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[spankyham]

Why F616?

F (Ferrari) 6 (cylinder) 1.6 (litre engine size)

Or like I suggested in the Ferrari thread, I'd prefer if it meant 6 cylinder with 16 wins this year

[sagi58]

Grazie...

((Not that I'll remember that, in a few minutes!! ))

[spankyham]

Snowed under with votes

Maranello, 15 January – Within hours of the on-line ballot opening to choose the name of the next Prancing Horse car, over 105,000 fans from around the world have already cast their vote.

From the USA to China, as well as European countries, including Italy, Spain and Finland, President Montezemolo’s initiative is proving very popular among Ferrari fans, with the number of voters growing exponentially.

At the moment, the names that are proving most popular are F14 T and F166 Turbo. Will it become a two horse race? Or will there be an unexpected fight back? The outcome of the ballot will only be revealed on 24 January, so in the meantime, keep voting.
- See more at: http://formula1.ferrari.com/news/snowed ... 38FP6.dpuf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[What's Burning?]

Vettel got over 417,000 votes on what to name his daughter/2014 car.

[spankyham]

Vettel got over 417,000 votes on what to name his daughter/2014 car.

I think they will easily eclipse that

Perhaps Seb should call her FIAT, cause that will probably get more votes

[What's Burning?]

Redbullina has a nice aftertaste to it.

[sagi58]

Analysis: Ferrari pressure rising in 2014 Formula 1 season

Ferrari has always faced external pressure to win, but the team is also demanding much more of itself in the 2014 Formula 1 season as top brass tire of underachievement.

After years when the team has failed to back up its bold predictions on-track, there is now a sound basis to Ferrari's claims that things should be better this season.

For beyond simply the all-new 2014 regulations serving to shake up the order, there are internal factors that give its chiefs genuine reasons for optimism.

A RESTRUCTURING

Ferrari's 2013 F1 campaign was, on the face of it, a disappointment, as the team lost its early-season momentum and fell away in the second half of the year.

That performance slump did not tell the story of the huge reorganisation going on back at its Maranello base.


Over the last few years there has been a major ramping up of its simulator and simulation facilities, plus director of engineer Pat Fry (pictured) has instilled a lot of new working processes.

It is the fruits of that work that technical director James Allison has been at pains to praise, following his arrival from Lotus towards the end of last year.

"I have been very fortunate to arrive at Ferrari in a period where I am inheriting a huge amount of foundation work that Pat has done in the last few years," he said recently.

"He has been building up the tools and infrastructure at Ferrari to make it a team that can make it compete right at the front of the grid."

WINDTUNNEL BOOST

One of Ferrari's main issues in recent years has been its failure to maintain its rate of development during the season.

Part of the cause of that situation has been windtunnel correlation issues, with updates not producing their predicted pace on track.

A major revamp of Ferrari's Maranello windtunnel, which was shut down for a refit but is now back in use, should be a big boost.


Allison also thinks that the change of aero regulations - specifically relating to exhaust positioning - will help improve matters.

"There are two things of the current [2013] generation of the car that are difficult," he said.

"One is to accurately get the shape of the tyres correct in the windtunnel and the other is to accurately predict where the exhaust will go.

"Up and down the grid, there is a greater or lesser success in getting that correlation to work.

"Ferrari hasn't been bad but I know too we could have been better.

"Ferrari has made a titanic investment in the windtunnel and we are fortunate that we are now using the fruits of that upgrade.

"It will work extremely well in the coming years. So I am very happy about that."

TITLE TARGET

Although the new turbo rules leave much uncertainty ahead of next week's Jerez test, Ferrari does at least believe it has done everything in its power to hit the ground running.


"There are opportunities that we need to make sure that we are taking," explained team principal Stefano Domenicali.

"We have improved a lot of our tools and equipment to make sure that we take all the different things in the best way we can.

"We know it will be a tough challenge, but it will be tough for everyone.

"You know my style - to not say a lot of things and to deal with facts. But it is time to show the level of the skill of our people."

[spankyham]

I sense the optimism at Ferrari has definitely grown since the Jerez testing. This article basically says we are bringing a B spec car to Bahrain - that's how different the car will be to what we had at Jerez. New front wing (well, that was always a given as the front wing they ran at Jerez was a nothing) a new rear wing plus plus plus. Also there will be a major upping of the powertrain.

Well, it is indeed good to hear that the team is satisfied and confident after the first round of testing.

[spankyham]

[sagi58]

I sense the optimism at Ferrari has definitely grown since the Jerez testing. This article basically says we are bringing a B spec car to Bahrain - that's how different the car will be to what we had at Jerez. New front wing (well, that was always a given as the front wing they ran at Jerez was a nothing) a new rear wing plus plus plus. Also there will be a major upping of the powertrain.

Well, it is indeed good to hear that the team is satisfied and confident after the first round of testing.

Also, it sounds like they've ""finally"" got the wind tunnel calibrated, eh?

[spankyham]

Good annoying news - my oxymoron for the day

God news that Merc and Renault are desperate enough to not only not accept the FiA ruling, but to protest at Melb over one of Ferrari's innovations. It's to do with our turbo. The reason they give is they say they don't have enough time to copy so they will protest - even though it has been OK'd by the FiA. Full article >>here<<. All over probably less than a Kg in weight.

So, its annoying they won't accept the ruling, but its good knowing they are worried about us Here's hoping Nando is right and we will be competitive at least this year.

[sagi58]

Good annoying news - my oxymoron for the day

...its annoying they won't accept the ruling, but its good knowing they are worried about us Here's hoping Nando is right and we will be competitive at least this year.

Well, well!! Ferrari is in the "driver's seat" of something new... finally!!
On the "down" side... I wonder how long it will be before we hear that the FIA is cahoots with Ferrari... again...

[spankyham]

Although yesterday was probably the teams worst day of testing, it was fairly mild and, I'm sure we have a competitive car. Couple that with a pair of great drivers and I think we have very good chances.

The two most important things to get off to a great start in the hunt for championships this year will be reliability and the ability to put power to bitumen. I posted a video of the Merc yesterday - I see them shaping as our main opposition this year. The link is >>here<<. It showed the Merc in the hands of Lewis. Just watch what a handful it is for him trying to get the power down to the road. Compare that to the video of Fernando and how smooth he was - remember this was from the 20th when he was again toward the top of the timing sheets. The F14-T looks so well planted. And this circuit is far from a down-force track. I don't think anyone can say which team is best off - the Merc is definitely looking good and has a great driver pairing. But, comparing the handling of the cars, and considering it is Lewis behind the wheel (I rate him a one of the best drivers around) I really like where we are ATM. The only waggle we see for the Ferrari is about the 30 sec mark and it is coming out of a hairpin. Our car is planted.

One more positive thing, the speed traps. I noted that in Jerez we were one of the slowest cars, even though our lap times were very good. Here we are now topping the speed trap top speeds. So we have power to match our rivals and we can put that power down on the road.

*** EDIT - One more thing, note the rake on our car - that too shows the confidence we have in our rear df ***

F14-T/Fernando


W05 - Lewis

[sagi58]

... I don't think anyone can say which team is best off...

Totally agree with you, spanky!! I think most of us watch these test sessions in the hope of seeing
something that indicates just how well our favourite team/driver will be doing this season.

Personally, until they're on track in Australia, I have no clue who's doing well and who isn't!!
Not too long now!!

[spankyham]

... I don't think anyone can say which team is best off...

Totally agree with you, spanky!! I think most of us watch these test sessions in the hope of seeing
something that indicates just how well our favourite team/driver will be doing this season.

Personally, until they're on track in Australia, I have no clue who's doing well and who isn't!!
Not too long now!!

I'm more adventurous than you

I can't say who exactly is "best" at the moment. But I can say for sure that we are toward the top and that we have a good basis to build our year on. We have shown all the things you need this year - good reliability, good aero and we can put the power onto the road. No-one is miles ahead of us, and we have a driver pairing that is the match or better of any team.