge of the chassis side.
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Wed Jul 30, 2014 12:22 pm (Last edited: Wed Jul 30, 2014 2:59 pm)
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The first special visit... next to his favourite 
about your computer Apple 
Is Mattiacci making a big tidiness? All 
? 
