Posted in: Formula One
Scarlet Cars asked:
I am a great fan of ferrari and Raikkonen, but the thing is the team and the pit crews have been making too much errors in last few races.Be it the engine halt of Massa and Raikkonen few races back , pit stop strategy errors to errors by the pit crew. Why did they have to bring Raikkonen at the same time as Massa in the pits yesterday? if they fueled Raikkonen heavier in the Q3.
I am a great fan of ferrari and Raikkonen, but the thing is the team and the pit crews have been making too much errors in last few races.Be it the engine halt of Massa and Raikkonen few races back , pit stop strategy errors to errors by the pit crew. Why did they have to bring Raikkonen at the same time as Massa in the pits yesterday? if they fueled Raikkonen heavier in the Q3.
September 22nd 2009
To answer the point about refuelling the cars together, Massa was probably meant to stop during the start of the safety car period but couldn’t come in because the pit lane was closed; he just had to try not to run out of fuel and come in as soon as he could. Unfortunately Kimi either was also supposed to stop while the pitlane was closed, or the lap it opened was the lap he was supposed to stop anyway. Part of the comedy in the pitlane is due to that stupid lights system they use. Bring back the lollipop man.
I put this to answer another Q earlier:
Ferrari have, in 2008, reminded me of how they were in the old days. There have been so few Ferrari champions (compared to the number of seasons they have been around) simply because until the Todt/Brawn/Schumacher era you could always rely on somebody in the team to make a mess of things. Italian teams didn’t get their reputation for running around like headless chickens at the slightest hint of a crisis just out of thin air.
If it wasn’t Enzo himself playing politics, then it was a power struggle amongst his yes-men causing the trouble. If they were all behaving themselves, then maybe the team manager would get himself in a mess. Or even if all that worked, then the drivers could always be relied upon to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. This year, with the power vacuum in the team, it has been just like I remember it being in my childhood: Ferrari having loads of money, lots of luck, a good car, good drivers and still contriving to throw it all away.
September 23rd 2009
I have to disagree there. The drivers have some issues to sort out as well.
Massa- good driver but when he suffers from some setbacks… he’s like a deflated tyre. He loses all will to fight, give it his best shot and improve his luck
Kimi- great driver too… but suffers from demotivation at times and possibly lack of focus during the race. May need wake up calls at regular intervals
Team- Ever since Schumi left, Ferrari was never the same. What’s more with Rory Bryne, Jean Todt and Ross Brawn leaving. They can’t seem to manage without these guys. Ferrari was using a semi auto refuel system in Singapore, no lollipop man… and the mechanics in charge of the fuel nozzle seemed to be chilling out a little while doing their job.
All teams know that queueing cars wastes time but I think they were forced to do that during that long SC period. However, if they had a better team strategist, they might’ve found another way. They ought to bring back their lollipop man even if they still want to use the semi auto refuel system. Better be pound wise rather than penny foolish