Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali has called for calm following another point-less race for the Italian marque. The team are suffering their worst start to a world championship for 27 years and rumours are flying about what or who is to blame. But the phlegmatic boss is looking forward to a range of improvements to the F60 that will be premiered when the F1 circus comes to Europe.

“I think for sure we will see after Spain where we are. In that period we will see really what can be the situation, so when we come back to Europe basically,” said Domenicali.

“I think we have to wait. We need to stay cool. It is not easy, I know, but we need to stay cool because there are too many things that can change very quickly,” the Italian explained.

Observers are predicting that the dominance as a constructor the Prancing Horse has enjoyed in the modern era is coming to an end. After the departure or marginalisation of the dream team of Michael Schumacher, Jean Todt, Ross Brawn and Rory Byrne it was said that Ferrari would no longer be the force it was. Many in the paddock were surprised the team continued to be successful, but ascribed the success to the long-term programme put into place by the previous structure. Some of the aforementioned dream team continue to exert influence over management.

The prospects for Ferrari this season depend on the success of their technical revisions due in Barcelona. If the parts do not make a wholesale difference, it is thought that the squad will write off 2009 and concentrate on the development of their 2010 challenger. Where this would leave Kimi Raikkonen is an interesting question, as the Finn faces a make-or-break season to convince his critics he still has the appetite for the sport. His lacklustre race in China yesterday, in which he offered no more than token resistance to his competitors, will not have earned the Finn any credit.

By Hugh Podmore

Kimi Raikkonen this week watched his new steed, the F60, be born. In the wake of this, it was announced that he would take the number 3 and Felipe Massa the number 4, in defiance of convention regarding the previous year’s championship standings. Stefano Domenicali, the team principal, then publicly called for a return of the ‘old’ Kimi. Strange times indeed. But what is clear to most F1 fans is that the upcoming year holds all sorts of questions for the 2007 world champion.

Is the number change Ferrari’s acknowledgement of Raikkonen as number one? Will Kimi return to the pinnacle, unchallenged as the raw fastest in F1? Was it just the tyre-heat issue that slowed him? Will he dispose of Massa next year?

Or will it be the year in which Massa exploits Kimi’s apparent disinterest? How many more votes of confidence from the Ferrari hierarchy does the Finn need? How much does he want to ‘do’ F1 after having won the world championship?

In so far as Raikkonen is a private man and does not give much away in interviews, it is difficult to predict the answers to these questions. Many believe, however, that he is one of the greatest drivers ever, and certainly one of the fastest. They cite his speed at Sauber and McLaren, and the probability of his winning the 2005 world championship with McLaren had it not been for their reliability problems. His win from 17th on the grid at Suzuka in 2005 is widely considered one of the best races ever. Fans of the Finn argue that his speed is not open to debate.

But critics would counter that his motivation, however, is in doubt. After winning the 2007 championship through consistency rather than show, many wondered if Kimi would remember the comment he is reported to have made when at McLaren. ‘I don’t like F1. I like the driving, but not everything else. I think one world championship will be enough.’
His ice-racing, his gorilla suits and his alleged passion for Absolut and Marlboros, while delighting the lads, was hardly the image of a 21st century sports icon.

2008 was by all accounts disappointing. It was reported that he found the F2008 a difficult beast, recalcitrant with its tyres. It certainly suited Felipe Massa more. Prior to their association at Ferrari, few F1 aficionados would have drawn comparisons between the Brazilian and the Finn. Raikkonen was considered the natural, the fastest; Massa the learner who could dominate if conditions were right and he kept his head. 2008 changed that perception, showing all that the car can be the master of the drivers in this day and age. Massa’s improvement cannot be discounted either.

So where to for Raikkonen now? 2009 is a make or break season for one of the world’s most highly paid sportsmen. Alonso, it is an open secret, is waiting in the wings. Raikkonen is the star driver who brought Ferrari glory in 2007. Massa is the new darling who failed narrowly in 2008. If Raikkonen cannot resurrect his previous form, he will in all likelihood be ousted at the end of the year. But he will also have disappointed a lot of his fans, who saw in him the inspiring characteristics of the romantic heroes of old.

By Hugh Podmore on Friday, January 16, 2009

Ferrari welcomed in a new era of Formula One today with the launch of their 2009 challenger, the F60.

Besides marking the start of the Scuderia’s campaign to beat McLaren to the 2009 F1 World Championship, it was also a striking demonstration of the impact that sweeping regulation changes have had on car design. Forumula1.net takes a peek.

Both Ferrari race drivers Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen have spoken of their optimism for 2009 following the launch of the new Ferrari F60 today. Speaking to the official F1 website, Massa talked of how his 2008 experience has made him stronger and how he will fight harder for the upcoming season’s crown.

“If you look at my career from the start to now, every year I feel stronger,” he said. “I think after so much experience over these six years, I feel stronger and I feel more experienced, especially after last year, with how difficult the championship was. I think you learn, and that makes me ready and even more experienced for this year.”

Massa was also moved to talk of his emotional connection with the Italian marque, with whom he starts his fourth season.

“When you race for Ferrari and you debut the car for the first time on the track it’s always quite an important and emotional day,” explained the Brazilian to Ferrari’s official website. “It’s the second time in my career I’ve debuted the car for the first time and I am very proud.

“I was expecting quite a big car, like it was ten years ago for example, but when I got here the car is very small and compact, especially in the rear. It looks good and hopefully will be as quick as it looks like it.”

Raikkonen, in typically blunt fashion, said that the new car’s different looks needed a little getting used to.

“(The car) looks different because of the new regulations, but I think after you look at it for a little while you get used to it. For me it looks different but very good, and I’m looking forward to running in it at the circuit tomorrow to see how it goes.”

The Finn, whose performances were occasionally uncharacteristically mediocre in 2008, promised improvement. He is widely thought to be fighting for his seat for 2010, and said that he was intending to fight for the drivers’ crown again himself.

“Last year was not exactly what I wanted but it’s in the past,” he explained. “Of course there’s a big question mark about who has the best car because the rules have changed a lot. But we are very confident the car should be very good and we should see in the next few weeks how good it is against the others. For sure we’ll try to win both championships.’’

By Hugh Podmore on Monday, January 12, 2009

Ferrari were first to usher in a new era of Formula One today with the launch of their 2009 challenger, the F60, in Mugello. Forumula1.net’s Dan Barnes looks back on the highs and lows of 2008 and assesses the Scuderia’s chances of title glory one year on.

The Ferrari F2008 may have had superior pace, but a lack of reliability allied to fudged pit stops and erroneous decisions ultimately cost Ferrari the drivers’ title.

The F2008’s strengths lied in its raw race pace. The Ferrari was estimated to have the most powerful engine on the grid with an advantage over the midfield of around 25 BHP. However, the Ferrari power plant was incredibly unreliable. It failed spectacularly in Australia for both Kimi and Felipe and then later in the season at Hungary and Valencia.

Problems generating heat into their tyres compromised Ferrari in qualifying but it meant that the F2008 had a blistering race pace and looked after its tyres over the course of a race stint tremendously well. Take Hungary. McLaren locked out the front row but Felipe Massa’s race pace was superior to the silver cars allowing the Brazilian to dominate the race until a cruel engine blow three laps from the chequered flag.

Ferrari also seemed to have an advantage at the race start compared to its competitors. That allowed their drivers to challenge early on in a race and gain positions off the grid.

But for all the strengths of the F2008 there were weaknesses too in both the car and the operation of the team at races.

The F2008 had poor engine reliability which cost the team valuable points. There was also the broken exhaust in Magny-Cours which slowed Kimi Raikkonen considerably handing the win to Massa.

A prevalent theme for Ferrari in 2008 was the litany of pit stop errors which marred the teams campaign. The problems were the result of human error from the misuse of the pit stop light system costing Massa the win in Singapore and wrecking havoc with his race in Valencia.

Ferrari also suffered from a more anonymous refuelling problem in Silverstone and Montreal where Massa was misfuelled, severely compromising his qualifying and race respectively. The Ferrari pit wall also made questionable decisions at times during racing situations; most notably in Silverstone where they chose to leave Kimi on his used Intermediates at the first round of pit stops because their forecast showed no more rain. This forecast was wrong and oblivious to all other teams they proceeded to put on a new pair of intermediate tyres which compromised Kimi’s race.

Silverstone highlighted Ferrari’s wet weather ineptitude throughout most of the season, with similarly poor results in the wet races at Monza and Spa. Only by the very end of the season after intensive testing in Mugello did the Scuderia seem to have reasonable wet weather performance as demonstrated in Sao Paulo.

Despite the sweeping rule changes for 2009 not all of the Ferrari’s work in 2008 is defunct. Although engines are now required to last three races and are limited to 18,000 RPM the engines will remain relatively the same with only minor tweaks to improve reliability and costs allowed under the engine freeze.

Ferrari have it seems been exhaustively testing its engines over long runs in pre-season testing having identified it as a key weakness of the 2008 package. Also remedied for the 2009 season is the Ferrari pit light system which now has fail-safes built in to prevent human error of the system whilst in manual mode. The decision making process is also an area the Scuderia should have focused on.

Stefano Domenicali readily identified the weaknesses of Ferrari in 2008 when speaking at the end of season party at Maranello in December: “We didn’t lose the championship in Brazil but before, when we had problems with reliability and made mistakes. We have to analyse the causes, with tranquillity but decisively, to be sure that it will not happen again in the next year.”

If Ferrari can rectify these mistakes they have won half the battle.

The other half of the challenge in 2009 is adapting to the new rules including; slicks, new aero regulations and KERS. KERS has been discussed regularly by Aldo Costa who has sounded anything but confident when discussing KERS, noting in late December “We are late with the KERS. We prepared a hybrid F1 car to test it, but the system isn’t ready. In February we’ll understand how to go to the first grand prix.” In contrast we have heard little about the progress made on slicks or the aero package from Ferrari with the first real indicator of performance likely to come on January 20th when testing commences at Jerez.

So whilst the launch of the Ferrari F2009 at Mugello reveals little about the Scuderia’s competitiveness in 2009 it offers the chance to enjoy the first glimpse at what a completed 2009 car will look like. For anything more than aesthetics I’m afraid we’ll have to wait until Melbourne to find how well Ferrari has adapted to the new rules and if it has ironed out its 2008 gremlins.

By Christopher Hayes on Monday, January 12, 2009

Ferrari President Luca di Montezemolo has joked that he wants Kimi Raikkonen’s slower and less motivated ’stunt double’ to step aside in 2009 for the real Raikkonen.

The Finn, who only a year ago was wallowing in championship glory having beaten Lewis Hamilton to the title in Brazil, endured a trying season this year, his apparent lack of speed and motivation mid-season triggering speculation about his future at the Italian squad.

And at the final race of the season in Brazil Raikkonen showed a distinct lack of pace – and by implication interest in the outcome of the world championship battle between his team mate Felipe Massa and eventual victor Lewis Hamilton.

“Kimi, was it really you in flesh and bone or was it a friend, a double, who raced for Ferrari in the final Grand Prix?” the Ferrari President said at Ferrari’s end of season World Finals event at Mugello, according to GMM.

By Christopher Hayes on Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen has claimed that both McLaren drivers hit his car during the Japanese Grand Prix.

The Finnish driver got off to the perfect start, easing away from the line well and taking the lead. However he was forced to run wide at the first corner after pole-sitter Hamilton out-braked himself, allowing Kubica and Alonso to pass them both.

“I got a pretty good start but then braking into Turn 1 I was trying to turn and there was first one McLaren and then a second,” Raikkonen explained to Autosport.

“Both hit me and I had nowhere to go other than straight. I lost many places and had some damage on the front, I got back on circuit but was behind people.”

Raikkonen appears slightly relieved that he managed to finish the race – last weekend’s result was the first time the Finnish driver has finished a race since the Hungarian Grand Prix 5 races ago.

“I was catching up and getting past some people, then at the pit-stop I was behind Robert. I was fighting against him. In the last stint I had a few tries to get past him, but always caught him in the last part of the circuit and the main straight. He went to the inside and I didn’t have anywhere to go. We got side-by-side but I knew that if nobody lifted in Turn 3 I had no option but to run-off the circuit.

“Then my tyres started to grain a bit so I eased off. It was a bit disappointing what happened in the first corner but at least I got to the finish this time.

“I lost straightaway the front - it didn’t feel the same any more. Heikki hit me harder, the front felt quite light, I didn’t know I didn’t ask if we had damaged something.

“It was okay, but we were missing something to not be fast enough to catch up with the cars in front. Before the second stop I got stuck behind Rubens Barrichello and lost a second. In the end it was quite a difficult race so we got third place and hopefully now we can score better from here.”

By Forumula1.net on Monday, October 13, 2008