what's wrong with ferrari??

akbar21881 · Post 06 Jul 2003, 17:48

from last few races,it seems that ferrari is way off the pace.how come this weekend they only target to qualify 3rd? it seems that the conventional williams is the best all rounder now,be it aero,tyres and reliability. and it seems that bridgestone is also inferior to michelin.just take a look at french gp qualifying.only ferraris made it to top ten.and that must be becoz their cars are much better than other bridgestone runner.

Post 06 Jul 2003, 22:19

there you give the answer... what's with Ferrari is just that they have the wrong tyre supplier, simple as that.
On the other hand, Williams have made serious progress during the season, but they also have the advantage to be somehow Michelins first testing team, as they do the most kilometers.

-shr3d- · Post 07 Jul 2003, 10:42

yeah there is definitely a tyre issue at the moment and whilst michelin do have more front running teams, to see sauber and bar (even possibly jordan) so far back says it all.
im sure bridgestone will hit back so should be good title fight....
must study some pics of the williams in the last 4 races cause they have definitely found something that has turned them into something special.

Post 07 Jul 2003, 12:55

There are at first sight 3 obvious things that make the Williams faster than it was at the beginning of the season:
1. The new chimneys make the BMW engine breathe more, and thus produces some more hp's. Montoya already stated that makes a lot of their advances.
2. Flipups have been changed, as I said in the Nurburgring technical update. In Magny cours those parts looked even more like on last year's Williams than in any other preceding race.

3. Williams have redistibuted the weight of the car since a couple of GP's now. They take ballast to get to 600kg of course, but have now found exactly where to locate it. Many drivers state assure us that any weight chenge greatly influences the car's balance.

Monstrobolaxa · Post 07 Jul 2003, 17:52

Everything is correct.....but I not too sure about Williams being the number one test team....they were last year....but at the begining of the season Mclaren did all the tyre tests....and in F1 Racing magazine they talk in a way that it seams that mclaren is now the number one tester!

Guest · Post 06 Aug 2003, 14:39

F2003-GA is the best car on the grid..but Bridgestone is ---

mihael

-shr3d- · Post 06 Aug 2003, 15:37

rather large call that mihael........never will be able to tell for sure on different tyre brands.......
i read yesterday that they are also regarding the return of Frank Dernie who has a long history as an F1 designer and engineer as a big positive...
especially with car setups......

akbar21881 · Post 08 Aug 2003, 17:44

Ferrari will have new aero package at monza.hopefully it will enough to compensate the stone bridgestone tyres.

I hope that Ferrari will at least can compete with Williams, if not faster. i have a feeling that we will see and interesting battle towards the ends of the season, something rare since 1999. Hopefully the tittle will be decided at Suzuka.

Monstrobolaxa · Post 10 Aug 2003, 12:26

I've been saying this to some friends of mine...but never posted it!.....Ferrari doesn't have anything wrong...the problem is that Mclaren, Williams and Renault have taken a big step and got closer to Ferrari....

More and more F1 is reaching the limit of development! If you're the first team to come up with an idea you'll have a big advantage over the others....this year Ferrari didn't come up with anything amazing like in previous years......this year it was more or less a Michelin year....the came up with the OCP....in spite the fact that on Renault might be using it....the other 2 big teams have also taken big steps since last year (rimind you that only next year will Mc and Williams will be allowed to use the OCT system).....I haven't heard anything about Bridgestone developing a OCT system.....but if they do...next year.....the michelin guys will have a 12 month advantage in terms of development.....

So nothin is wrong with Ferrari....maybe...only a creational problem....no new inventions......

Guest · Post 10 Aug 2003, 22:50

Ok so everybody says that Bridgestone tyres are the worst part of the Ferrari. That is corect. But i think that Bridgestone could be much better than Michelin, if they wouldn't concetrate so much on Ferrari. I red, taht Villeneuve had to race in Hockenheim with same tyres from Autralia. Only Ferrari tests the new tyres from Bridgestone, so here is the handicap. If other Bridgestone teams would be testing the new Bridgestone tyres, they would do much more testing Kms, but they don't. That is my openion.

Guest · Post 10 Aug 2003, 22:53

Ok so everybody says that Bridgestone tyres are the worst part of the Ferrari. That is corect. But i think that Bridgestone could be much better than Michelin, if they wouldn't concetrate so much on Ferrari. I red, that Villeneuve had to race in Hockenheim with same tyres from Australia. Only Ferrari tests the new tyres from Bridgestone, so here is the handicap. If other Bridgestone teams would be testing the new Bridgestone tyres, they would do much more testing Kms, but they don't. That is my openion.

Panikos · Post 11 Aug 2003, 08:44

I am a Ferrari Fanatic since 1983 - what is happening is a combination of

1: Aero cheif moving to Toyota - hence no "competitive" upgrades for this year - no continuity on upgrades just spasmotic upgrades with very little "study" behind them - impact on next years car development.
2: Bridgestone - It is great to with work only with one team that is LEADING IN AERO - but it works against you when this team falls behind.
Now for Bridgestone to move from single team team testing to multible team testing requires more resource that did not exist in the plans for 2003 and teams do not want to suck the additional US$. Have to wait to wait for next year to do two things a)innovate b)test on all chassis.
Evidence: Sauber has a history of designing robust cars i.e. the combo of aero & chasis works well with Bridgestone and Ferrari - This year they had problems with tyres and they twicked the package to compnsate for this (sort of) but they paid with engine breaks due to overheat.
3: Ferrari: Engine Power is not No 2 it is No 3 behind BMW / Mercedes.
4: Electronics - software: Have you noticed how slow is ferrari in getting "off" the line - system was designed based on the parameters / specs of the 2003 with minor modifications form the 04 and the Bridgestone deficiency.
5: Testing and New Qualifying system - no time to fine tune new data / parameters into the system = predicted car reactions but not verified car reactions

MY POINT OF VIEW IS THAT EACH PACKAGE (CHASSIS AERO TYRE AND ENGINE) has advantages and disadvantages in each circuit.

BUT if all equal and parts of the package excel in each circuit i.e. BMW engine - Michelin Tyres etc. this easily cover for the parts of the package that show marginal disadvantages.

-shr3d- · Post 12 Aug 2003, 00:26

interesting points there panikos......
would be very interesting to know the exact power outputs of each engine but that is never going to happen so we get what info we can.
I read the other day that a williams insider says he thinks the ferrari engine is now better than the BMW cause he says they are qualifying with less revs than they raced with last year and that the the best motor they ever had was in Suzuka 2001.
And remember even though the a lot of it is aero, the ferrari was 6kmh faster than williams and 10kmh faster through the speed traps in Canada.
But i agree one of Ferraris biggest problems this year has been their launch control.....and renaults i still the best i think.

Monstrobolaxa · Post 12 Aug 2003, 01:28

according to my sources Ferrari is stil nº 2 engine.....but with only a 5/6hp advantage over Mercedes.....

Guest · Post 12 Aug 2003, 02:54

Ferrari were faster in Canada than BMW because they were carrying less wing

what's wrong with ferrari??

what's wrong with ferrari??

What's wrong with ferrari