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[sagi58]

He was tired of receiving IOU's

I guess they're not so easy to deposit at the bank, eh?

[ptiberio]

He was tired of receiving IOU's

I guess they're not so easy to deposit at the bank, eh?

Nor the nightclubs :thumbup:

[What's Burning?]

Some Scuderia fans are going to be heartbroken.
Ferrari rules out sacking Domenicali

Luca di Montezemolo has ruled out firing Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali, arguing that the team boss has put in place a structure that will soon start yielding championship victories again.

Ferrari has not won a drivers' championship since Kimi Raikkonen took the title in 2007 and last won the constructors' in 2008. Domenicali has overseen two near misses in the last three years and, as well as signing Raikkonen for 2014, has overhauled the technical side of the team, bringing in James Allison from Lotus and revamping the Maranello wind tunnel.

Asked by Gazzetta dello Sport if Domenicali will be replaced, Montezemolo said: "Never, he would be missed.

"He was the first to advocate the choice of Kimi. He has worked well, preparing for the future and now I expect to see results in the present. But, over the past three years, we have lost two world titles at the last race and it was not his fault.

"I've been around a long time, from the point eleven years on from [John] Surtees' title. Then as president, with Schumacher and the [Jean] Todt-[Ross] Brawn-[Rory] Byrne triumvirate, we created a golden era and now the team is ready to start winning again.

"The void since the Schumacher era was caused by delays on the simulation front and with the aerodynamics. However, in all but three years, Ferrari has always been in the title fight right to the last race.

"I am counting a lot on James Allison. With him came the head of aerodynamics from Lotus [Dirk de Beer] and other new faces. Finally, we will have the creativity we were lacking. Allison knows the team and the men and he speaks Italian.

"Others wanted him, but he

[Hammer278]

Putting my best efforts to think as a Ferrari fan ( ) I can't see too much which Domenicalli has done wrong. The facts are that Ferrari have competed for WDCs till the last race and so narrowly lost out on both.

In a way Alonso is also responsible for a lot of heat on Domenicalli. His marketing gimmicks of "my car is a midfielder but my awesomeness makes the difference" has really made people think the cars were crap and Domenicalli is at fault. The cars under him have been solid, if not quickest...but no one else has gotten close to Redbull. How bad a job could he be doing? Especially with wind tunnel issues and switching the suspension design, the famous 'leap' which few others have done, or yet to do.

Domenicalli might appear soft, but he's not been a bad team leader so far IMHO. Many other worse team bosses out there, and very few good ones to spare nowadays anyway.

[ptiberio]

Some Scuderia fans are going to be heartbroken.
Ferrari rules out sacking Domenicali

Luca di Montezemolo has ruled out firing Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali, arguing that the team boss has put in place a structure that will soon start yielding championship victories again.

Ferrari has not won a drivers' championship since Kimi Raikkonen took the title in 2007 and last won the constructors' in 2008. Domenicali has overseen two near misses in the last three years and, as well as signing Raikkonen for 2014, has overhauled the technical side of the team, bringing in James Allison from Lotus and revamping the Maranello wind tunnel.

Asked by Gazzetta dello Sport if Domenicali will be replaced, Montezemolo said: "Never, he would be missed.

"He was the first to advocate the choice of Kimi. He has worked well, preparing for the future and now I expect to see results in the present. But, over the past three years, we have lost two world titles at the last race and it was not his fault.

"I've been around a long time, from the point eleven years on from [John] Surtees' title. Then as president, with Schumacher and the [Jean] Todt-[Ross] Brawn-[Rory] Byrne triumvirate, we created a golden era and now the team is ready to start winning again.

"The void since the Schumacher era was caused by delays on the simulation front and with the aerodynamics. However, in all but three years, Ferrari has always been in the title fight right to the last race.

"I am counting a lot on James Allison. With him came the head of aerodynamics from Lotus [Dirk de Beer] and other new faces. Finally, we will have the creativity we were lacking. Allison knows the team and the men and he speaks Italian.

"Others wanted him, but he

How many times has the boss given a vote of confidence to their "coach" or "manager" only to sack them weeks later...lets see what happens after the season is over. If I were Stephano I would put faith in what Luca said...didn't Luca make the statement that he would't consider Kimi because two roosters could never work well together? Then weeks later there are two roosters in the coup

[sagi58]

Putting my best efforts to think as a Ferrari fan ( ) I can't see too much which Domenicalli has done wrong. The facts are that Ferrari have competed for WDCs till the last race and so narrowly lost out on both.

In a way Alonso is also responsible for a lot of heat on Domenicalli. His marketing gimmicks of "my car is a midfielder but my awesomeness makes the difference" has really made people think the cars were crap and Domenicalli is at fault. The cars under him have been solid, if not quickest...but no one else has gotten close to Redbull. How bad a job could he be doing? Especially with wind tunnel issues and switching the suspension design, the famous 'leap' which few others have done, or yet to do.

Domenicalli might appear soft, but he's not been a bad team leader so far IMHO. Many other worse team bosses out there, and very few good ones to spare nowadays anyway.

You did a commendable job, Hammer!! Having said that, let me ask you:

Granted, Ferrari has blamed the wind tunnel correlations for years; but, who "should" have been responsible for having that updated?
Who "should" have been rethinking the driver line-up when you had one driver 2nd in the standings and the other one so far off the mark?

As for Alonso's "marketing gimmicks" ((??? seriously ???)), his driving skills have been the deciding factor in his success at Ferrari,
considering the issues Ferrari has had!! Otherwise, why would Massa have been given the benefit of the doubt?

[sagi58]

Once you get past the "sensationalized" title, you'll see that di Montezemolo, et al are pretty excited about Kimi's imminent arrival!!

staff wrote:">Kimi can beat Alonso - Montezemolo

Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo has suggested Kimi Raikkonen can beat Fernando Alonso when they become team-mates next year, comparing the Finn with Niki Lauda at McLaren in the early 1980s.

Raikkonen will return to Ferrari in 2014 as Fernando Alonso's team-mate, offering up one of the most exciting driver pairings on the grid. He last drove for the team in 2009 when he was paid off at the end of the year to make way for Alonso and subsequently took a two-year sabbatical to go rallying.

Montezemolo believes Raikkonen's career trajectory is the same as three-time champion Lauda, who retired from the sport at the end of 1979 as a double world champion only to return with McLaren two years later. In 1984 he went on to win the title, beating Alain Prost by half a point and against the odds.

"Raikkonen is a case almost identical to that of Lauda, Niki also said 'enough' at one point because he was sick with Formula One," Montezemolo told Gazzetta dello Sport. "I spoke of the twin brother of Kimi [in 2009] because the driver we had was not the same one we had hired [in 2007]. The break has been good, he has returned to the top, won, and finished many races. I want a driver who will not make me regret losing [Felipe] Massa, and here he is. I want wins, consistent performances and podiums.

"Alonso will be the first to benefit and I'm happy he [Raikkonen] is back among us; the Ferrari employees have welcomed the news because he left good memories. Returning to Lauda, when he returned with renewed energy he beat Prost to the title... "

But despite the prospect of a threat from within, Montezemolo insists Alonso is happy for Raikkonen to join the team.

"We are not so masochistic as to hire a driver without informing Alonso. Fernando has always been aware of the choice of Raikkonen and also that the alternative of a young man gave us no certainties in the world championship. Raikkonen today is one of the strongest drivers in the sport, with Alonso, Vettel and Hamilton. Alonso was the first to be happy with his arrival."

Talking about the recent differences of opinion with Alonso - which have been played out in the media - Montezemolo said he liked to see the passion in his driver.

"I am the first to understand his discontent," he added. "Let's say his dissatisfaction is like the anger of a footballer who is called to the bench and tells the manager to get stuffed. But I'd rather deal with someone like that than a wuss!"

[ptiberio]

Way to go Stephano...you finally get it!!!!

Remember Stephano this happened under your watch and you waited years to take care of the problem

Domenicali says it's 'crucial' Ferrari have their wind tunnel up and running
Stefano Domenicali has admitted that properly calibrating Ferrari's wind tunnel will be "crucial" for their competitiveness in 2014 and beyond.

The Scuderia's Team Principal was speaking on Sunday night after watching Red Bull and Sebastian Vettel score a crushing win at the Singapore Grand Prix. The success once again underlined the aerodynamic advantage the World Champions enjoy, while Ferrari's attempts to play catch-up remain hampered by correlation problems with their wind tunnel.

The problems are long-standing, with Ferrari closing the Maranello facility and using Toyota Motorsport's wind tunnel in Cologne to develop their current F138.

Work on the car's successor is already advanced and Ferrari's own wind tunnel is scheduled to be back up and running at the end of October - and in the nick of time, according to Domenicali, bearing in mind next year's rule changes.

"It's crucial for us. For two years, maybe more, we had correlation problems with small models, so we are really looking forward to opening up again. That will be a massive tool to use," he said.

"It's like playing basketball with one hand behind. You do it for training but when you play, it's better to use two hands."

With Ferrari's Fernando Alonso now 60 points behind Vettel in the standings after trailing home a distant second at Marina Bay, Domenicali admitted that the title is now Red Bull's to lose.

Like most teams, Ferrari are now concentrating most of their efforts on next year, when comprehensive new rules aimed at increasing efficiency will be introduced.

"There is still one group of people that are working on the last things that are almost ready," Domenicali said of Ferrari's remaining upgrades. "Most of the troops are already oriented to the new project. I believe honestly that all the others are doing the same.

"You will see the project that comes out next year and realize that if you lose more time, it will be very difficult to recover."

Red Bull might enjoy a significant aerodynamic advantage but with Vettel winning four of the last five races, Domenicali also believes the tire change Pirelli made over the summer for safety reasons has played into their hands.

"I think it's a fact that the change of specification of the tires reshuffled the general performance of all the cars. That is a fact, so I have to say they were able to solve their issue," Domenicali said.

Asked whether Ferrari might be able to gain more tire performance in the remaining six races, he replied: "We will try but it's micro-management. There is nothing really huge that it's possible to do in that respect." Sky Sports

[ptiberio]

Ferrari has reopened their wind tunnel secretly ahead of their announced "official" opening in a few weeks when work starts on the 2014 championship winning racecar.

As a special project to test the calibration of the wind tunnel they wind tunnel tested a new sled for the man in red

Here is the sleek new design

[racechick]

They trying to disguise that vehicle as a Mercedes?

[racechick]

Iv'e posted this guys links before. Last time on the vettel thread. This time it's a Ferrari link. Ferrari fans, watch the video, you'll like it.
https://twitter.com/thejudge13/status/3 ... 8246374400

Ps. You have to scroll down a bit to where it says 'Ferrari lacklustre'

PPS there's also a picture of Kimi's house just above that section.

[sagi58]

Thanks, RC!!

eccola...

[youtube]ieAaEDOFMBc[/youtube]

[Jabberwocky]

What is with the green bear this weekend?

Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk 4

[Ferrari man 009]

Red Bull and Vettel may have the drivers and constructors titles basically tied up, but Ferrari are looking like winning the biggest competition...

...Ferrari lead the Sky Sports Pit Challenge by 6 points from Red Bull and won at the last race in Japan

Red Bull might have the best car on the 2012 tyres, but Ferrari have the best pitcrew

[ptiberio]

What I don't get is that Ferrari is going to fast track a new F1 factory to be built next to it's new (and hopefully properly calibrated) wind tunnel yet they still are going to keep Domenicalli as Team Principal.

A new facility is always cool for the workers and engineers and Ferrari does have a top notch facility already but when the Team principal
provides no motivation, can't rally the troops and would rather be Horner's personal pin cushion why bother?

They have made some great personnel moves and got rid of Massa as the #2, wind wind tunnel ready to open but the same old team leader. Maybe Stephano "works for food and cigs" which is why Luca keeps him around