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[sagi58]

, Staff wrote:">Second day of testing in Barcelona – 13.00 update


Montmelo, 27 February –

The second day of testing at the Catalan circuit sees Sebastian Vettel at the wheel of the SF15-T. The weather is definitely better today and that has allowed the team to make good progress with its programme. Today, Scuderia Ferrari has been concentrating on aerodynamic tests and long runs. Vettel also set the third best time this morning in 1:25.339, completing 69 laps. The team will be back in action this afternoon.

[sagi58]

, Staff wrote:">Testing at the Montmelò circuit – 27 February 2015


Circuit: Montmelò circuit – 4.655 km
Driver: Sebastian Vettel
Car: Ferrari SF15-T
Weather: Air temperature 10/17°C, track temperature 12/31°C. Sunny.
Laps/Km completed: 143/665
Fastest time: 1:25.399
Tyres used: Soft, Medium.
Programme: aerodynamic test and long run.

Sebastian Vettel:
“I drove more than two Grands Prix today, but I don’t know if I won one, that depends on what the others did! Jokes apart, it’s nice that at the final test we could cover more and more mileage.

Today we didn’t have any problem, we know there is still a lot of work we can do as a team, but so far I feel very good. If I had to pinpoint one thing, I’d rather be a bit quicker, but it’s difficult to evaluate how quick we are, because some people tried more of a qualifying trim and others did less so.

I never drove the 2014 Ferrari, but I think this one it’s a massive step forward. That doesn’t mean that we are satisfied as it’s clear that if you want to win, you have to beat Mercedes.

It’s exciting to see what’s going on behind them, which I think it’s not clear judging from the lap times we’ve seen so far”.

James Allison:
“Today was a much, much better day, with almost flawless reliability, and it’s much more encouraging, as we get close to Melbourne, to have that. We did a lot of setup work as well, were very conservative for outright performance, but were able to get good direction for the start of the season”.

[sagi58]

 wrote:">Notes from the trackside at final Barcelona test
There are two more days of testing left before the start of a new F1 season. An ideal time to get close to the action and look for indications and clues as to the season ahead.

Along with JA on F1 technical adviser Dominic Harlow, we’ve been trackside in Barcelona checking out the new cars and speaking to teams, drivers and engineers...



...However behind [Mercedes] is a very close battle; Ferrari and Williams both look very purposeful and the cars work well and the feeling is that there is not much to choose between them. The Ferrari, driven by Vettel today, is very responsive at the front end and turns in very precisely and consistently, which should suit Kimi Raikkonen well. It has clearly improved enormously in the power unit department, as shown by the improvement in the customer Sauber team’s performance as well.

The straight line speeds are much more competitive and the power delivery is clearly much better; it’s a car that Vettel and Raikkonen should be able to rack up plenty of points and some podiums with this year. Reliability looks good for Ferrari in particular, they’ve done a high mileage, as they did again today.

Williams are bolting on performance parts this week, like a new front wing and starting to stretch the car a bit. It looks nimble and responsive, perhaps a bit more understeer today than the Ferrari; Bottas’ quick lap on softs looked imperfect from our position at Turn 5, where he locked the inside front wheel.

[sagi58]

So... Allen thinks the Ferrari and the Williams are closely matched.
Well, if the Williams has a Mercedes engine, does that mean that
Ferrari are close to matching the Mercedes, too?

Please??

[sagi58]

, Staff wrote:">Third day of testing in Barcelona – 13.00 update


Montmelò, 28 February –

Today, Kimi Raikkonen took over from Sebastian Vettel at the wheel of the SF15-T. The team’s programme focused mainly on further aero and set-up testing, while the plan for this afternoon is to run the car in race configuration.

An electrical problem, combined with some pre-planned work, required a long stop in the garage. However, Kimi was out on track again towards the end of the morning, setting the second fastest time so far, in 1:23.276, with the planned programme due to resume after the lunch break.

[sagi58]

Head of Ferrari Press, Alberto Antonini speaks with David Croft at Barcelona (starts at 2:28)

#AskCrofty: 3rd Test Day 2

[sagi58]

, Staff wrote:">Final day of testing in Barcelona – 13.15 update


Montmelò, 1 March

This is the final day of winter testing in Spain for Scuderia Ferrari. Sebastian Vettel is at the wheel of the SF15-T and he is running a similar programme to the one tackled by his team-mate yesterday. That means the German has been doing further aero and set-up testing, while in the afternoon he will tackle a race simulation. Before lunch, Sebastian had covered 46 laps, the best in 1:23.469, second fastest of those on track.

[sagi58]

, Staff wrote:">Testing at the Montmelò circuit – 01 March 2015

Circuit: Montmelò circuit – 4.655 km
Driver: Sebastian Vettel
Car: Ferrari SF15-T
Weather: Air temperature 10/22°C, track temperature 12/31°C. Sunny.
Laps/Km completed: 129/600
Fastest time: 1:23.469
Tyres used: Medium, Proto Medium, Hard.
Programme: aerodynamic test, set up and race simulation.

Sebastian Vettel:

“The positive thing is that, once again, we have done a lot of kilometres and gathered useful information. The fact that our race simulation went more or less as planned is encouraging from a reliability point of view, although this is an aspect where we can still improve. From a performance point of view, it’s clear that Mercedes is still ahead by quite a way, but right behind there is us, Williams and Red Bull, all very close. We will know more in a couple of weeks. Meanwhile we must move forward one step at a time, looking above all at what we are doing ourselves”.

James Allison:

“The day did not run as smooth as yesterday but, in spite of this, we managed to score plenty of laps on our board, successfully completing a race distance, so that now we have two of them under our belt prior to Melbourne. We leave the winter testing pretty happy with the way the car is performing, the way the test has been done and the way the team is operating”.

[sagi58]

, Laurence Edmondson and Nate Saunders wrote:">Who's hot and who's not after winter testing

Ferrari

© Getty Images

Relative to its rivals at the front of the grid, Ferrari appears to have made the most progress over the winter.
The team has worked hard to bring the power unit up to a competitive spec, while addressing the numb front
end and unpredictable rear end of the F14-T. On a race sim, Kimi Raikkonen was roughly 1.8-2.0s a lap quicker
than he was at the Spanish Grand Prix last year - enough to win the race if the SF15-T could travel back in time,
but most likely not enough to beat this year's Mercedes. The team is confident planned upgrades to both power
unit and chassis will narrow the gap over the course of the year, but in testing spec there is still a big gap.

Strength: A much better behaved car than the F14-T that was quick from the very start of testing

Weakness: Sebastian Vettel suffered from very obvious tyre degradation in the final sector during his quick lap
on super-softs, suggesting the SF15-T may have a tendency to lunch its tyres when driven to its very limit

Quickest lap at Circuit de Catalunya: Kimi Raikkonen 1:23.276 (super-soft)

Lap count over three tests: 1,182

A good result in Australia: A podium at the first race would represent big progress on last year

A bad result in Australia: After a strong winter and with two world class drivers, having either car outside the top
eight will be a disappointment

[sagi58]

 wrote:">Ferrari will be on par with Red Bull - Marchionne

Ferrari president Sergio Marchionne on Tuesday admitted the Maranello team might have to wait for its next F1 title. "2018? Absolutely, but we will try to do it a little before," he smiled at the Geneva Motor Show, according to Italian media reports.

Ferrari has emerged from the chaos of 2014 with a car that insiders believe is in a close group behind obvious pacesetters Mercedes. "We will be on par with Red Bull when we go onto the circuit," Marchionne explained, "but we will go to the track and see. I don't want to be critical, but the situation when I arrived was not good. The men and women of Ferrari have done amazing things that I never would have expected in these four months."

Indeed, he said Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel are happy with the SF15-T, but the reigning champions Mercedes "should not be underestimated". "Last year they did something great, and they are prepared to do it again. We will try to stop them," the Italian-Canadian insisted.

[myownalias]

Although I am not a Ferrari fan, I would like to see Ferrari up there fighting with Red Bull, WIlliams, McLaren etc, the more teams up there fighting for the big points, the better in my view.

[sagi58]

After last year's total domination of races, I think many of us share those same sentiments, MOA!!

I realize that Ferrari did have its years of domination; but, I wasn't around at the time!!
And, much as it would be great, I still believe that "open" competition is what this sport needs!!

[sagi58]

 wrote:">Feature: Why 2015 is a big year for...

In the fast-paced world of Formula 1, each race, and every season, counts. Ahead of this weekend's season-opening Australian Grand Prix, GPUpdate.net looks at why 2015 is important for those competing.

Ferrari

Ferrari is without a doubt the leading team with the most to prove, as it seeks to rebuild from a shocking 2014 campaign in which it failed to win a race, finished an uncompetitive fourth in the championship, changed presidents, lost two Team Principals and underwent a significant reshuffling of personnel at Maranello. All of that means that expecting Ferrari to make a leap in 2015 would be naïve, but this year's car is the first overseen by James Allison and the team knows it can amend the problems from 2014 – especially on the engine front.

There will be big pressure on Maurizio Arrivabene but his experience means that Ferrari is well placed to gain on the political side, with its role as the de facto voice of the paddock slipping in recent years. Sebastian Vettel has a long journey ahead after his exit from Red Bull but expectations will be high from the outset as inevitable comparisons will be drawn with Michael Schumacher. So far, the signs are good. Ferrari only carried out long runs towards the end of testing but trackside observers were impressed by the look of the SF15-T.

Not only that, but Vettel's enthusiasm and cheeky nature – often absent in 2014 – appears to have returned. For Kimi Räikkönen, this is a crucial year after his annus horribilis with the F14-T. Pre-season testing suggested that he's much happier; if he can build on the initial glimpses of promise then he'll return to the sharp end of the grid with aplomb.


the other teams on the grid

[sagi58]

 wrote:">Mercedes ahead, but Ferrari are strong – de la Rosa

Pedro de la Rosa claimed that the superiority of Mercedes, which they showed in 2014, will continue in the new championship campaign, but his now ex-employer Ferrari have made serious improvements over the winter.

The Spanish test driver, Pedro de la Rosa worked for Ferrari for a couple of years, but left the team at the end of 2014 as his compatriot Fernando Alonso also took his farewell of the Italian team.

“The dominance of Mercedes is worrying.” – said the 44-year-old golden tester. “They are expected to have a big margin over the rest in Australia. I am not sure how Mercedes could be defeated. If I were to bet, I would put all my money on Mercedes.”

De la Rosa had the opportunity to test Ferrari’s 2015 machinery in the simulator before his contract expired at the end of last year. He had a good feeling with it already back then.

“Ferrari are in a good shape now. The car runs well and the team has a good pre-season behind it. Obviously they haven’t shown what the are really capable of. They ran on different fuel-load compared to the others. The car reacted well to set-up modifications and it seemed to be pretty competitive.”

During the first test in Jerez every test day was won by Ferrari-powered cars. However, Ferrari couldn’t carry that form over to Barcelona. De la Rosa thinks the Italian giant changed its approach which resulted in the slump in form.

“They were very fast in Jerez, then they held something back in Barcelona which was deliberate.”
The Barcelona-born driver disclosed that he has already felt an improvement of the car compared to its predecessor as he could test it after Christmas.

“I was testing the car in the last week of December and I knew the 2015 car was going to be strong. Right after that it was clear that it also works very well in reality.”

According to Italian sources Ferrari are said to take a step back in terms of the power unit as it has revised its programme how they want to use their 32 token allocation over the season. Therefore they are expected to use less developments at the first races which results in less horse power at the dawn of the new campaign.