Scuderia Ferrari 2014

[windwaves]

Certainly Montezemolo has some responsibility and primarily not recognizing earlier Domenicali's remarkable inability to manage the team and lead. Sadly there is no way around that. But in general Monti has done for Ferrari incredible and historical things (in and out of F1). Domenicali has accomplished absolutely nothing but damaged a great team.

No, not interest in starting a discussion on this just wanted to respond with my thoughts to your comment about the real and only legend here, Montezemolo and of course recognize his big mistake as well.

Anyhow, indeed, fresh start next year (oops, except for Kimi, omg, that is going to be a good one!)

Domenicali accomplished nothing and had no ability to lead because every important decision within his time as team principal was made by Montezemolo. If I hired you as team leader, but then made all the decisions myself, who is responsible for the success or failure of the team?

I don't know if Domenicali would have been a good or bad leader, only that he was not given any chance to lead at all.

I tend to disagree with this. In fact, to the contrary my understanding is that Monte was much less involved in the decision making process in the last few years as compared to the pre-Domenicali days. Domenicali had ample powers and drove most of the decisions as Monte increasingly focused on selling cars and he did an amazing job at that. Again, I do not think Monte had no responsibility at all, he was president after all. However, if Domenicali felt that he was not given proper authority to do his job successfully he should have resigned much earlier himself. He was just too soft, in banking we call them "empty suits". The "yes sir" types. Too weak, no bones. The types who cannot win in F1.

[windwaves]

I think it was Alonso more than Ferrari tbh.

yep, I think so too.

[Phil]

On the topic of Brazil 2015 and outlook onto 2016 and the pace of the Ferrari, James Allen posted this article...

http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/2015/11/s ... e-in-2016/

Vettel finished 14 seconds behind the race winner Nico Rosberg’s Mercedes after 71 laps, which is an average of 0.2s per lap deficit to the world champion car. It still sounds like a lot, but it’s the kind of margin that can be bridged over a winter. The qualifying deficit remains the one Ferrari must overcome for Vettel to consistently challenge for the title.

...

Although he was never close enough in the race to make a move on either Mercedes, he did disrupt them by switching strategy and overall was delighted with the relative pace.

Found this on James Allen site which I felt was interesting. I don't agree though; I think the Ferrari seemed quicker because they were on a 3 stop from the beginning, which led to Mercedes also going onto "plan B" when Vettel stopped early. Had Mercedes targeted a 3 stop from the beginning, they would have driven faster (budgeted the tires differently for fewer number of laps by running a higher pace) which would have led to an overall higher gap.

I remember looking at the gap to Ferrari about a third into the race (lap 24) and it was already at 7 seconds if I recall correctly. Had that relative gap increased linearly, the Mercedes could have been finished as much as over 21 seconds ahead. That would be roughly 0.3s a lap in Brazil. A lot can happen until 2016, but I don't think Mercedes is standing still either.

One thing is for damn sure though; Vettel is impressive in that Ferrari.

[ME4ME]

..

Gravedigger

[Juzh]

Had Mercedes targeted a 3 stop from the beginning, they would have driven faster (budgeted the tires differently for fewer number of laps by running a higher pace) which would have led to an overall higher gap.

But hamilton did and wrecked his tires twice?

[Phil]

Damn, I think I posted this in the wrong thread. There are two sides to the topic; One is their relative gap to Mercedes (which was the key point in posting it in this topic), the other is the circumstances in the race. I believe Hamilton had higher tire wear due to driving too close to Rosberg. I think Rosberg, as the leading car who was in clean air just as much as Vettel further behind was, were driving to deltas assuming a 2 stop race. Ferrari was to a 3 stop, at least upon a certain point, and thus I think the gap is slightly under-exaggerated. I think had both driven to the same stint lengths and made the best of them, the gap between the Mercedes and the Ferrari would be greater than what it end up being.

Perhaps it's safe to say that the engines could end up rather close to each other by next year if they aren't already - but I do wonder how good the car itself is and its aero to challenge for wins on outright pace (and not thanks to better tire deg like in Malaysia and Singapore this year).

[wickedz50]

Any idea if Ferrari tested their 2016 package on either cars in the last 2 GP? I was hoping that they will use their 2016 package for the last few races for 2015.

[Cold Fussion]

Any idea if Ferrari tested their 2016 package on either cars in the last 2 GP? I was hoping that they will use their 2016 package for the last few races for 2015.

If your 2016 package is ready for November you have done a poor job at time management.

[GoranF1]

Hamilton: "it is difficult to assess how good it (Sebastian Vettel) is in reality. It has never been on a team with someone like Fernando Alonso"

[Writinglife]

Guys, you're posting in the 2014 thread. Maybe the old threads should be locked once the current year cars are revealed (so the 2015 thread would lock whne the 2016 car is unveiled or when the 2016 season starts)