The real reason Ferrari's strategy failed in Abu Dhabi, revealed:

They are still Italians... WLF!

CG is more conspiratorial, he believes she was on Red Bull's payroll :)
(Grand Prix Diary.com)

Expensive Win for Ferrari

It's not just the $100000 fine, it's the inevitable blowback and "outrage" that will once again follow Ferrari, rather than what should have been triumphal headlines for having kicked everybody's ass in Germany. Ferrari was under extreme pressure to perform and deliver this week end after a string of horrible results. Stefano Domenicali had hoped for a good results and a "normal race", he got one of his wishes.



Once again I will be a contrarian, just as I defended Christian Horner's decision to rip the improved front wing from Mark Webber's car and give it to his driver with the most points, so I defend Ferrari's thinking that you need to be behind the driver with the best chance to compete for the championship win. Horner though, has a short memory...



Massa obviously signed a contract that states he's got to move over if the team asks him to. Massa is a free man, nobody forced him to stay at Ferrari under those conditions, but if he signed such a contract, he has to be man enough to stand by it and carry what he agreed to do it in such a way that it does not make his team look bad. His race engineer, Rob Smedley, needs to have a serious think about his job. His radio communications with Massa could not have been more clearly for public consumption. While he had a thankless task, the way he carried out what must have obviously been a call from very high up at Ferrari HQ, the way he carried it out was as bitchingly obvious as Massa's move out of the hairpin.

I do not expect cooler heads to prevail here, not with (insert expletive here) Alonso about one DNF away from Hamilton and Button, expect a full court press on this one even after the humongous fine.



I'll side with DC once again, the rule makes little sense in a team sport with huge economic interests in the balance and it's not in line with past history. But it's the very man for whom this rule was created who offers the most sober assessment of the situation. Wise words I thought.



Look forward to a lively discussion about this!
(all videos/ BBC)

Bonus video...


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Charlie Whiting hits back: "We warned Ferrari three times"

Not happy with all the criticism after the delayed reaction ruling in Valencia, Race Director Charlie Whiting has told Italy's Autosprint magazine he had been in touch right away with the Ferrari pit wall after the Alonso Kubica incident:

"We told Ferrari three times that in my opinion they should give the position back to Kubica, and we told them that immediately, right after the overtaking manoeuvre. On the radio, I suggested to them that if they exchange position again, there would be no need for the stewards to intervene. But they didn't do that and on the third communication they said that Kubica was by then too far back to let him regain the position. It's not true at all that the stewards took too long to decide. For us the facts were clear immediately: Alonso had gained an advantage by cutting the track."

This puts Stefano Domenicali, who had said by the time the ruling came it was too late, on and even hotter hot seat than he is sitting on at the moment. Did Domenicali ask Alonso to give the position back and if not, why? Did Alonso refuse his request? Did things actually happen as Whiting is suggesting?
Perhaps Domenicali though that, like Mclaren who in Valencia knew right away Hamilton had passed the Safety Car, they too might benefit from the bureaucratic procedure? Not very clever after you spent two week complaining about that very issue.

Maybe it's not just Ferrari's F10 that needs a new package.


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A better video of Alonso lapping Fiorano.

God I love You Tube! Here is a nat sound version of Alonso lapping Fiorano last week.

There has been some stink raised about Ferrari illegally testing because of this clip. In fact there is absolutely nothing illegal going on here as the rules allow for 100 Km of running for so called "promotional use". This can mean filming commercials, infomercials, training videos, pleasing sponsors, whatever a team need for "promotion". If you have Stefano Domenicali's cell, you could call him and ask what they did, but whatever they DID do was in no way illegal. They just ran their current car as every other team is free to do, for 100 km.

Not that Ferrari reads Axis but if you do, shoot me an email, I can suggest a couple of helmet cams with a quality actually worthy of an F1 team....
And how about Nando's neck? That's steadier than the Freep's roll bar mount! :)


(Ferrari)
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Around Fiorano in the F10 "B" with Fernando Alonso

Some of you wondered how was it possible for Ferrari to test its new low exhaust configuration on the Fiorano track last week what with the testing ban and all. Regulations do allow for a small number of kilometers to be run for "promotional" use, making commercials for example.

Not sure if Ferrari did much beyond adding a helmet cam on Fernando, but that's fine with us, we love helmet cams!


(via ItaliaSpeed TV)

Interesting read in this week's Autosprint magazine, exhaust blowing in the diffuser are is actually quite an old idea, Renault first used it in the turbo era. At the time gasses were vented under the car into the diffuser flow. The problem was that the additional flow was throttle dependent and thus quite unpredictable if the driver ever lifted. Scary.

These new versions blow on top of the diffuser between the "decks" of the double decker thus eliminating the worst aspect of the old solution. Apparently Ferrari had identified a problem with the F10's design right after the first tests (and probably after having a look at the RedBull who only used the low exhaust at the last test session and even then went as far as placing stickers to simulate a high exhaust position) but reconfiguring the internal packaging, with the original headers pointing forward and up to accommodate the low exhaust, took this long.
Chasing after the Mclaren F-duct was probably a distraction for Maranello as well. On a track like Valencia, I can't imagine this new system will help Ferrari much, maybe somewhere with fast corners like Silverstone.
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Low Blow for Ferrari

In preparation for the Valencia Grand Prix, Ferrari tested a new version of the F10 with a heavily revised rear section on its Fiorano test track yesterday.

As you can see from this picture, the visibly slick F10"b" has had its exhaust moved below the belt line like the Red Bull RB6. The exhaust blowing into the diffuser area adds to volume of air processed increasing downforce without a drag penalty.



(Picture thanks to Motorsportblog.it)
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A Tour of the Ferrari F10 Steering Wheel.

Note that it takes almost 9 minutes just to go through all the functions of this "simplified for 2010" steering wheel. Imagine dealing with it that at 200 mph...


(Ferrari)
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Ferrari F10: ride with Felipe Massa

Love helmet cams, even when they are not exactly pointed properly. A short ride in the 2010 Ferrari F10 with Felipe Massa on a wet day during the recent tests at Jerez.





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Diffuser-Gate 2010, the revenge....

Like we and some of our commenters have mentioned, rear diffusers are likely to be an issue yet again this year. Ferrari is already grumbling about Mclaren's.
Of course, rule interpretation has been a part of racing forever but still, after all the chaos in court in the last couple of seasons you would have thought teams and the FIA might have worked to avoid this potential issue.

Any aerodynamicist care to comment on these pictures from today's testing? (gallery courtesy theF1.com/sutton)




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2010 Ferrari F10 Presentation and 599 Hybrid Announcement!

Here is what the 2010 Formula one contender from Maranello will look like presented on a snowy morning in Maranello Very long, with echos of the 2009 Red Bull in the nose and a striking forward position of the exhaust compared to the rear axle, a feature which will probably be common on this year's cars because of the new emphasis on extremely clean rear end packaging (and of course the need to accommodate a larger fuel cell) . The very high long nose suggests an even more crucial importance of airflow behavior between the front wing and the car's main body. Track looks wider in the front as well.

In his speech, Luca di Montezemolo emphasized Ferrari wants to lead a new Formula 1 with a more direct technology transfer to road cars ("not space technology, real world tecnology") and though Formula 1 just did away with KERS he promised an increasing effort towards sustainable efficiency from Ferrari as a whole. With that he announced Ferrari will show a 599 Hybrid prototype at the Geneva Motor Show, a model destined for production in the near future.

Montezemolo also emphasized what is also going to be a major theme of the 2010 Formula 1 season, clearly defined national rivalries. If Mercedes is Team Germany and Mclaren will be Team UK, Ferrari will be team Italy/Latin. Latin drivers, of course, Massa and Alonso but also the technical staff, Domenicali, Costa, Luca Marmorini back in the team as head of engine design, Nik Tombazis, "..ok, he's Greek but he's Italian now.." said LdM.

The video after the jump is sketchy...internet was understandably overloaded...