Circuit Albert Park, Melbourne, Australia
Date 16.03.2014
Laps 57
Distance 302,271 km / 187,863 miles
No Driver Ferrari S/N Team Result
7 Kimi Raikkonen F14 T 305 Scuderia Ferrari 7.
           
14 Fernando Alonso F14 T 304 Scuderia Ferrari 4.

 

Wise words from Raikkonen

Posted: 19.03.2014
Source: Ferrari

Maranello, 19 March –The two words that spring to mind after the Australian Grand Prix are patience and work. Scuderia Ferrari’s main aim is clearly to make the F14 T more competitive. The feeling is that many teams used this first GP of the season to get a better understanding of the complicated new cars and that raises the hope that, as the races go by, the spectacle will also improve.

Kimi Raikkonen, one of the most experienced drivers on the grid also believes that patience is the key. “I think that at the start of a season like this one, with new tyres but more than that, completely new cars, the main aim has to be getting to the chequered flag. We did just that and I was finally able to run a full race distance in this car.”

“I’ve been in this game for quite a while now,” continued Raikkonen, “and I can say this is definitely not the first time that I’ve gone through a difficult first race weekend. We identified some general problems which we have to tackle in Maranello and there are other aspects linked to the set-up on my car to do with the brake-by-wire system. Getting this device working correctly is definitely something that contributes to the general feeling from the car, because it has a great effect on corner entry. Having said that, the F14 T improved right through Friday and Saturday and not getting into Q3 was not down to the competitiveness of the car.”

Kimi then returned to the key word of the moment. “First of all, we have to stay calm. The team is united, we know what we have to do and how to go about finding more performance. We also know this development process will not happen overnight and so we must be patient and concentrate hard on our work without watching what the others are doing. However, I’m sure that, if we work in the correct way, then right from the next race in Malaysia, the results can definitely be better.”

 

Time for Homework

Posted: 17.03.2014
Source: Ferrari

Maranello, 17 March – The scenario suggested by winter testing turned out to be true in Melbourne, at the first Grand Prix of the year. There was little doubt that all the teams would be facing reliability issues, or that these will continue to be a decisive factor throughout the course of the season. As would car performance, which, from what was seen in Albert Park, means that all the teams will be working either to close the gap, as is the case for Scuderia Ferrari, or to maintain it in the case of Mercedes.

Reliability was certainly again encouraging for the Prancing Horse, even if there is still room for improvement to ensure that the new and complex power unit works at its best. However, the main task facing the team at the moment is increasing the efficiency of the F14 T, as the Scuderia’s Technical Director, James Allison explained to www.ferrari.com. “While we can take some satisfaction from the reliability shown by the F14T, it is clear that we have our work cut out to improve our car in order to compete on equal terms with the Mercedes team. There is plenty about the F14T that is working very well: The starts and the pace in the corners – especially the high speed ones – are particular strong points, but we need to work further on the stability under braking and the speed on the straights.”

While it might be stating the obvious, in Maranello, the work goes on round the clock to achieve the improvements Allison mentions as soon as possible. “All the recent seasons in F1 have been characterised by a fierce development battle from March until November. With all the new regulations this year, the opportunities to improve the car are legion and we can expect the race to improve the cars to be even more intense than normal.”

Therefore, after the Australian Grand Prix, the lesson has been learned and there is a great desire to get the homework done. “Our competitiveness was not acceptable in Melbourne,” concludes Allison. “But we intend to fight our way back up the grid with the improvements that we will bring to the car.”

 

Ricciardo excluded from Melbourne result

Posted: 16.03.2014
Source: FIA

Fuel flow irregularity leads to disqualification. Red Bull announce intention to appeal.

Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo has been excluded from the Australian Grand Prix result, after FIA officials said his RB10 had “exceeded consistently” the new fuel flow regulations in place for this season. Ricciardo had finished the race in second place.

The stewards’ decision said that FIA technical delegate Jo Bauer had reported that Ricciardo’s car had exceeded the required fuel mass flow of 100kg/h governed by Article 5.1.4 of the 2014 Formula One Technical Regulations.

In reaching their decision to disqualify Ricciardo the stewards stated that they had taken into account a history of the sensor fitted to the car in that on Friday of the Australian Grand Prix weekend, during FP1, the sensor fitted to measure fuel flow showed a “difference in reading between the first three and Run 4. The same readings as Run 4 were observed throughout Practice 2.”

The team then used a different sensor on Saturday “but did not get readings that were satisfactory to them or the FIA, so they were instructed to change the sensor within Parc Fermé on Saturday night. They operated the original sensor during the race, which provided the same readings as Run 4 of Practice 1, and Practice 2.”

The stewards added that the FIA technical representative in charge of the sensors “instructed the team to apply an offset to their fuel flow such that the fuel flow would have been legal.”

The verdict added that “the technical representative stated to the Stewards that there is variation in the sensors, however, the sensors fall within a known range, and are individually calibrated. They then become the standard which the teams must use for their fuel flow.”

The stewards’ statement continued by saying that Red Bull Racing then stated “that based on the difference observed between the two readings in P1, they considered the fuel flow sensor to be unreliable. Therefore, for the start of the race they chose to use their internal fuel flow model, rather than the values provided by the sensor, with the required offset.”

During the race, telemetry readings showed that the fuel flow was too high and that the team was informed of the issue and was given “the opportunity to follow his previous instruction, and reduce the fuel flow such that it was within the limit, as measured by the homologated sensor… the team chose not to make this correction.”

The stewards thus found that the team chose to run its car using its fuel flow model, without direction from the FIA and in violation of a procedure contained within a prior technical directive, and that even though there were differences in readings in FP1 the sensor fitted remained “the homologated and required sensor against which the team is obliged to measure their fuel flow, unless given permission by the FIA to do otherwise.”

The statement concluded that the team could have run within the allowable fuel flow and that “regardless of the team’s assertion that the sensor was fault, it is not within their discretion to run a different fuel flow measurement method without the permission of the FIA.” They thus excluded Ricciardo from the result.

Red Bull Racing immediately announced its intention to appeal the decision and therefore the race result remains provision, pending a hearing.

 

Australian GP – Just the beginning

Posted: 16.03.2014
Source: Ferrari

Stefano Domenicali: “The first race of the championship has provided a clear picture of the hierarchy at the start of season. It’s also shown which teams appear to have done the best job of dealing with these new regulations. Today, we achieved our objective in terms of reliability, but the gap we need to make up, especially to Mercedes, was clear to see. The information we have gathered this weekend clearly points to the direction we must take and what areas need the most work. It will be important to catch up as quickly as possible and react in the way this team has always proved capable of doing. Our engineers know what the priorities are and which areas need the most immediate attention.”

Fernando Alonso: “I’d have liked to start the season with a podium, but getting both cars to the flag is a good result, which can give us confidence, especially on the reliability front. I had some problems with the electric motor at the start and had to make a few changes from the steering wheel, but after the first ten laps everything went well. When I managed to pass Hulkenberg after the pit stop my pace was definitely better, although it was impossible to overtake. 35 seconds down on the leader is too big a gap and to work out what we need to do to close that gap, we will need to analyse the race, work out what are the strong and weak points on the car and with that in mind, the laps I did behind Nico can provide very useful information. We are a great team and I have total faith in our guys, because they did a great job today. We still have lots to learn about this new Formula 1, as the race was very strange and very difficult. But it’s only the start. We must concentrate on doing better in Malaysia.”

Kimi Raikkonen: “That wasn’t a straightforward race. At the start, I managed to get away well and even though I was hit from behind by another car at the first corner, my car was undamaged. The speed was good, but at one point I was suffering with graining on the front tyres, I had very little grip and a lot of understeer. From then on, the car’s handling was not the same. When it was time for the first stop, we had to do a double stop and that cost me a place. It’s definitely too early to make any definite judgement, because even if at the moment we don’t seem to be in great shape, we still managed to finish the race, scoring valuable points. We can’t be pleased with this result and we know there are many areas where we need to improve. But I’m sure that analysing the data from this first race will give us a clearer idea of the direction to work in.”

Pat Fry: “Going into this race, getting both cars to the finish seemed like the most difficult task, but in the end, we managed it. Today we saw how reliability can never be taken for granted: it caught some people out and it also affected our performance at some stages of the race. On both the F14 Ts, we had some electrical problems, especially on Kimi’s car, which meant he couldn’t use all the car’s potential. Fernando found himself behind Hulkenberg for many laps and he was only able to show what the car was capable of once he got ahead thanks to a spot on pit stop strategy. Kimi got a great start, but then for much of the race he suffered with graining on the front tyres and thus found himself having to defend, without being able to attack. There is much work ahead if we are to improve the car’s performance. We are up against several very strong opponents, but we have all the right tools to get the job done of closing the gap between us.”

Race

Pos. Time Gap Laps FL L
ALONSO 5th 1:33.33.994 + 35.284 57 1.32.616 56
Pit-stop 1st stop Lap 12 New Soft
2nd stop Lap 35 New Medium
RAIKKONEN 8th 1:33.56.385 + 57.675 577..111 1.33.691 56
Pit-stop 1st stop Lap 12 New Soft
2nd stop Lap 36 New Medium

Weather: air 18/20 °C, track 22/27 °C. Sunny

 

Australian GP – Points but problems too

Posted: 16.03.2014
Source: Ferrari

Scuderia Ferrari leaves Melbourne with 14 points in the bag – Alonso fifth, Raikkonen eighth –  but with a clear sign there is plenty of work to do in the ten days before the action starts again for Round 2 in Malaysia.

As expected, Mercedes was the dominant force, with Nico Rosberg taking the win, the fourth of his F1 career. To the delight of the Aussie fans, Daniel Ricciardo finished second on his debut for Red Bull Racing, while the star performance of the day came from 21 year old Kevin Magnussen, third for McLaren on his maiden F1 outing. Electrical glitches on both F14 T and some tyre graining problems for Raikkonen meant the Prancing Horse was unable to show its true performance level in the first race of the season.

In the championships, the two Prancing Horse drivers are naturally where they finished today, while the team is fourth in the Constructors on 14 points.

It was a cool 19 degrees for the start, with a few rain clouds posing a threat that never materialised all afternoon. With a Marussia stuck on the grid, it took two starts to get the field away and in fact, the extra formation lap, combined with several laps spent behind the Safety Car meant that the anticipated need for drivers to slow and save fuel was less visible than expected.

After the lights went out, Fernando dropped one place to sixth but retook Hulkenberg to go fifth, while Kimi stormed up to eighth, lucky to survive being hit by Kobayashi’s Caterham at Turn 1. Hamilton made a bad start from pole so that Mercedes team mate Rosberg led, from Ricciardo in the Red Bull, with Magnussen up to third for McLaren. Fernando dropped behind the Force India again, held up in a duel with Vergne’s Toro Rosso, with Kimi behind the Frenchman. Kvyat and Bottas completed the top ten.

Hulkenberg was going to hold up Fernando all the way to the second pit stop, when the Ferrari managed to get out ahead of the Force India, by staying on track a lap longer, pitting on lap 34. Nearly the entire field had come in for their first tyre changes on lap 12, during the Safety Car period, after Bottas lost a wheel. In fact, this cost Kimi a bit of time, as he was briefly “queued” behind his team-mate. Button in the McLaren built his fourth place finish on those pit stops, being the first driver to come down pit lane for both tyre changes.

Going back to lap 3 and Kimi was seventh, passing Vergne, as Hamilton pitted the Mercedes to retire, so the Finn in the Ferrari was sixth behind his team- mate.  Vettel the reigning world champion, retired the Red Bull in the pits on lap 6, after dropping down the order. Next time round, Bottas got his Williams ahead of Kimi’s F14T, relegating the Ferrari to seventh. Hulkenberg, Fernando and Bottas were nose to tail down the pit straight on lap 10, with the Finn having a look down the side of the Spaniard at one point, but the Williams man hit the wall, losing a rear wheel, which promoted Kimi back to sixth. He got up to fifth by lap 34, but he was again passed by fellow Finn Bottas. Kimi’s second stop came on lap 36, one lap after Fernando, which dropped him to ninth, which he improved to eighth by passing Vergne again.

 

Australian GP – Alonso 5th, Raikkonen 8th

Posted: 16.03.2014
Source: Ferrari

Melbourne, 16 March – Ferrari had a difficult time of it today in Albert Park, with Fernando Alonso coming home fifth, three places ahead of Kimi Raikkonen. The race was won by Nico Rosberg in the Mercedes, the German’s fourth career victory. Daniel Ricciardo was second for Red Bull, while Kevin Magnussen was third on his Formula 1 debut with McLaren. Button was fourth in the other McLaren, finishing 6.2 seconds ahead of Alonso. The rest of the points went to Bottas, Hulkenberg, Raikkonen, Vergne and Kvyat.

The Scuderia leaves the Antipodes with 14 valuable points and plenty of data to analyse, as it strives to sort out a few teething troubles it encountered during this the first race for the highly complex 2014 cars.

 

Australian GP – Ferrari’s Footballing Fan

Posted: 16.03.2014
Source: Ferrari

Melbourne, 16 March – Glamour and celebrity is an integral part of Formula 1 and the Albert Park paddock is no exception to that rule. On the day of the 30th Australian Grand Prix, all sorts of guests from the world of sport, film and TV have flocked to the circuit. One of them is Alessandro Del Piero, best know as the former captain of famous Italian football team, Juventus, who for the past two years has been based with Sydney FC. Del Piero is a great car fan, having been attended the Monza race and is back here with Scuderia Ferrari. “I’m a big Ferrari fan and I want to wish Kimi and Fernando the very best of luck,” he said this morning, after meeting Scuderia Team Principal, Stefano Domenicali. “I did a lap of the track this morning and it seems very demanding, so I’m sure we’ll see a spectacular race.” – See more at: http://formula1.ferrari.com/news/australian-gp#sthash.QgNIM5eI.dpuf

 

Australian GP – Changes rain down

Posted: 15.03.2014
Source: Ferrari

Fernando Alonso: “I think fifth is a good result in such a difficult qualifying session, especially as it’s the first time we’ve run in the wet with the new car and because from this position, a podium finish is possible, which is worth a lot of points. We were lucky in Q1, when the rain came just after I’d done my quick lap and in Q2 we were also able to run when the track was at its best. I knew that the results of free practice did not reflect the reality of the situation and that the hierarchy would only become clear today, with Mercedes a step ahead of the rest. It would also give a clearer picture than the one we had from testing, when we couldn’t be sure what the other teams were testing. Now we have seen in which areas we need to improve and the aim is to do so in the next few races. I don’t think the consumption factor will change things too much, because when saving fuel, all the cars lose half a second. On top of that, the weather will come into play tomorrow as the forecast isn’t clear. The priority is to finish the race and to do better than the others in the coming months. I am sure that with practice, we will learn how to get the most out of the car and simplify all the procedures.”

Kimi Raikkonen: “Qualifying wasn’t straightforward today, especially because of traffic. When I was on a quick lap, I had a car in front of me at every corner. That stopped me getting a clean lap and at the end of Q2, I spun off damaging the front wing. I don’t think I’d have gone quicker anyway, as I had already reduced my speed at this point, because I knew already I wouldn’t make it to Q3. It’s a shame, because compared to yesterday we have made some steps forward. In the wet we were quick and I had more feeling for the car. We know we have a lot of work to do in every area, especially on car set-up, but at the same time, we are sure we are going in the right direction. Tomorrow’s race will be tough, the weather forecast is unclear and on top of that, with the new rules, it’s hard to predict how things will go. But it’s only the first race of the year and we will do our best to get a good result.”

Pat Fry: “Qualifying in the wet in Melbourne is nothing new, but today, added to the wet track, the drivers also had to deal with all the new technologies introduced in the regulations. We are not satisfied with the final result, even if the F14 T is still at the development stage and I believe the team is working in the right direction to make up ground to our rivals, especially Mercedes, who today confirmed the form they’d shown in winter testing. Our grid positions would suggest an uphill battle in the race, especially for Kimi and we can expect unknown factors linked to reliability and fuel consumption to count for a lot. As for the former factor, we are paying close attention to every little detail. At this point, we cannot allow ourselves to be distracted, because with such complicated systems, the unpredictable could come into play. In terms of race pace, we’ve seen some teams are faster than us, but I think the first race of the year could throw up some surprises, hopefully in our favour.”

 

Australian GP – Rain clouds qualifying result

Posted: 15.03.2014
Source: Ferrari

Melbourne, 15 March – This late afternoon qualifying session was supposed to produce the first real picture of the current hierarchy among the eleven teams. With the aim of doing a single very fast lap – one aspect of qualifying that has remained the same for this year – the result ought to have reflected the pecking order down pit lane. However, the threat of rain turned to reality towards the end of Q1 and clouded the issue.

Fernando Alonso was reasonably happy with fifth place, while Kimi Raikkonen made a mistake in the treacherous conditions right at the end of Q2, clipping the wall with the front of his F14 T which meant he was a spectator for rest of the afternoon, although he probably would not have made the cut to the top ten shoot-out anyway. He will have a tough race tomorrow, trying to make his way up the order from twelfth place.

The Red Bull garage had a premature celebration when it looked as though local hero Daniel Ricciardo would take pole in his first race for the team, but he was pipped at the very last by Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes, whose team-mate Nico Rosberg set the third fastest time, confirming the Mercedes’ status as top car in winter testing. The best rookie was Kevin Magnussen, fourth for McLaren, while Fernando will be lining up his F14 T on the third row of the grid alongside the Toro Rosso of Jean-Eric Vergne who was sixth.

Kimi will share sixth row with reigning champion Sebastian Vettel, only twelfth in the Red Bull.

 

Australian GP – Ferrari on third and sixth rows

Posted: 15.03.2014
Source: Ferrari

Melbourne, 15 March – Qualifying was made particularly tricky because of rain and it ended in less than brilliant circumstances for Scuderia Ferrari. Fernado Alonso was fifth fastest, leaving the impression he could have done better with a little bit of luck, while Kimi Raikkonen is twelfth on the sixth row, having hit the wall right at the end of Q2 in Albert Park.

Everyone rushed out on track in Q1 as the rain was clearly on its way, arriving four minutes from the end: Fernando was fourth fastest with a 1.31.388 on the Soft tyres, while Raikkonen was ninth in 1.32.439 on the Mediums.

In a wet Q2, the Intermediate tyres were called into service, and the Spaniard was third in 1.42.805, six tenths off Rosberg’s Mercedes. But Raikkonen was in the wall and out of proceedings, a fate he shared with two other champions, Button and Vettel.

Alonso was fifth fastest in Q3, while Hamilton took pole ahead of Ricciardo, Rosberg and Magnussen.

 

Australian GP – Fernando and Kimi ready for battle

Posted: 15.03.2014
Source: Ferrari

Melbourne, 15 March – Third and seventh times for Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen respectively in the final free practice for the Australian Grand Prix. The Spaniard took his F14 T round in 1.30.876, a second and a half off the fastest time, which was set by Nico Rosberg in the Mercedes. The German was the dominant force, lapping 1.3 seconds quicker than second placed Jenson Button in the McLaren. Kimi Raikkonen’s best lap was a 1.31.156 and the Finn completed 12 laps, one more than his team-mate.

Both drivers concentrated on set-up work aimed at qualifying, in a session which was affected by a strong wind blowing across Albert Park. Heading from the nearby ocean, it brought in leaves and debris, which made life complicated in the braking areas, which explains several harmless off-track excursions, including one for Kimi.

 

Australian GP – Ferrari on third and sixth rows

Posted: 15.03.2014
Source: Ferrari

Melbourne, 15 March – Qualifying was made particularly tricky because of rain and it ended in less than brilliant circumstances for Scuderia Ferrari. Fernado Alonso was fifth fastest, leaving the impression he could have done better with a little bit of luck, while Kimi Raikkonen is twelfth on the sixth row, having hit the wall right at the end of Q2 in Albert Park.

Everyone rushed out on track in Q1 as the rain was clearly on its way, arriving four minutes from the end: Fernando was fourth fastest with a 1.31.388 on the Soft tyres, while Raikkonen was ninth in 1.32.439 on the Mediums.

In a wet Q2, the Intermediate tyres were called into service, and the Spaniard was third in 1.42.805, six tenths off Rosberg’s Mercedes. But Raikkonen was in the wall and out of proceedings, a fate he shared with two other champions, Button and Vettel.

Alonso was fifth fastest in Q3, while Hamilton took pole ahead of Ricciardo, Rosberg and Magnussen.

 

Australian GP – Fernando and Kimi ready for battle

Posted: 15.03.2014
Source: Ferrari

Melbourne, 15 March – Third and seventh times for Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen respectively in the final free practice for the Australian Grand Prix. The Spaniard took his F14 T round in 1.30.876, a second and a half off the fastest time, which was set by Nico Rosberg in the Mercedes. The German was the dominant force, lapping 1.3 seconds quicker than second placed Jenson Button in the McLaren. Kimi Raikkonen’s best lap was a 1.31.156 and the Finn completed 12 laps, one more than his team-mate.

Both drivers concentrated on set-up work aimed at qualifying, in a session which was affected by a strong wind blowing across Albert Park. Heading from the nearby ocean, it brought in leaves and debris, which made life complicated in the braking areas, which explains several harmless off-track excursions, including one for Kimi.

 

Australian GP – Smoother than expected

Posted: 14.03.2014
Source: Ferrari

Melbourne, 14 March – The hype surrounding the 2014 technical rules was stirring up even before the end of the previous season and then it reached fever pitch, as many cars really struggled to make it to the end of pit lane, let alone complete the huge mileages usually associated with the “winter test series.”

However, given that Formula 1 is the pinnacle of motorsport and can call on a pool of some of the best engineering brains in the world, perhaps it’s not too surprising that, when it finally arrived, the first day of practice for the opening round of the season appeared to be relatively straightforward. Yes, the lap times took a while to come down and sorting out all the systems involved with the new power units took up most of the attention. But there was also time for the race weekend essentials, such as evaluating the Soft and Medium Pirelli tyres, working on car set-up and practicing starts and pit stops.

The afternoon time sheet accurately reflected Mercedes’ dominance of testing, as Lewis Hamilton was quickest ahead of Nico Rosberg, these two being the only men to break the 1minute 30 second barrier. Fernando Alonso was third having racked up 28 laps, while Kimi Raikkonen found the day slightly harder going and posted the seventh best time, around 7 tenths of a second slower than his Scuderia Ferrari team-mate.

Not everyone in the sport attends testing and so one of the main topics of discussion in the paddock was the surprising lack of noise made by these new cars – indeed the discussion could actually take place in the paddock while the cars were running! Another interesting piece of news is that the FIA announced it would be looking into the unusual noses seen as a result of the new rules, with a view to making changes for 2015.

 

Australian GP – First day of school

Posted: 14.03.2014
Source: Ferrari

Fernando Alonso: “On the first Friday of the season, there’s always a bit more tension. It’s the start of a new championship and there is the feeling of general expectation to see how things we worked on during the winter are functioning. Overall, this was a positive day for us and even if there was an element of nervousness because of the complexity introduced by the new technical regulations, everything went well. The team did a super job and we had no problems. The track improved from the first session to the second, with more grip compared to the morning and there was also more wind. Running the soft tyre certainly helped, as the extra grip meant the times came down, but it’s impossible to have a clear idea of how competitive we are, because as usual, Friday results don’t mean much. To know more, we must wait until everyone is running in the same trim”.

Kimi Raikkonen: “That was a pretty demanding day, because although we managed to complete our programme, it wasn’t trouble-free. In the first session we lost a bit of time, but that didn’t prevent us acquiring enough data to evaluate the overall handling of the car and the Pirelli compounds. This evening there will be a lot of work to do, especially to understand what didn’t work and to try and improve for qualifying and the race”.

Pat Fry: “Today, we tried to make the most of the good weather and track conditions to work on different strategies and mapping for the race, because this weekend the forecast is very uncertain, especially for tomorrow. During the first session, we concentrated on car set-up, especially in terms of improving the balance under braking and on optimising the drivers’ feeling. In the second session, we ran an evaluation of the soft tyre, completing the programme with a series of long runs. It’s very complicated getting the new systems to work perfectly and then, once you’ve reached that level, to get the maximum performance out of the car. There’s a long way to go and now it’s important to stay focused and pay full attention to the smallest details”.

 

ALONSO – chassis 304

RAIKKONEN – chassis 305

First Session

P1

1:31.840

20 laps

P9

1:32.977

19 laps

                                      Weather:  air 22/23 °C, track 33/36 °C. Sunny

Second Session

P3

1:30.132

28 laps

P7

1:30.898

32 laps

                                       Weather:  air 23/38 °C, track 38/40 °C.  Sunny

 

Australian GP – Programme completed for Alonso and Raikkonen

Posted: 14.03.2014
Source: Ferrari

Melbourne, 14 March – Ferraris were first and ninth at the end of the first free practice of the season at Albert Park. Fernando Alonso stopped the clocks in 1.31.840, half a second quicker than Jenson Button in the McLaren, who was followed by the Williams duo of Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas. The Spaniard did 20 laps, one more than Kimi Raikkonen, who posted a best lap of 1.32.977.

Both men did three runs, all on the Medium tyre. Both Fernando and Kimi concentrated on running checks on the car systems as well as making some changes to mapping and set-up, also doing some practice starts.

Fernando Alonso had the honour of being the very first man out on track this season, proof that he wants to get stuck in! He also went off at Turn 1, but no damage was done.

Pos No Driver Team Time/Retired Gap Laps
1 14 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:31.840 20
2 22 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:32.357 0.517 23
3 77 Valtteri Bottas Williams-Mercedes 1:32.403 0.563 27
4 19 Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes 1:32.431 0.591 19
5 3 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing-Renault 1:32.599 0.759 26
6 6 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:32.604 0.764 17
7 1 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing-Renault 1:32.793 0.953 10
8 20 Kevin Magnussen McLaren-Mercedes 1:32.847 1.007 28
9 7 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:32.977 1.137 19
10 25 Jean-Eric Vergne STR-Renault 1:33.446 1.606 30
11 27 Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1:33.533 1.693 23
12 11 Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes 1:33.855 2.015 24
13 26 Daniil Kvyat STR-Renault 1:34.272 2.432 27
14 21 Esteban Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari 1:35.578 3.738 7
15 99 Adrian Sutil Sauber-Ferrari 1:36.445 4.605 13
16 17 Jules Bianchi Marussia-Ferrari 1:40.859 9.019 6
17 4 Max Chilton Marussia-Ferrari 1:46.922 15.082 4
18 9 Marcus Ericsson Caterham-Renault No time 1
19 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes No time 1
20 10 Kamui Kobayashi Caterham-Renault No time 1
21 13 Pastor Maldonado Lotus-Renault No time 2
22 8 Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault No time 0

 

Montezemolo writes to Ferrari’s tifosi

Posted: 13.03.2014
Source: Ferrari

Maranello, March 13 2014

Dear tifosi,
It seems incredible but another season is about to begin and I, like you, am anxious and in a state of strong trepidation – as happens to me every year, even though I have gone through so many championships as President and, before, as sporting director.
There are more unknowns and uncertainties about this season than in the past. The rule changes are profound and numerous. It’s not just a matter of the new six-cylinder turbo engine, but also systems with integrated electric engines, control units with innovative and complex software, a new package of aerodynamics… In essence it’s a complicated car that will also require a different driving style.
So the first target is reliability, as we clearly saw in the test sessions.
Everyone has issues; we have lined ours up and we are in the process of resolving them. We’re also putting into practice an intense plan of development, which can count on the fact that the data from the wind tunnel have been confirmed by the track comparisons, something that has not happened in recent years.
It will also be a difficult championship for the spectators to follow. The drivers will have to take care that they do not wear out the tyres and save fuel. I have already said that I hope they don’t turn into taxi drivers and I say that with the greatest respect to taxi drivers, but they obviously do a different job. I, like all of you, love an extreme Formula 1 where technology and drivers are always on the limit.
Such an important set of changes to the regulations is bringing some grey areas, for example fuel, software, consumption… In these I am fully expecting the FIA to be vigilant – as I’m sure they will be – to avoid any trickery, which has also taken place in the recent past but must not happen any more for the good of this sport.
So what should we expect from tomorrow? I have asked for the highest commitment from Domenicali and his team and I know that they are all doing their best. We have a strong team, the best driver pairing – who are experienced and very talented – and everyone knows what they have to do.
We can count on an important factor that only we have: the immense affection from you, our tifosi, all over the world. I ask you for your usual great support: let’s not go overboard in the good moments and let’s not give up in harder ones. The championship is long and the objective is clear.
Forza Ferrari!

 

Australian GP – Raikkonen: “a new beginning”

Posted: 13.03.2014
Source: Ferrari

Melbourne, 13 March – Last year, Kimi Raikkonen won this Grand Prix, but with a different team and this weekend marks his return to the circuit where he also won on his debut for the Scuderia in 2007. “A new beginning of a season and we’ll just have to see how it goes,” is how the Finn summed it up when meeting the media today. “I’m with a new team but I have been here before which definitely makes life easier.”

Familiarity with the track and the team doesn’t mean the man from Espoo has a handle on how this weekend might go. “Every season there are question marks and how many depends on how the testing has gone,” he affirmed. “This year, with quite a lot of rule changes it’s a bit harder to know where we are and what’s going to happen, even if everyone has a rough idea of where we are going to be. We will have to wait until after the first few races to get a clearer picture. But there is no point guessing where we are now. Some teams have looked a bit faster than us in testing, but here we are in a different place, a very different track to Bahrain and different things can happen. Obviously I want to win and hopefully we can be up there and fight for the championship. The weather could be a bit tricky this weekend and with the new rules there could be a different scenario to the days when we raced with more fuel.”

With his usual matter of fact view of life, winning twice in Albert Park doesn’t endear the track to Kimi. “I don’t think this circuit is particularly special, although it’s a nice place for everybody to come,” he says. “As it’s the first race of the season, usually something happens and it makes for exciting racing, but just because I won here last year, it doesn’t mean this year will be just as good. You want to score as many points as you can. Hopefully we won’t have too many issues and can have a clean weekend and then we can see where we end up compared to the others.”

As for Kimi’s approach to the weekend, it’s straightforward: “there are a lot of areas where we still need to improve all the time and I hope we will be happy with the car right from the start of tomorrow’s practice.”

 

Australian GP – Alonso: “answers in 48 hours”

Posted: 13.03.2014
Source: Ferrari

Melbourne, 13 March – On the day before he takes to the track to start his fourteenth season in Formula 1, his fifth with the Scuderia, Fernando Alonso was on the panel of the first FIA press conference of the season.

The double world champion was cautious when asked how the F14 T would perform. “It’s still very difficult to say how competitive we are at the moment,” he said. “The answers will come in 24 or 48 hours, when we will know a little bit more than we do now. We are learning and developing the car every day that we work on it. It’s a little bit of an unknown situation and we just need to put everything together and maximise what we have and then we will see where we are.”

Changes have just been announced to the format of Qualifying, the idea being to make it more exciting for spectators and to prevent drivers not running in Q3. Drivers must now start the race with the tyres on which they set their best time in Q2. Fernando did not see this producing a big change. “It will not be a huge difference. In the past, there were cars that did only one lap or did not run in Q3, so now we will see an extra lap from everybody, but it does not mean a huge change in the approach to qualifying. This change is welcome if we see more cars on track.” The rules also state that a driver will have an additional set of the softer tyres available for Q3 and the man from Oviedo was in favour of this. “Many times I arrived in Q3 with no new sets of tyres, so now I’m happy.”

All the drivers on the panel were asked how different their cars would be here in Australia compared to the final day of the Bahrain test and the conference moderator said he’d seen Pat Fry (the Scuderia’s Engineering Director) pushing boxes of parts through Melbourne Airport. “Oh, I don’t think it’s for the car, maybe it was food,” joked Fernando. As to how many cars would see the chequered flag, he offered up the number 16, a more optimistic figure than his fellow panellists.

 

Australian GP – Kimi and Fernando at the 059/3 premiere

Posted: 12.03.2014
Source: Ferrari

Melbourne, 12 March – The season is about to get going. On Friday Scuderia Ferrari will take part in free practice for the first race of the championship. Of special interest in 2014 is the new power train, which will be characterised by a 1.6 litre turbo engine assisted by two energy recovery systems, one that takes it from the braking and one that exploits the hot gases coming from the turbo. Ferrari’s sponsor Shell has created a new documentary about the Ferrari power train (numbered 059/3) which had its premiere at an event attended by the Scuderia’s two drivers Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso.
After tackling a novel race aboard bicycles linked to dynamos that sped two Ferrari models along an electric track, the pair were quizzed by journalists on the coming race weekend. Kimi Raikkonen emphasised one of the aspects of the Australian race: “This event is an excellent test bench for the new Formula 1 format because Albert Park is a very demanding circuit when it comes to fuel consumption. Due to the characteristics of the circuit, we have always used a lot of fuel here so to manage to be sparing with it will be a demanding challenge.”

For Kimi it’s the start of his second career at Ferrari: “Some faces have changed but even if the atmosphere seems a bit different to me it’s still the same great team and I believe it has worked very well on this year’s car.” About the race he added: “We’ve only had a few days of testing available. In an ideal world we would have arrived with many days on the track behind us, with more experience of the characteristics of the car and race strategies. That’s not how it is but it’s the same for everyone so all we can do is go on the track and try to get the best result possible. As for the others? I don’t fear them and even if anyone’s quicker than us we are only at the first race. More than the result we know that we have a lot to come on the
F14 T so we are not worried. The car seems to have a good potential but we will have work to do to get the most out of it.”
Fernando Alonso is not speculating about the result for a mix of reasons: “It’s difficult to say what position we can end up with. What we do know is that with such complex cars there are many elements of strategy to get right. If we manage it in the best way I believe a good result, points or even a podium will arrive almost inevitably. Having said that, strategic errors could be very costly this season. So we must stay 100 per cent concentrated from Friday morning to Sunday evening.”

Some aspects to this season will change a lot, others won’t. Fernando sums it up like this: “What has changed is the sensation that you have at the wheel of the car. There’s an engine that supplies the power in a different way, which is impressive and has obliged us to adapt our driving style. Race strategy will change, with many more parameters to keep under control, and there are more instruments that we can use on the car. But once the race starts without doubt there will still be adrenaline, passing, tactics and tyre management, all more or less the same as before.”

 

Australian GP – Time to go racing

Posted: 11.03.2014
Source: Ferrari

Melbourne, 11 March – This weekend’s Australian Grand Prix is the most eagerly anticipated race for a very long time. If the sport had become a bit predictable in recent years, then this season is the antidote: never mind whose going to win Round 1 in Melbourne, the bigger question is who is going to finish, or perhaps even start?

During winter testing, the emphasis was very much on reliability, but now it’s time to go racing so, ready or not, the teams have to consider the practicalities of getting through a Grand Prix weekend. “On the mechanical side, there’s a huge increase in complexity, so just working out the best way to build the car, change parts, rebuild it and how to be best prepared in Melbourne is a major task” – says to www.ferrari.com the Scuderia’s Engineering Director, Pat Fry. “Through the tests we worked 24 hours a day, running shifts to ensure the car was ready, but once we get to Melbourne we are more restricted by the rules regarding what we can actually do and how many hours we are allowed to work.”

Fry reckons the whole face of an F1 weekend is about to change. “In the past, the reliability of Formula 1 cars has been incredible, but this year, their sheer complexity means it will be challenged, particularly in qualifying and the race.” While these initial concerns with reliability will dominate the early races, the actual management of the new powertrain is going to be an interesting new puzzle for engineers and also the drivers. “In some races, we will be fuel limited and we will have to work out the best way to save fuel,” explains Fry. “Effectively we will be balancing electrical energy against fuel consumption and it’s our job to work out what the best combination is for the race.” And once the teams get on top of that, there are all the other “traditional” factors such as aero performance and tyre management that haven’t just gone away.

The one area where Scuderia Ferrari has no concerns is in the men who sit at the wheel. Fernando Alonso and his new team-mate Kimi Raikkonen have three world titles and three Melbourne victories between them.

 

Seven Ferrari wins in Australia

Posted: 10.03.2014
Source: Ferrari

Maranello, 10 March – This will be the 30th Australian Grand Prix, with the race held on the Adelaide street circuit from 1985 to 1995, before moving the following year to the 5.303 kilometres of the temporary Albert Park facility in southern Melbourne.

Ferrari has won Down Under seven times, which is a strike rate of one in four, but looking just at Melbourne, it’s one in three. The first victory came courtesy of Gerhard Berger, who was on fire back in November 1987. At the wheel of the F1-87, he had already won the Japanese GP a fortnight earlier and Adelaide was the only grand slam of his F1 career, taking pole, fastest race lap and leading for all of the 82 laps. After the race, Ayrton Senna’s Lotus was disqualified for illegal brake ducts, which added to the joy for the Prancing Horse, as it promoted Michele Alboreto to second.
The second Ferrari win here was a surprise victory for Eddie Irvine, in a race where Michael Schumacher had endless problems, as did the McLarens that had set the pace in qualifying. The man from Northern Ireland therefore claimed his first win in a year when he would fight to the very last race for the Drivers’ crown, after Schumacher had broken a leg at Silverstone.

At the start of this century Melbourne witnessed something of a Ferrari monopoly, with Schumacher winning in 2000, 2001 and 2002, years in which he also took the title. He also won in 2004 with an impressive show of force from the Prancing Horse, as it ran first and second throughout with Schumacher and Barrichello. Only Alonso, third in the Renault, managed to cross the line under a minute behind Michael. The last win dates back to 2007 and marked Kimi Raikkonen’s Scuderia Ferrari debut. Kimi dominated from pole, his superiority never in question, as could be seen by the fact his fastest lap was over a second quicker than that of the second fastest driver.

Other Ferrari figures from Australia include seven pole positions and eight fastest race laps, with a total of 20 podium finishes. Apart from the seven wins there have been eight second places and five thirds. 14 drivers have lined up for the Maranello squad in Australia, including two test drivers: Nicola Larini replaced Ivan Capelli in 1992 and Gianni Morbidelli got the chance to drive a Ferrari after the team split with Alain Prost just before the end of the 1991 season. Australia was Morbidelli’s only appearance at the wheel of a Prancing Horse car and he finished sixth, but only scored half points as the incessant rain in Adelaide meant the event was stopped after 14 laps, making it the shortest GP in history, lasting just 24’34”899. Needless to say, given the wet conditions, the winner was the rain master Ayrton Senna in the McLaren.

 

Operation Melbourne underway

Posted: 08.03.2014
Source: Ferrari

Maranello, 8 March – Scuderia Ferrari’s Melbourne operation is underway. The two F14 Ts are on the way to Albert Park with Friday’s Australian GP free practice just six days away. The two cars for Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen will get to the track on Tuesday, where they will be handed over to the team led by Diego Ioverno, Head of Track Operations and Car Assembly. By Thursday they will be ready for the usual FIA scrutineering. There’s a lot of interest in the start of the 2014 season, most of it surrounding the many new aerodynamic regulations, but causing the biggest stir are the new engines. Ferrari’s first ever hybrid F1 engine is known as the 059/3. The power unit as it’s called consists of a 1.6 litre V6 turbo internal combustion engine, with turbos making an F1 comeback after an absence of a quarter of a century, combined with two energy recovery systems, providing around a quarter of the total power output.
We can expect a different type of racing compared to the past, with greater performance gaps between qualifying, when all the car’s potential can be used and the race, when fuel and energy management will be key, whereas up to 2013, tyres were the only main variable.
The new power unit can use no more than 100 kg of fuel over the course of the race, which requires the power unit to operate at maximum efficiency and in Australia, the engineers will face the challenge of combining the use of the internal combustion turbo engine with the electrical power accumulated in the batteries on each lap. Drivers will have to pay more attention than usual to instructions from the pit wall if they don’t want to end up having to coast round for the final laps in order to see the flag. Clearly, all this new technology means reliability will be key and the pundits are predicting a very high retirement rate in Australia. In six days time we should have a better idea of what to expect.

 

Alonso: “A lot to test on Friday in Melbourne”

Posted: 06.03.2014
Source: Ferrari

Maranello, 6 March – With a week to go until free practice gets underway in Albert Park, Alonso is training hard to be as well prepared as possible when the Ferrari F14 T makes its race weekend debut. Fernando has tackled an all-encompassing training regime including running, cycling, karting and even football, which is a particular passion of the Maranello driver. One of these sessions was filmed by Prancing Horse sponsor Santander, and a clip can be seen in the attached video.

However, his mental focus is already on the Melbourne track and all the unknown factors that involves. “We come to the start of this championship with the team having had twelve days of testing, while as a driver I’ve had six. A few more days would have been useful given how much has changed for this season. With every lap of testing we learned something and improved pretty much constantly. I think that will still be the case in Australia, especially on the first day and then actually in the first few races.”

There are the usual unknowns because the cars are still new, but there are also those linked to the rule changes. “The new Formula 1 rules are very different to what we were used to. I think the concept of what constitutes a Grand Prix will actually change this year, with Saturday and Sunday being very different from one another. In qualifying, one will be able to get everything out of the car, pushing the new power unit to the limit, trying to get the absolutely best result. But in the race you won’t get anywhere near that level. Last year, towards the end of the races, on new tyres, you could do very quick lap times, whereas in the closing stages this year, you will have to bear in mind how much fuel you have left, the state of the batteries and that of the tyres. You will need to be very clever to manage these parameters and the new race strategies could see drivers being unable to go flat out to the end.”

Alonso also had a thought for those watching the races at home. “As drivers, we will get used to it quickly and so I hope these rules aren’t immediately overturned and that they stay unchanged for a few years. Otherwise the spectators could lose confident in this new Formula 1 which is very complex, even for the viewer.”

 

Montezemolo: “New F1 project very complicated”

Posted: 04.03.2014
Source: Ferrari

Geneva, 4 March – “It will be interesting to see how many cars will finish the first race in Australia,” commented Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo at the event to launch the California T, the new Prancing Horse V8, which is already proving to be the star attraction at the Geneva Motor Show.

Speaking to the journalists in Switzerland, Montezemolo went on to say, “The design of these new Formula 1 cars is very complicated, with a lot of aspects still to be defined. Some parts of it we have already developed, whereas others still need working on to give their best. The run up to this season is a bit like a puzzle, with the parts slowing fitting together.” With less than two weeks to go to the start of the Formula 1 World Championship, many teams have experienced difficulties during pre-season testing and look like heading to Melbourne less than completely ready. However, the President was only concerned with his own team. “The testing we have been able to do has been indispensible. I’m not interested in what the others are doing, we are only concentrating on ourselves,” he affirmed. “It seems to me, that in terms of reliability the work is very complicated for everyone. These difficulties are understandable, because for 2014, Formula 1 has taken on a big challenge, going down a very innovative route.” The President also spoke on a topic that has touched him greatly, Schumacher’s condition. “Michael was and still is a very important person in my life. From 1996 onwards so many things happened in the lives of both of us and, in the difficult times, Michael was always incredibly close to the team. What’s happened to him was a real shock to me, after all the events we shared and a great affection still remains. Michael at the moment needs that affection and support from everyone.”

 

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