mklaskin

During practice session 2 this morning, there was some discussion regarding Ferrari and their front wing. It will be interesting to see what they've developed.

I too agree that it is too early to count them out.

multi21

A few points Raj

1. Santander did sponsor McLaren in 2007, but the relationship between McLaren/Ron Dennis and Hamilton was too thick (blood than water, you know), plus it's an all British team, so that's my thinking on that. Besides, Hamilton was better than anyone thought straight out of the box as a rookie, so it probably was "Alonso's team" until the protege wouldn't go away.

2. Ferrari doesn't care if Brazil is a bigger market than Spain. They are a global brand and play no nation favorites. Truth be told, Ferrari will always be loved in Italy for their tradition, but Ferrari goes to great lengths to not have Italian drivers. Fisi was really a throw away few races as their test driver that substituted for Massa after his injury really stunk it up. Fisi was retiring anyway and had said that it was his life long dream to drive for Ferrari someday. Ferrari threw him a bone after a mediocre 10 year F1 career.

3. Your correct, Massa is not as fast as Alonso, except that he does get loose on a few occasions and beats him.

4. I'll stick by my prediction that Ferrari is done for the year. As a decades long Tifosi, I've seen the good and the bad and would like nothing more than to see Ferrari win both the WDC and the WCC, even with Alonso in red overalls. But the difference is that last year, going into the European part of the schedule, Ferrari already had a race win and a few podiums. This year, they are way off the mark. Couple that with the testing ban and Ferrari has suffered more through that rule change than others. I detest McLaren, but give them credit because they have proved that they can bring a car up the grid faster than anyone else in this "no testing era".

I knew about the wind tunnel and posted after the Chinese GP that they had 3 weeks to calibrate it properly, but at this point, I see Ferrari as the 4th fastest team on the grid and too much of a hill to climb, because even if Ferrari gets better, I don't see Red Bull or McLaren getting worse.

My pecking order:

1. Red Bull


2. McLaren







3. Renault
4. Ferrari


5: Mercedes GP


The spacing was done on purpose to show how far I believe the teams are from each other in terms of the car's speed and potential.

RajDatta

Fair enough. I used to be a big McLaren fan until I saw Ron's preferential treatment. I am a big fan of MW. I think he would have handled the situation much better.
I am still hopeful.

TexasRider

First of all I dont understand the testing ban thing. Hell this is the big boys leagues here. Tire rule -well maybe. The racing was tight today. Just not for
1st and 2nd.

Second dont you think Red Bull just has it dialed at the minute. I mean the whole team top to bottom. Managers, engineers, pit, plus of course car developers, the cars, and the drivers themselves.

How about Webber bolt to Ferrari, or maybe even MB. Let MSchu continue to do the development.