In a session affected by light and intermittent rain, both Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro drivers made it through to the third and final part of the session, ending up eighth and ninth on the grid with Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen respectively. “All in all, especially in light of the changing weather conditions, this is a reasonable result,” commented Stefano Domenicali. “Getting both cars into Q3 was our primary objective. It was not at all easy, because apart from the two teams fighting for the title, all the others are very evenly matched, with some teams seeming to have made a significant and surprising step forward. Tomorrow’s race could be rendered even more uncertain by the weather: realistically, we would like to get both our drivers home in the points and we will have to exploit every eventual opportunity that might present itself.”

Felipe Massa:

“This qualifying was a bit of a lottery: first dry, then rain then dry again. It could have gone better, but it could also have gone much worse. I’m not jumping for joy over eighth place, but it’s not so bad. We have a good strategy aimed at getting us into the points, although a podium seems hard to reach to be honest.”

Kimi Raikkonen:

“It was a pretty complicated session, with track conditions changing all the time. Therefore, it’s difficult to say if this result reflects the real standings down the order. Clearly, we were penalized by not having a single set of new tyres for Q3. I believe that in normal conditions we could have got a better grid position. Having said that, we are not in bad shape for the race: we have a good strategy and we will try and make the most of it.”

Chris Dyer:

“This morning, we were fairly satisfied with the performance of the car in the dry. Then, in qualifying, we found ourselves up against rapidly changing conditions and it was therefore a good result to get both cars into Q3. At that point however, we no longer had any more new soft tyres available and that cost us very dear. We therefore opted to start with a good amount of fuel on board to try and make up ground in tomorrow’s race, when I think we will nevertheless be competitive, whatever the weather. We also hope to make the most of the KERS at the start, given that the main straight is very long.”

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Felipe Massa - 12th: ”It was a reasonable day, which confirmed our expectations. We still have a bit of work to do, especially in finding the right balance for the first timed lap: with these temperatures, the fronts struggle at the start before improving lap by lap. In the afternoon, we had a heavy fuel load, so as to be as well prepared as possible for Sunday’s race, so we’re not particularly bothered about our position in the classification.”

Kimi Raikkonen- 16th: ”I think we are more or less where we were at Silverstone. We are still struggling a bit to find the best balance on the car, but I am sure that we will find a way of fixing that. In the second session, I only used the softer tyres because we had to work on the car in between the two sessions, which cost me a bit of time. We certainly struggled to get the harder tyre up to the right operating temperature, as was to be expected given the weather.”

Chris Dyer: ”It was rather a difficult day, with changing weather conditions and a few little technical glitches (Kimi’s gearbox had an oil leak) which meant we had to compress our work programme. However, in the end, we managed to complete almost all the tasks on our list, including the evaluation of some new aerodynamic components. There is definitely more work to be done to get the balance right on the car, in order to achieve our objectives which are to get both cars into Q3 and to do well in the race. The low temperatures do not suit us, especially when it comes to doing a good time on the first flying lap.”

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Felipe Massa - 4th: ”I almost feel as though I won the race! To start eleventh and finish fourth is a really great result. We weren’t expecting it and so we are doubly happy. We had a good strategy and I pushed to the maximum at the key moments. Today, the KERS was a great help, especially at the start, but the whole car was also working well. The team did a great job and the results speak for themselves. We have to continue down this route. It will be interesting to understand how the car’s performance improved from one day to the next. Maybe it just needed those few extra degrees of track temperature to get the tyres working better.”

Kimi Raikkonen - 8th: ”I got a good start, but then I was unable to push as much as I could have done because I was always in traffic. Obviously, my grid position, given my fuel load, penalised me in terms of strategy. After the first run of pit stops, I found myself right behind Trulli and from then on, my race was pretty much over. I tried to pass him getting very close sometimes, but it wasn’t really on as overtaking is still very difficult. I ended up fighting with Glock but I could defend my position comfortably, both thanks to the KERS and to the fact that I actually had quite a good pace. It’s a shame, because given where I was at the end of the first lap, I could have got a better result. A single point is definitely nothing to get excited about, but it’s better than nothing. The car wasn’t bad today, much better than it had been in qualifying yesterday.”

Stefano Domenicali: ”After the less than brilliant qualifying yesterday, our aim was to get both cars home in the points and we did it. Felipe drove a fantastic race: starting eleventh and finishing fourth with no one in front of him on the grid retiring is a great performance. Kimi got a great start, making the most of the KERS, but after that he was unable to make the most of having moved up the order, because of traffic. Today, we saw one team clearly ahead of the rest, but we showed we could match the pace of all the others, including those who only two weeks ago, were clearly better. We will have to study in depth everything that happened this weekend to understand how the performance level can change so suddenly, one way or the other, without there having been any changes made to the cars.”

Chris Dyer: ”We got the most out of a weekend that was definitely not brilliant in terms of performance. Both our drivers had great starts, getting the most of out the KERS. Then Felipe picked up a good pace that, along with the strategy, allowed him to move up quite a few places. As for Kimi, he was slowed by traffic and the key moment in his race was when Trulli came out on track ahead of him when he made his first pit stop. He was unable to pass him on the track and then, during the run of pit stops, other drivers were able to get ahead of him. Yesterday, we were rather disappointed both with our result and with our performance, but today things were definitely better: however, we have to admit there is still a great deal of work to do to be competitive at the highest level, which is where we want to be.”

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Ninth and eleventh places for Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa respectively: that was the outcome of qualifying at the British Grand Prix for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro. Thanks to a good performance in Q2, Kimi managed to get through to the final part of the session, but then was unable to do better than ninth, while Felipe didn’t get into Q3, because of a mistake in the third sector of the track, which cost him precious time. “Clearly this is a bad result,” but frankly we hadn’t expected much better,” commented Stefano Domenicali. “It’s pointless to look for one specific element to blame: this is our current rating in this sort of temperature range and on a track with so many fast corners. The car does not have enough aerodynamic downforce to generate the required grip through the tyres. Having said that, we must not lose heart. We know we face having to try and race our way up the order tomorrow, trying to bring home some useful points for the classification.”

Felipe Massa:
“Not a great weekend for us, there’s no point denying it. Today I missed out on getting into Q3 because I made a mistake in the final sector. Up until then, I was a few tenths up on my previous best time. We must always push to the limit because the car doesn’t give you a margin to make it through in qualifying and that can lead to one making mistakes. The F60 feels balanced but we are not quick enough. In the last two races, some teams have made significant progress in their development, while we haven’t improved our performance enough. It will be a hard race, but maybe something will happen that could see us getting a good result. From our side, all we can do is give it our best shot and try all the time.”

Kimi Raikkonen:
“To be honest, I didn’t expect much more. This is our current performance level and today it was difficult to do any better. Each weekend we try our best: again on this track, the F60 was well balanced but, as we have seen so often this year, we don’t have enough grip. I did a good lap in Q2 but, with race fuel on board, the car was not as quick as the others. We have improved the car in these last two races, but it seems the others have taken a bigger step forward than we have.”

Chris Dyer:
“Definitely not a very exciting result, but it matches what we had expected from yesterday. We have improved the performance of the car since then, but not enough to fight it out with the best. Tomorrow’s race will definitely be very difficult for us. We will try and do our best to get both cars home in the points.”

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Felipe Massa - 17th: ”I am not very happy with the way these two free practice sessions went. The track was rather dirty and the wind also had an effect. We didn’t manage to find the right way to go to improve the balance of the car. There is definitely a lot of work awaiting us in preparation for qualifying, where the most realistic target at the moment is to get into the top ten.”

Kimi Raikkonen - 18th: ”Difficult to say where we are in respect to the others: we will have to wait for tomorrow’s qualifying to find out. Clearly, looking at today’s results, we are definitely not in for an easy weekend. The car’s not bad in terms of balance, but doesn’t seem to be quick enough. The tyres are the same as in Turkey, but of course it is much cooler here: on the first lap, the performance between the two types is quite different, but then over a longer run, they tend to be similar. As predicted, there’s a wind blowing on the track, but it’s not as damaging as I’d expected.”

Chris Dyer: ”We had a few little problems on both cars: nothing particularly serious but enough to slow us down in completing the programme we had planned for the two drivers. We have various new components on the F60 and now we will have to analyse the car’s behaviour to try and tackle a weekend that certainly looks like being a tough one, in the best way possible.”

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FERRARI FLUMMOXED BY LACK OF SPEED

Monday 8th June 2009

Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali admits the Scuderia are rather confused by their lack of race-pace in Sunday’s Turkish GP.

After a solid performance in Monaco, which saw both Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa finish in the points, Ferrari’s first double points-haul of the campaign, the Scuderia appeared to take a step backwards in Turkey.

Despite both drivers starting in the top eight on the grid, only Massa managed to score any points as he brought his F60 home in sixth place.

It was a disappointing outcome for Ferrari with Domenicali admitting the Italian marque just didn’t have the pace needed to finish any higher up the order.

“We definitely expected more from this weekend, especially given what we had seen up to the end of Saturday morning, when our level of competitiveness was pretty good,” he said.

“We have to understand why the performance of our car evolved in a negative fashion over the course of the three days: the race pace we saw Sunday afternoon was not only not up to the level of the best but it was also not as good as many of the others.

“We must continue to work on the development of the car to try and make up ground, by continuing to stay focused and without getting discouraged by this set back.”

Massa echoed his team boss’s sentiments: “I expected to be competitive here. Maybe more competitive than we are. But unfortunately things were a little bit different.

“We were missing a little bit of pace in our car, and if you are missing a bit of pace then you do not have the opportunity to win.”

Source - Planet-f1

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Only thee points picked up by Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro in the Turkish Grand Prix, thanks to a sixth place for Felipe Massa: Kimi Raikkonen finished ninth. The opening lap of the race was the decisive one. After a good start, Felipe was fifth, but then, while trying to pass Trulli at the end of the main straight, he was also passed by Rosberg. The last corners on the track were also the key ones for Kimi, who having run wide at turn 9, was passed by Alonso going into Turn 12 and then after hitting a rear tyre on the Renault the external part of the left hand front wing was damaged and he was then also passed by Kubica. After that, the race pace of the two F60s was not quick enough to regain position and the classification at the end of the first lap stayed the same for the two Ferrari men to the end.

Stefano Domenicali:
“We definitely expected more from this weekend, especially given what we had seen up to the end of Saturday morning, when our level of competitiveness was pretty good. We have to understand why the performance of our car evolved in a negative fashion over the course of the three days: the race pace we saw this afternoon was not only not up to the level of the best but it was also not as good as many of the others. We must continue to work on the development of the car to try and make up ground, by continuing to stay focused and without getting discouraged by this setback.”

Kimi Raikkonen:
“It was definitely not the race we were expecting or the one we wanted. The first lap was decisive for me: I lost valuable places and then it wasn’t possible to get them back because today we weren’t quick enough. Over recent weeks, we have improved our performance a lot, but we are not yet at the level of the best, especially at tracks like this one. It is never easy to catch up, because in the meantime, the others are not exactly stopping their own development. We must not be negative about this after a weekend like this one, but we should continue to concentrate and to push: I am sure we can soon return to fighting for the top places. It won’t be easy but I have confidence in this team.”

Felipe Massa:
“A very difficult day for us. We have to accept the fact that sixth place was the best we could do, because we were not quick enough to fight against those in front of us. We must continue to push on the car development front to make up for what we lack in terms of performance, starting with the race at Silverstone. From Friday it was complicated to find a way to make the tyres work well: for example, today the softs seemed to go better than on previous days, but using them right from the start would have been a risk because the degradation, up to yesterday seemed to be pretty significant.”

Chris Dyer:
“We are very disappointed because we expected to be in the fight for better places. We have to really understand why we lost so much speed from one day to another. Today we weren’t competitive, not just up against Brawn GP and Red Bull but also when compared with Toyota and Williams. On top of that, the way the first lap went cost us dear: it’s not by chance that the classification of our cars at the end of lap 1 was the same as they passed the chequered flag.”

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It’s fair to say that Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro was hoping to do a bit better than the third and fourth rows of the grid, given the encouraging performance in Monaco a fortnight ago. But, racing is about dealing with the cards you are dealt and so, Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa still plan to aim for a good number of points tomorrow, even starting from sixth and seventh on the grid respectively. As has often been the case, the main problem this afternoon was getting the most out of the tyres over one timed lap.

Sebastian Vettel took his second pole of the season, for Red Bull-Renault, securing the top spot in the closing moments of Q3, after it looked as though championship leader Jenson Button had pulled off another last minute top slot in the Brawn. These two teams monopolised the front two rows, as Rubens Barrichello took third place with Mark Webber fourth. Sharing the third row with Kimi is the fifth placed Toyota of Jarno Trulli, while Felipe shares Row 4 with Fernando Alonso in the Renault.

Strategy will be one of the key elements in tomorrow’s seventh round of the world championship, on a track where two refuelling stops is the norm, although three can sometimes be used, given the short length of the pit lane, the high pit lane speed limit and the fact that its entry cuts out the last corner on the track. Given the high temperatures, the cars will be subjected to extreme conditions. These can also affect the drivers, as the many high speed and long corners, put a strain on the drivers’ neck muscles. This is further aggravated by the fact that the majority of corners are left handed, which is not a common feature on the F1 calendar.

On Friday night, Kimi and Felipe attended an event held against a spectacular backdrop of the Bosphorus, when around 500 guests were invited by the Turkish Ferrari importer to the Les Ottomans Hotel. The two drivers took part in a Question and Answer session, having arrived by helicopter and then boat to get there in time from the race track after their technical briefing sessions.

Kimi Raikkonen - 6th: ”In qualifying the car was better balanced than in free practice but, even on a light fuel load, today we were a bit slower than the best. All weekend we have struggled a bit to get the tyres working at their best on the first lap. For sure, starting from the dirty side of the grid won’t be easy, especially on a track like this, which is hardly ever used for racing, which means the track surface offers little grip off the racing line. We have made progress recently, but the others have also done the same, which is what always happens.”

Felipe Massa - 7th: ”On low fuel, the car was well balanced and had good grip, while once we had the race fuel on board, the situation got worse and we suffered oversteer, mainly on the softer tyre. Honestly, I’d expected to start higher up the grid, especially as we were pretty competitive in Q1 and Q2. Starting from seventh, it becomes tough to aim for the top, so we have to be realistic. However, we mustn’t forget this will be a long race and anything can happen. As usual, I will give it my best shot.”

Stefano Domenicali: ”This was a reasonable qualifying, even if it did not quite come up to our expectations. From what we saw over the course of the day, we can say that we did not get the maximum out of the potential available to us, especially in Q3. Having said that, we can expect a very tough and open race: we have a good strategy and we will try to exploit that to pick up a good result.”

Chris Dyer: ”It was a very close qualifying, especially at the top end of the time sheet. The cars ran trouble free all day: the major difficulty concerned tyre choice. In the end, we opted for the softer compound and all in all, we believe that was the right choice, even if the difference in performance between the two over the first timed lap was not as marked as on other occasions.”

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Felipe Massa - 5th: ”It’s hard to say if there’s been an improvement since Barcelona, but we are in amongst the other front runners, which is already a good sign. Everything went well from the start of the day, when we worked towards the race. From what we’ve seen today, our car seems to be quick and consistent in performance terms. In the past, I wasn’t particularly keen on this track, but more recently that has changed.

“Last year, I took pole and today I immediately felt comfortable, working on settings for the car, which we had never tried before. The softer tyres are definitely quicker, but after ten laps or so, you start to lose the back end a bit. However, we must bear in mind that the track conditions change a lot from today to Saturday, so today’s results are not that representative.”

Kimi Raikkonen - 8th: ”We worked our way through the usual programme for the first day of practice, based on evaluating the two different types of tyre that Bridgestone has brought here and on finding the best set up on the car. I would say the car is handling reasonably well: there are still a few areas where we can improve but I am pleased with what we achieved today.

“Driving here is always a challenge, even if Sunday’s race can then be rather boring, with overtaking practically impossible and if you end up behind slower cars there is nothing you can do but wait for the pit stop.”

Chris Dyer: ”It’s always important to start the Monaco weekend without any problems and so we can be happy with having managed that today. Time lost in free practice here can be more costly than elsewhere. As for the set-up, both drivers are reasonably happy with the handling of the F60, even if obviously, there is still a lot to do.

“Tyre choice for the race is particularly interesting here, given that the two types available are much closer to one another than at other races. Qualifying will be the key as usual at this Grand Prix. Usually at this track, the times are very close and this year they are even more so, given how closely matched everyone is. Therefore it will be even more important to be as well prepared as possible for all phases of qualifying.”

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Since the championship started in 1950, the Scuderia cannot consider the trip to Monte Carlo a truly profitable one, as the last victory for a Prancing Horse car dates back to Michael Schumacher’s win in 2001, the final one of five times that the German won here. In fact, after a victory for Gilles Villeneuve in 1981, Ferrari had to wait until Michael was first past the flag in 1997 to record another Monegasque win. When Niki Lauda took victory in an incident packed 1975 race, it was the first time the Scuderia had won since the 1955 win from Maurice Trintignant, in a race more famous for Alberto Ascari’s dive into the harbour.

Although there are no points handed out for a race fastest lap, it does say something about one’s real pace and in 2002, ’04, ’05, 06 and ’08, a Prancing Horse car did set the quickest lap in Monaco, which is an encouraging statistic to have on one’s side. In 2008, it was an all-red Ferrari front row, but still the Scuderia failed to win. In fact, in the past, it has often been the case that the dominant team of the year has failed to secure victory in the most famous race on the calendar, with a less fancied runner taking top honours. Could it be that, in 2009, Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro fits that designation? This year will be the first time that the F1 teams arrive in the Principality without the benefit of having tested on a track configured to reproduce the demands of the slowest, twistiest circuit of the year. For Ferrari that used to mean running at its own Fiorano facility and in more recent years, using the slowest of the several layouts available at Le Castellet in the south of France. The ban on in-season testing has had an effect on the Ferrari team, as much of its work method was based on track activity and the Scuderia is still working to adapt its philosophy to the new world of Formula 1. The major step forward in performance seen in Barcelona a fortnight ago is the result of the team adapting well to the new methods of bringing innovations to the track without the benefit of pre event testing. Felipe Massa expresses a mix of optimism and caution when it comes to this weekend’s Grand Prix. “For the last two years, I’ve made it to the podium in Monaco and it would be great to go for a hat-trick this time,” says the Brazilian. “It will be very tough, but we’ll give it our best shot. Thanks to the aerodynamic updates we introduced in Spain, the F60 is much improved, which is why I should have been in the fight for third place at the Catalunya Circuit right up to the end, if a refuelling problem hadn’t meant I had to back off for the final part of the race. In terms of performance, we have made significant steps forward, while there is still much to do on the reliability front.”

Monaco provides the exception to the rule in so many cases in Formula 1, from its “Friday holiday” to the need for scuba divers on standby, to the thrill of racing through a tunnel and this year sees an additional exception when it comes to tyres. Bridgestone is required by the regulations to bring tyres with distinctly different characteristics to each race, in an attempt to improve the show: for example, the “super-soft” can be brought with the “medium” and the “soft” with the “hard.” However, here at Monaco, which is much more tyre dependent in terms of lap times and race pace, Bridgestone will be bringing its “soft” and “super-soft.” This should suit Ferrari, as it has been evident this year that the F60 has tended to struggle on the harder tyres, while working better on the softer side.

Much has been written about the value or otherwise of running KERS in Monte Carlo and currently the F60s are due to be fitted with the power boosting device. Admittedly, its use will be more limited than at more flowing circuits, but given that the F60 was designed around carrying KERS and this is factored into its weight and distribution of its weight, it is logical to run it, no matter how minimal the benefit, given how much closer the grids have been this season. Furthermore, given that close grids have always been a feature of the Monaco Grand Prix, then the slightest advantage has to be worth having.

On top of that, it was clear that all the work of the past few weeks has produced a car package clearly superior to the one that tackled the opening four races of the season. The F60 now has far more grip and downforce and these two qualities are in much demand around the streets of the Principality. For all the pieces to finally fall into place at Monaco would be a fantastic boost for the team, which is still working towards the goal of winning races again, whatever the scores in the championships. As Kimi Raikkonen said, “the situation in the championship is very difficult, given that both me and Felipe have only managed to score three points each. But we won’t be giving up and we continue to work hard to get back on top and, only at the end, will it be worth adding up the points. The car has improved since the earlier races and so it should mean we are more competitive, although it’s best to wait until Thursday’s free practice to get a clearer picture.”

Monaco is without a doubt the biggest draw for spectators, TV viewers and those with a commercial interest in the sport, however, it is no longer truly unique because, as of last year, we have another street race in the shape of Singapore, with the added factor of it being a night race. However, while it might be the most exciting race for the fans who can almost feel part of the action, for the team personnel, Monaco is possibly the toughest on the calendar. Since the pit garages and a new pit lane were created a few years ago, the situation has improved, but the lack of space, the complicated garage layout, the pit signalling area at the back rather than the front of the pits and the need to fight through the crowds all makes for a stressful time and the longer weekend simply adds to the pressure. As to the weather, Monaco’s unique coastal setting, alongside the Mediterranean might make for a picturesque backdrop, but in meteorological terms it can be more of a headache. Currently, the forecast for the weekend is good, but trapped between the sea and the mountains, Monte Carlo can produce its own micro-climate, which can change in a matter of hours, adding to what is always something of a Sunday afternoon lottery.

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