Thought they were going for their famous Strawberry Gelatos.
Just ask Kimi.

 

So what was their excuse for the twilight race? Hangover?

 

It's easy to sit there and point fingers at Ferrari and yes, there have been some decisions like the full wet tires in the race as a bit of a gamble, but perhaps you fail to see their competitor that fought tooth and nail with Ferrari down to the last corner of the last lap has a slow car too? The McLaren is slow too.

How about BMW, anyone pointing fingers at them? They started to develope their 2009 car after the Canadian GP last year. WHere's their critics?

There is truth in the fact that both Ferrari and McLaren spent all their time on the 2008 car to get that championship AND they were developing KERS and everything else. Brawn came out with a simple car, sans KERS and basically bolted a Mercedes engine to their car and their double diffuser and took off. (No changes were necessary to teh Brawn as the MB drivetrain fit right in).

 

Pete, I don't see it that way. I can understand Ferrari having a down year, performance-wise. One could surmise that after so many years at the top, it was inevitable. What I find difficult is that they appear to have fallen to a second-tier team when it comes to actually running the race, and there is no excuse for that. Shame on them if they divested themselves of the supervisional talent they need on race-day.

As far as not pointing fingers at BMW who really cares? They are just another player in F1. If they ever start winning consistently, maybe that will change. Ferrari & McLaren are "the teams" in F1. They each have a huge following and a history of success, and that is what puts them under the microscope.

 

Larry,

I see what your saying and can see the similarities if we look at the superbowl won by Barry Switzer in Dallas, right? He inherited that team from Jimmy Johnson, he just had to not F it up, but once Jimma was gone for a couple seasons, Barry did nothing. The same could be said for the team/car after Schumacher left, Brawn left, Todt left, Bryne left. The WDC won by Kimi might/could be a result of a car and team that was set up and passed onto him by Schumacher because since that season, Kimi has looked less than average and quite frankly, seem disinterested and I for one don't have the confidence he can set up or develope a car.

Everything is cyclical. The two big boys are down right now. It happens with everyone.

Would Ferrari be better off with Brawn and Todt on the pit wall? Yes of course. I don't think anyone would dispute that, but their car (for this year) would still be slow and unreliable. The pit strategy has nothing to do with the design and construction of the car and unless Ross Brawn and Todt are turning wrenches the car just isn't going to be that fast.

In looking at everything objectively, Ross Brawn's cars were crap and they were doing nothing for the past 2 years. Now he's a genius -- and he is on the pit wall, but that's because the car is way better with Mercedes power.

And you have to give Button credit, because he is a career journeyman, but given the opportunity, he's making the most of it where Rubens can't seem to keep pace with him. Kind of like Fisi and Alonso when they had the dominate Michelin Renault in 2005.

What Ferrari needs now more than ever is Kimi and Massa to step up and given the engineers and mechanics massive amount of feedback and help develope the car to be faster. Schumacher did it when he joined the team and Alonso has been seen developing a slower Renault when he returned from McLaren.

 

Seems like we are on the same page here then. And the JJ/Switzer analogy is probably the most perfect description of Ferrari's dilemma.

 

I'm so glad you see it my way!

 

Shhhhhhhhh! Not so loud. Wayne might hear you!

 

Pete,

Ross Braun (which the heck is it, it has been spelled Braun for years, now Brawn??) Totd and Schumacher were a triumvirate. When Montemezolo pushed Schumi out, did Braun have the same influence he once did?

It seems to me that looking back over 20 years the majority of the winning cars were done by Braun, Newey, and Head. Braun at Brawn now, Newey at Red Bull and Head at Williams - with no budget.

 

Brains over large budget?

(At least the Toyota billions may now be showing some progress)

 

Ahhh like a true amigo

Traitor !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SO Berger confirms my conversation with Alonso and the ballerina retort is pure amigo .......

Ahhh To kill a mocking Bird ...

1,
2,
3,

.......... Guantanamera

 

With respect to "influence", Brawn didn't have any influence at Ferrari after Schumacher left because Brawn himself left and went on a "Sabatical". Todt remained with Ferrari, but he saw the writing on the wall and knew it would never be the same without Schumacher and later w/out Brawn. It could be argued that Todt and Brawn had very limited influence at Ferrari as they both lobbied for Schumacher to stay on, but Luca Di Montezemolo wanted to go a different direction.

Basically Montezemolo made a power move to take back the team from the "triumvirate" as you put it. Monti knew Schumacher couldn't drive forever and the old saying of "better to get rid of someone too early than too late" must have weighed on his mind and put Kimi in place of Schumacher.

Having worked with Schumacher since the Benetton days, he knew what/whom he was dealing with in terms of the development of an F1 car. With Kimi, Brawn realized (as these guys study each other to no end) that he didn't have what Schumacher had interms of being a complete race car driver. Kimi, blindingly fast, but not the entire package to be dominant and more importantly to do more with less when things are not perfect.

In examining what Brawn is doing today with his own team this year, he's basically mimicing what he had done at Ferrari with Schumacher and Barrecello. Look at the statistics of poles vs. wins. Schumacher does not have near as many pole as he should as compared to percentage with Senna because he and Brawn were not concerned about the results of being on pole; only what happens at the end of the day on Sunday.

In simple terms, Ross Brawn basically over fills their car with fuel to go 3-5 laps longer than those on the podium during qualifying. He then asks his driver to put in faster laps than those who qualified before him and get out before those drivers in the pit rotation. Second, now that it's clear who the #1 driver will be, Rubens will support Button for the WDC. Finally, make near perfect decisions on the pit wall in terms of tire selection, fuel loads, and a pit crew to execute flawlessly.

 

IMHO, it is more their diffuser showing.
Take that away and they are likely the 'same old Toyota'.....although I'm sure the Prius was a bit of an inspiration for them when KERS was announced

 

Yes, the based on my conversations with (fill in the blank), Alonso WILL be driving for Ferrari in (fill in the date).

Pulling yet another bold prediction out of hat of Nostredamus .... or in this case Bullwinkle....

 

Toyota have no drovers ........................


Yeah , go ahead !