Ferrari targeting 'maximum points'
Wednesday 8th October 2008
Ferrari head to Japan this weekend with one goal in mind: bagging maximum points in their race for the World titles.
The Scuderia lost ground to McLaren at the previous race in Singapore when neither Felipe Massa nor Kimi Raikkonen managed to finish in the points.
It was a disappointing outcome for Ferrari after the race held much promise with Massa actually leading at one stage and Raikkonen on his way to his first points-finish in four races.
However, a bungled pit stop and a drive-through penalty saw Massa fall well outside the points while Raikkonen put his car into the wall while sitting in fourth place.
As a result Massa dropped a further six points behind Championship rival Lewis Hamilton and now trails the McLaren driver by seven points with Ferrari also being overtaken by McLaren in the Constructors' Championship.
"As I said in Singapore immediately after the night race there, our target in Japan and also in the final two races will be to come away with maximum points," said team boss Stefano Domenicali.
"It is a simple statement but also a very difficult task! However, we have the potential to achieve this goal and we believe we can do it.
"Our stated objective of winning both titles was rendered more difficult after the result of the last race where, apart from the complication of dealing with the first Safety Car period, we did not help ourselves with the mistake made during Felipe's pit stop."
In a bid to close the gap to McLaren, Ferrari will introduce new updates to the F2008 in time for this weekend's race at the Fuji Speedway
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Fuji race preview
http://www.itv-f1.com/Feature.aspx?Type ... l&id=44169Monday, 06 October 2008 17:31
A year ago Lewis Hamilton left Fuji looking certain to clinch the world championship at the first attempt.
His crushingly dominant performance in atrocious weather left him 12 points ahead of the field with just two races remaining, and with the opportunity to wrap up the title in China a week later.
Then things went horribly awry...
Ever since then Hamilton has been determined to make up for the way the 2007 championship slithered from his grasp, and last year’s events will certainly be at the forefront of his mind in Japan this weekend.
Right now, he’s in a better position than twelve months ago: leading the standings by seven points rather than a mere two.
He can’t clinch the title in Japan, but he could put himself in a position to do so in China.
It’s far from over, though.
Last year Kimi Raikkonen left Fuji 17 points behind and three weeks later was celebrating a shock championship victory – and 2008 has been no less dramatic and unpredictable than the incredible 2007 season.
So Hamilton and McLaren are taking nothing for granted, and are adopting a very different strategy to last year.
Lewis has often repeated the mantra that this year’s crown will go to whoever makes the fewest mistakes, and his cautious drive to third at Singapore – when he calmly followed David Coulthard and Nico Rosberg’s slower cars rather than trying any aggressive moves – showed that he is playing it safe right now.
That might be disappointing for the fans who relish his swashbuckling overtaking moves, but McLaren’s reasoning is that the world title is worth far more – and will be remembered far longer – than any short-lived race glory.
Hamilton can now afford to finish second to main title rival Felipe Massa in all the remaining races and he will still be champion, so don’t expect any wheel-to-wheel heroics in Japan.
By contrast, Ferrari has to attack – so is aiming for nothing less than a hat-trick of one-two finishes.
That’s the result it probably would’ve got in Singapore had its weekend not imploded during that now infamous pit stop.
Being beaten by both Ferraris would be bad news for Hamilton, but with Kimi Raikkonen still only showing sporadic flashes of his true ability (the reigning champion hasn’t even scored since Hungary two months ago), he can focus primarily on Massa.
Ferrari seemed to have the faster package in Singapore, but that was a unique circuit, and in recent months there has normally been nothing to choose between the top two teams.
Singapore threw a wild card into the pack, though, as Alonso and Renault romped to a surprise victory.
The double champion certainly isn’t a title threat this year and his win owed a lot to luck, yet his blistering practice times showed that Renault was a genuine front-runner on the Singapore streets.
Whether it will be that quick at Fuji remains to be seen – and the track’s never-ending front straight (the longest in F1) won’t help a self-confessedly under-powered team.
But Alonso is in absolutely peak form at the moment and is wrestling the utter maximum from the Renault, so is certainly a potential thorn in the title contenders’ side.
The chances of a surprise result at Fuji are pretty high, thanks entirely to the region’s climate.
Dry weather would be more out of the ordinary than wet at Fuji Speedway at this time of year, and when F1 returned to the venue last season it was greeted by downpours reminiscent of the famous 1976 race in which James Hunt claimed his title.
Rain would be good news for celebrated rain-master Hamilton (especially if McLaren’s new ‘safety first’ philosophy prevents costly incidents like the Monza qualifying tyre choice gamble), but bad news for Massa, with Ferrari’s wet track performance having often been embarrassing this year.
Soggy conditions would also increase the likelihood of an underdog getting amongst the title contenders – and all eyes will surely be on Toro Rosso’s Sebastian Vettel after his jaw-dropping pole and win in the Italian rain.
Fuji 2007 was the race when Vettel announced his talent to the F1 world – but also the most heart-rending disappointment of his career.
He flourished in the rain, qualifying eighth and running a very competitive third, only to plough into the back of Red Bull stable-mate Mark Webber as they warmed their tyres behind the safety car.
Given that Webber was poised to challenge Hamilton for the lead, this was an utter catastrophe for the entire Red Bull F1 programme, and Vettel was distraught at his clumsy error.
With Toro Rosso in fine form and few drivers faster in the wet, Vettel has a great chance to atone for that this weekend – although perhaps the fairest result would be a strong finish for the unfortunate Webber.
Rain would also increase the likelihood of a safety car intervention, and recent weeks have shown how influence that can be on a race result...
To some extent, though, even another underdog victory would be a sideshow this weekend.
With just three races to go and only 30 points up for grabs, Fuji is really going to be all about the title battle.
Either Hamilton will leave Japan a big step closer to the crown, or Massa will head home having thrust himself right back into contention.
Expect another unpredictable epic at the foot of Mount Fuji.
...still ... BASTA ! 
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