Ferrari in Trouble ??

v10

I usually keep a close eye on Formula 1 testing times over the winter and before the start of a season as it generally gives an idea of who has made improvments and and where all the teams stand.
With all the new regulations this year they expacted lap times to drop by up to 2-3 seconds a lap from last years, but it looks like the teams have once again managed to find a way to make up the speed again and testing so far is showing cars doing faster lap times than 2004 times in their 2005 spec cars.

The difference this year is ferrari have only been only appearing in around 5th/6th constantly in testing with Renault and McLaren proving to be the teams to beat.

I know that some of you are thinking that 'ah its only testing, it means nothing' and I would agree if Ferrari where making regular appearances at the top of timesheets and dropping to 5th/6th now and again ... but thats not the case.

Last year I said watch out for BAR after the testing and people reckoned they'll be halfway down the grid again and so on .. and the testing results didn't lie .. they beat McLaren, Williams and Renault to 2nd in the Championship.

Anyways I reckon from what I'm seeing so far thaat Ferrari may have got thing wrong this year ?? and it appears Ralf Scumacher is thinking the same thing. Thats not to say of course that Ferarri won't improve later in the season.

Doper Than U

I dunno, Ferrari have been known to do a bit of sandbagging. I would say that come first race of the season, Ferrari will waltz out on the track and Michael will do one stellar lap a second faster than everyone else, park it, and have a massage waiting for the race. Where he'll do the same thing. I hope not though, I'd like to see it closer this season (who wouldn't?)

galwaydude

what do you think of the jordan situation.Its kinda sad eddie wont be in formula one anymore.I for one hope the ferrari demise is coming as formula one has become very boring in the last few years and lost alot of cred.

Doper Than U

what do you think of the jordan situation.Its kinda sad eddie wont be in formula one anymore

Gutted. Just gutted.

I hope it's not Ferrari's demise, but rather the other teams getting their act together and giving them some serious competition, so Bernie will stop making up random rules to slow the cars down. And no, I don't go to races so I can "see" a car cruising past, I go to see a RACE, and if that means flashes of red and yellow, then so be it.

smokingman

I've been a fan of F1 since '83 and maybe it's just been the dullness of the sport over the last few Ferrari dominated years but I think this year really could be the year it all changes.

Just like v10, I've been keeping an eye on the testing times as well and it looks like Ferrari haven't a chance of the constructors or the drivers championship given their times. Mind you, they are one of the only teams starting with a modified 2004 car so who's to guess their real 2005 car won't tear up the track and leave everyone behind when they introduce it.....

My money is on Raikkonen or Fisi - with the lack of proper downforce, the consistant drivers will get the points methinks...

Gonna be a good year kids,.....a good year indeed!

galwaydude

any news regarding a young irish driver testing for one of the smaller teams, cant think of his name

BANZAI_RUNNER

Guys, every year its the same old story , the demise of the sport due to Ferrari's dominance.So I ask you this , are we seeing the demise of golf with Tiger Woods dominating....NO, During the early ninties were we looking at the demise of the premiership due to Man Uniteds dominance......NO , I blame the other nine teams for the demise of F1, if they spent more time testing and developing their cars , and less time on P.R.things might be different , take McLaren for instance , all we were listening to in the early part of last year was the opening of their new headquarters, the year before they tried out some water-cooled fire suit, the year before that it was all about their new motorhome ,they lost sight of their ultimate goal.Then we come to Renault , or should i say Team Briatore, this is a team where the principal publically berates one drivers even when he wins a race for them , all he is interested in is getting his face in front of the camera.Toyota , an up and coming team , but all we seem to hear is about people being fired, drivers and techies,the same goes for Jaguar, its not rocket science, one of the key factors in Ferrari's sucess is stability amongst the team , the last time ferrari fired anyone of signifigance was Eddie Irvine and look what it has got them , a world championship every year since.Even Bernie has said the rest of the teams should concentrate on winning races , and not whining about Ferrari's dominance, if you ask me other teams have lost their objectivity.

dearg_doom

[OT]

Good points v10, I was rating BAR last year as well, but they had been making great progress ever since they robbed Honda off Jordan , what I thought would be their worst error back then, and I still think that they wasted last season because of it, was their ditching of JV. I reckon he would have been a match for MS in the BAR04 car.

[/OT]

as for Ferrari, are they testing with their 04 car?

A competitive season would be good tho :rolleyes:

Karma

With the season looming ever closer and Jordan in the rough(unknown driver skills and car preformance- not saying much about them-2/3 seconds behind the leading test times...) still going to support them
drivers for this season are Taku, Fisi, jacque?, Kimi, Heinfeld and Truili.
I hope...
so a 5.30 am start or what?

v10

Rubens Barrichello has admitted that Ferrari are currently playing catch-up.

The Brazilian believes that McLaren and Renault will be the teams to beat at the first race of the year in Melbourne.

He said: "We no longer have the advantage that we could enjoy a year ago.

“At the moment I think Renault and McLaren are slightly ahead. But we're not going to panic.

"We always knew that we could have a hard time in the early races but you still have to bear in mind that in Australia and Malaysia we will be competing in very different weather conditions."

One reason why Barrichello is refusing to worry is because Ferrari have yet to run their 2005 car. So far, they have only used an updated version of last year’s F2004 chassis.

The new car will be unveiled next Friday (February 25), but will not be raced until the Spanish Grand Prix in May.

... bet McLaren and Renault are smiling now

Jonny Arson

You rule Ferrari out at your peril I say.

I remember 12 months ago everyone in the motorsport press were saying that Ferrari were slow and that Williams were looking like that it would be their season but we all know what happend in 2004 don't we.

There is no doubt that Renault are fast, so are McLaren, no sure about Williams and BAR have reliability issues. Ferrari will be up at the sharp end of the grid, they are the true class act but I do expect that this season will not be as easy this time around. The tyre war could be a huge swinging point in the destiny of this years title. With the rule that only one set of tyres are permitted, tyres are going to be more important than ever and if Michelin can come up with something special, I think there is a huge chance Ferrari could be dethroned at the top of F1.

Jonny Arson

galwaydude wrote:

any news regarding a young irish driver testing for one of the smaller teams, cant think of his name

Are you refering to Richard Lyons? If you are I honestly don't know what is happening with him at the moment. He nearly landed a late deal to drive for Jordan at last years Japanese GP but that fell through due to maoney issues.

Richard won both last years Formula Nippon and Japanese GT championships so there is no doubt that he has massive potential. I sincerly hope he manages to get a test drive with a formula one team as he deserves it. My hope is that he will maybe come to Europe and try to secure a GP2 drive or maybe go the states and try and secure a Champ Car or IRL ride. He is one for the future but he needs to be racing at a higher level than Formula Nippon if he is to make F1.