AutoSport N°5 30/1/2014
Is this the car Alonso craves?
Despite the efforts of Fernando Alonso, the Scuderia has struggled to produce a Red Bull beater. By GARY ANDERSON
FERRARI F14 T
In recent years Ferrari has failed for many reasons. In 2012 the car was a dog but Fernando Alonso wrung its neck. Last year it started well, but fell away and Alonso seemed to lose heart as Ferrari showed it lacked in understanding of the development direction required. By rehiring Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari is keeping Alonso honest.Former Lotus design chief James Allisonhas also been recruited – as technical director - and he has a clear understanding of what makes a current F1 car quick.It will be difficult for him to stamp his authority on the 2014 car having joined during last year, but if things don’t go well at Ferrari I can see an implosion.
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Ferrari in 2014:the BIG questions
DRIVERS
IS ALONSO GOING TO STAY?
No one could deny that Fernando Alonso was a frustrated man in 2013.He’d gone into the year with every belief that he had a car capable of gunning for the title, and victories in two of the first five races seemed to bear his view out. But it all went wrong mid- season. An update that came on board for June’s Canadian Grand Prix didn’t deliver, and a further package for the British GP was also a failure.When Alonso was told in July in Hungary that the car he would be using that weekend was pretty much unchanged from the Spanish GP back in May, the toys went out of the pram. How serious his overtures to Red Bull and Lotus were will probably never be known, but the speculation about his interest served its purpose in letting his chiefs know he was not a happy man. The message was clear: if they wanted him to remain committed to the cause, he had to be given a car capable of winning. Alonso’s actions in Hungary – and especially the public ear-tweaking he got from Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo – have continued to leave questions surrounding the two-time champion’s future.They have also prompted rival teams such as McLaren to up their attempts to lure him away.Ultimately, whether or not Alonso sees out his career at Ferrari will depend upon the competitiveness of its car. The truth of the situation is that Alonso and Ferrari want nothing more than to win with each other.Should Ferrari do the job with its 2014 car, and success follows,
then there will be no reason for Alonso to look elsewhere. All the frustrations of the past, which bubbled over in the second half of last year, will be gone. What happens if Ferrari struggles this year though is anyone’s guess. Alonso is a man driven to succeed and, having given his all to Maranello in recent years, he may feel that if it doesn’t happen now, it never will. The vultures will be circling if Ferrari’s season is in tatters. Alonso will then face the biggest choice of his career.
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CAN RAIKKONEN WIN THE TITLE AGAIN?
It’s amazing to think that Kimi Raikkonen returns to Ferrari in 2014 as its most recent world champion. But of more interest to fan is whether or not he can be its next. That 2007 title winner Raikkonen is still one of the very best drivers in F1 is under no doubt. His performances at Lotus were consistently strong and he won races in both seasons since his comeback. But equally there have been some questions about elements of his performance that suggest that he may not be able to take on an Alonso or a Sebastian Vettel at the top of their game. At Lotus, there were occasions when a couple more tenths of commitment in qualifying – or not hesitating on overtaking moves such as in the 2012 Bahrain GP – could have
changed results significantly. That Romain Grosjean (once he got on top of his early-season issues last year) was able to outshine Raikkonen in the second half of the campaign was not the most ringing of endorsements for the Finn’s status as a clear number one. What Raikkonen does bring though is a mega image, for he is arguably the most popular driver on the grid. And he has a sublime racing instinct.Throughout 013 he showed that he could finish on thepodium even on those weekends when disastrous qualifying efforts had appeared to leave his hopes in tatters. Staying out of trouble and plotting his way through the field were his forte. As well as needing to deliver more in 2014 if he is to beat Alonso, Raikkonen is going to have to work harder than he ever has. The all-new technology, allied to races that are going to demand some clever thinking, tremendous feedback and communication with the pitwall,Will help those willing to knuckle down, and
hurt those who couldn’t give a damn about anything other than driving. There are no doubts that Raikkonen will be up with Alonso wherever the Ferrari is on the grid. Indeed, that’s one of the reasons he was brought on board, in the light of the fact that Felipe Massa’s contribution to the points tally in the championship fight was lacking. Yet beating Alonso on speed alone – and certainly by enough to win the title in a straight head-to-head fight – is going to be a tall order. Raikkonen doesn’t like the politics that Alonso is so adept at, and it’s questionable whether he has the real hunger to dig extra-deep to do what it takes to overhaul the Spaniard if they get involved in a real on-track tussle.Nevertheless, winning the 2014 title may not be about out-and-out speed.Raikkonen’s
sublime consistency and ability to finish races could pay dividends in a season when reliability is going to be such a huge factor. And should he notch up some early successes to build up a
decent points advantage over Alonso, then that could force Ferrari’s hand to throw its weight behind him if the championship looks like it’s going to be closely fought.That would make for some very interesting times in the pit garage...
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TEAM AND CAR
IS DOMENICALI’S JOB ON THE LINE?
It’s hard to think of a higher-pressure job in F1 than that of team principal of Ferrari, with the only expectation on the team being to win. As Alonso was at pains to suggest several times last year, Ferrari is the only team where finishing second is a disaster. That Stefano Domenicali has not led Ferrari to a drivers’ championship since taking over in 2008 has already prompted some to suggest that he has had his time, and that some fresh blood is needed. But to base a verdict on Domenicali’s tenure solely on number of titles won would be wrong, because it would ignore the behind-the-scenes revolution that he has had to undertake to push the team forwards.Ferrari has had to change a lot in the past few years to cope with the shifting demands of F1. The massive cutback of in-season testing (which returns this year) plus the emphasis on highly complicated aerodynamic models relating to exhaust airflow did not play to the team’s strengths. That’s why there has been a technological overhaul going on in Maranello, with Domenicali securing the funding for new simulation facilities and the green light for a new factory. It was also his decision to shut down Ferrari’s windtunnel last year so it could be improved and brought up to a par with other those of other teams. That’s now back in action. Domenicali was the driving force for luring.Pat Fry away from McLaren, and then getting Lotus’s James Allison back on board to provide
fresh technical leadership.All of these areas that Domenicali has worked upon have long lead times before their impact is felt. But the first fruits of those efforts should be seen this year. What must come in 2014 is progress, and proof that the action that has been taken is actually reaping rewards. That Domenicali has not shouted about the work he has done says much about the security he feels. He’s a man who deals in hard facts rather than sound bites. Equally, di Montezemolo knows that Ferrari’s failure to win a title in recent years has been as much about luck on individual days as it has been about the influence of management. Had the strategy worked out better in the Abu Dhabi
GP 2010 season finale, and Alonso not got embroiled in Turn 1 crashes at Spa and Suzuka in 2012, Ferrari could be two titles up already.Domenicali looks set to continue at the head of Ferrari’s pressure cooker for a while yet.
ENGINE
CAN FERRARI COMPETE WITH MERCEDES
AND RENAULT ON ENGINES?
There’s uncertainty even now about how the new 1.6-litre turbo power units are going to perform, and the intrigue over how the form book will be set has been going on since last summer. The word on the street was that Mercedes had the fastest and lightest engines, the Renault was the most efficient – and Ferrari was struggling. How true that scenario proves to be will only become clear after several races this year, but there has been little indication from Maranello that it seems particularly worried about its efforts. Di Montezemolo has been at pains over the winter to emphasise that, while his team’s strength has never been in aerodynamics, it has historically been excellent in the mechanical areas of the car.That much seemed to be borne out last year, for as much as Ferrari lacked in the key blown-floor area of performance, its engine was producing plenty of power judging by its qualifying positions relative to Mercedes at high-speed Monza. Success in 2014 is all about a ‘package’ though,and Ferrari’s greatest strength will come from the way in which its chassis and engine departments effectively work under the same roof. That should bring tangible benefits in terms of getting the cooling and aerodynamic requirements spot-on, and allowing the whole car to come together as one. It’s a luxury only Mercedes shares, and it could yet prove to be the single factor that helps the works teams get a head start this year.
