I completely disagree. In a way, if you stop development on all fronts on the 2016 car, it has a direct knock on effect on the 2017 car, specially the power unit. I think Ferrari have enough resources to balance their focus on both projects. At the moment, Vettel is not out of the WDC and you never know in F1. A slight alteration in tyre pressures or just some mid season rule alteration could swing things back in Ferrari's favor. I do believe that on sheer pace, Ferrari are closer than they were in 2015. Again, Mercedes have done an excellent job, no doubt, but look at the series of problems that Hamilton is having on the reliability front! They are no doubt pushing the limits themselves. I think Baku was a atypical circuit, and the gap was exaggerated and circuit specific. Mercedes suddenly did not find 1.5 seconds in two weeks.mika vs michael wrote:Ferrari should shift their focus to 2017. It does not matter so much in the end if they finish 2nd or 3rd in the constructors championship. No one is near Mercedes on a steady basis. depending the circuit they are either close or further back but if mercedes does not screw things they can't beat them. 3 years of utter domination...welldone Merc. Ferrari needs to build a strong team in all areas maybe hire more people. it could be great if they could get aldo costa back. and they need a figure like Ross Brawn in charge.
This development that everybody speaks so highly of seems to me to be most teams bringing different aero packages to different tracks.. front wings/rear wings ,tweaks to brake cooling and so on.mika vs michael wrote:Shifting focus to 2017 does not mean totally abandon 2016. Ferrari's biggest issue I think is in season development rate. I think Mercedes and Rebull are better in that section and also Mercedes has better integration. I think Ferrari lacks in those two departments.
I have not suggested that Ferrari's biggest problem is the PU. Aldo Costa has to do with the chassis not the PU. James Key is fine as long as it is people that can add quality and of course there has to be the right scheme to organise those staff and make them cooperate more efficiently.
If they havent made a jump why is it that the SF16-H is faster than the Mercedes WO5 on every single track that they have qualified on so far in 2015 and 2016?mika vs michael wrote:I have the impression that whenever Ferrari brings something new even if it is a different sticker on the car, there are tons of publications about the new Ferrari items. In the end the result is that matters and when you start the season with a big gap that shrinks in the end by 10% or 20% it is not enough. And I think that since testing was banned it was a big stroke against Ferrari and Ferrari owning a track next to their factory should not have accepted it.
The last Ferrari real title challenger was the 2008 car...in 2010 and in 2012 all knew that the car was a bit but clearly behind so it was matter of the driver and a bit better luck in order to get the title. It was the same in 1997 and 1998. We knew back then that Ferrari is a bit behind McLaren but it was MS and the relentless testing and updating that pushed the car to stay in the title chase.
You know when you have a real title challenger car. It makes a sub par 2nd driver look good. In 2016 Ferrari should do a 1997, 1998, 1999.. Defeated in the end but you knew the team was close. Actually in 1999 the team won the Constructors. 2015 looked like the 1996 when MS won 3 races and Ferrari ended a distant second in the championship. I think in 2016 they have not made the jump. It looks like they don't know enough about their own car how to set it up like they don't understand it enough to unlock the potential we all hear about but maybe there is no potential and it is what it is.
During the Michael/Brawn/Todt years there was a clear idea of how to develop the car, this is why they improved every year. I have not seen this in Ferrari since 2007-2008. I hope 2016 is the first year for a constant and logic evolution but I have my doubts.mika vs michael wrote:I have the impression that whenever Ferrari brings something new even if it is a different sticker on the car, there are tons of publications about the new Ferrari items. In the end the result is that matters and when you start the season with a big gap that shrinks in the end by 10% or 20% it is not enough. And I think that since testing was banned it was a big stroke against Ferrari and Ferrari owning a track next to their factory should not have accepted it.
The last Ferrari real title challenger was the 2008 car...in 2010 and in 2012 all knew that the car was a bit but clearly behind so it was matter of the driver and a bit better luck in order to get the title. It was the same in 1997 and 1998. We knew back then that Ferrari is a bit behind McLaren but it was MS and the relentless testing and updating that pushed the car to stay in the title chase.
You know when you have a real title challenger car. It makes a sub par 2nd driver look good. In 2016 Ferrari should do a 1997, 1998, 1999.. Defeated in the end but you knew the team was close. Actually in 1999 the team won the Constructors. 2015 looked like the 1996 when MS won 3 races and Ferrari ended a distant second in the championship. I think in 2016 they have not made the jump. It looks like they don't know enough about their own car how to set it up like they don't understand it enough to unlock the potential we all hear about but maybe there is no potential and it is what it is.
So, I wasn't wrong in my assessment and someone else thinks the same too.GPR-A wrote:.
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I have this strong belief that, they should have a design office, somewhere in UK. The engineering and design talent pool is all centralized in UK and it is evident with Mercedes, McLaren, Red Bull and many other teams having their headquarters there. It's not a co-incidence that all these teams have made leaps and bound progress over the last decade, having been in UK. Even a Force India, which also has the head quarters in UK, churns better cars with the kind of budget they have.
Speculation is rife in Italy suggest Maurizio Arrivabene’s job may be on the line, but Briatore said that is no the answer.
“Instead, they should internationalise,” he said. “Maranello is not a place that someone from England dreams of living in, so I would suggest they open up a technology department there.
“I know that in formula one things do not happen by miracle. In England, there are 10 teams within 60 kilometres — even Mercedes, who are German, are there, because if you want to make champagne, you’re better off in France.”