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[smokin]

The dichotomy between Ferrari's pace and success in winter testing and their pace today is striking. At least with McLaren, we understand it's because they changed the car. Why then is the Ferrari on such different pace? They were looking like being right up with the Red Bulls, instead they can barely hang with the McLarens.

Albert Park is different to the tracks they tested on, cooler, not so abrasive, but their lack of pace is odd. From onboard shots the Ferrari looked downright squirmy in some of the corners, with Alonso fighting the car to get as high as he did, and Massa's brush with the kerb exiting the pitlane looked far too minor to unsettle the car so extravagantly. Massa has a history of not being able to get his tyres up to temperature and not being able to deal well with the lack of grip. Maybe the Ferrari setup is oversensitive to tyre temperature issues.

[Hammer278]

An oversensitive car with tyres that change characteristics nearly every lap + movable rear wing = not pretty.

I remember Alonso oversteering out of the final corner as well in Q2 if not mistaken, it really looked fidgety.

[texasmr2]

Yes the Ferrari looks very finicky (a handfull) hopefully it's just the tires causing the issue but only time will tell.

[Jensonb]

Yes the Ferrari looks very finicky (a handfull) hopefully it's just the tires causing the issue but only time will tell.

The Mercedes, at least Schumacher's - I didn't see much of Nico onboard so his may be the same - appears to be suffering a similar fate.

[darwin dali]

Where are Spanky's pearls of wisdom now?

[smokin]

Where are Spanky's pearls of wisdom now?

With apologies to spankyham.

[darwin dali]

Where are Spanky's pearls of wisdom now?

With apologies to spankyham.

A bit harsh

[f1ea]

Where are Spanky's pearls of wisdom now?

With apologies to spankyham.

we need the race soon! all this looking for explanations is making me feel like abu dhabi

[vaptin]

Well, he's trying, lets see if the season comes to him, he's dragging that car at the moment.

[smokin]

Well, he's trying, lets see if the season comes to him, he's dragging that car at the moment.

Baffled by Ferrari's lack of pace after their good showing in testing. Alonso had to haul that pig up to fifth in qualifying and he's not getting much help from Massa. There was a quick change of position immediately after Button's short cut but other than that Massa's just too slow to be of any use to either Alonso or Ferrari. Until the Sauber DSQ, Petrov had more points on his own than Alonso and Massa combined.

[F1er]

Last season he won the opening race and benefited from others misfortunes throughout the year. I say this season his chances just got slimmer.

[oli_t]

In other news:
Barack Obama targets second term as US President.
David Cameron targets second term as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Chicago Cubs target winning World Series for first time in over 100 years.
Man playing Call of Duty: Black Ops targets opposing player.
A**hole playing Call of Duty: Black Ops targets player on the same team.
Man competing in archery tournament targets bullseye.
Man in public toilet targets the drain at the bottom of the urinal.
Kimi Raikkonen targets can of Coca-Cola and an ice cream.
Jacques Villeneuve targets F1 drive, or at least a number 1-selling record.
Bernie Ecclestone targets succeeding Max Mosley as the "unpopular demented dictator at the heart of F1".
Formula One fans target watching Australian Grand Prix in reasonable comfort.
Idiots target preventing gay marriage.
Reasonable people target the opposite.
Paul Douglas targets hosting late-night talk show...

And I could go on.

HAHA class

[vaptin]

Well, he's trying, lets see if the season comes to him, he's dragging that car at the moment.

Baffled by Ferrari's lack of pace after their good showing in testing. Alonso had to haul that pig up to fifth in qualifying and he's not getting much help from Massa. There was a quick change of position immediately after Button's short cut but other than that Massa's just too slow to be of any use to either Alonso or Ferrari. Until the Sauber DSQ, Petrov had more points on his own than Alonso and Massa combined.

I know, Ferrari haven't said much about whats going on either, I'm worried they just don't know. Suppose it could always been some top secret tricky device they're trying to implement.

[Hammer278]

I'm waiting for more of spankyhams 'Forza Ferrari'! quotes to brighten up my day...unfortunately I've been waiting quite a bit.

[spankyham]

Where are Spanky's pearls of wisdom now?

With apologies to spankyham.

A bit harsh

Sorry guys, have been traveling a bit

Absolutely love the pic Smokin, will use that I'm sure.

Pearls of wisdom? Ferrari had a really bad Saturday. Clearly their changes went pear-shaped. They got a little back on Sunday. Excellent drive from Nando and I thought Felipe did very well also, the team cost him at least one spot with a silly call.

The F150 is a fundamentally good and competitive car. You can over analyze their weekend, but probably the simplest answer is the right answer - our setup changes on Saturday stunk!

As well, Ferrari has always been strong on mechanical grip, we are learning about aeros but have a ways to go yet. When Enzo was still with us, someone asked him about aeros - he answered that areos were for teams who couldn't build engines. That's one he clearly got wrong, but it shows a bit of Ferrari thinking. Those who remember, will know tyre heating has always been an issue since at least 2003. Melb was the first time we had a cool track with a non-abrasive surface - I mentioned this a on Saturday.

When all the doom and gloom was being posted about the McLaren during testing, I went on record quite a few times saying the lap times everyone was worrying about meant nothing. I even posted a link to a graphic that showed they were actually right on pace when you looked at only their racing laps - threw out the aero runs etc. I don't think the MP4-26 was improved that much in two weeks without testing - it always was about this good.

For the Tifosi - if you care to think back, not that long ago, there was another car that's behavior changed dramatically on cold tracks - I'd accept that problem if we got the same result they did