bhall II wrote:GPR-A wrote:So, I wasn't wrong in my assessment [that Ferrari "should have a design office, somewhere in UK"] and someone else thinks the same too.
Below is a picture of the great John Barnard working at Ferrari Guildford Technical Office, which he opened in 1988 in Surrey. It was there that he pioneered the semi-automatic gearbox.
http://i.imgur.com/HCwFJFV.jpg
The result was a third-place finish bookended by two second-place finishes..
http://i.imgur.com/Y4VsvZw.png
And how long did they sustained the UK operations? Anyone who knows doing business, understands it's a matter of sustaining the initial investment, lay down a solid platform and then over a long period of time, reep the benefits. First of all, they half heartedly opened a center in UK, didn't really showed commitment to it and then after one year, closed it down and ran back home. When they amalgamated Jean Todt, MS, Ross Brawn and Rory Byrne, did they won the championship in the first year? Clearly shows, lack of ability and intent to build a new platform, outside the comfort zone of their stupidity.
bhall II wrote:As for the difficulty of recruiting talent to Maranello...
motorsport.com, Dec 5, 2014 wrote:Adrian Newey agreed a sensational move to Ferrari earlier this year, it has emerged.
[...]
But a report in Russia's Championat claims Red Bull in fact came excruciatingly close to losing Newey altogether this year.
The report said the 55-year-old Briton had even "shaken hands" with now-departed president Luca di Montezemolo on a move to Ferrari for 2015 and beyond.
The report explained: "The agreement was leaked to the Italian press and Newey regarded it as an example of how political Ferrari is and so he informed Luca that the deal was off."
(Working at Ferrari requires a thick skin, an attribute not commonly found in F1's crowded sea of prima donnas.)
Let me quote it correctly, "Working with prejudiced idiots requires a thick skin". And if the wait is for such a person, they probably have to wait for another continental drift to complete.
bhall II wrote:Ferrari's problem is McLaren's problem: it's no longer possible to contend for Championships every year, because there will always be a team that's willing to sacrifice performance for a year or two (or three) in order to devote huge resources toward mastering future regulations. We saw it with Red Bull, and now we're seeing it with Mercedes. To go against that trend is to gradually slip further and further behind.
Ferrari's problem is simply, their own creation and McLaren's problem is that they do not want to get into Engine business and hence running from piller to post in search of having a manufacturer who takes them as a Works team. When Mercedes supported them, they did won championships. They can still win if Honda helps them.
bhall II wrote:In any case, it seems Ferrari has (wisely) already shifted to 2017...
Knowing fully that they don't have enough talent in them to use the regulation changes to their advantage, I wouldn't be surprised if they turn up in Barcelona in February with a dog. The story of throwing the towel would continue.....
1. Last year, at Canada GP, it was supposed to be a 70% new car that was supposed to help them start the challenge for championship.
2. This year's car WAS COMPLETELY NEW CONCEPT, as there were some fundamental problems with 2015 car, which is now supposed to mount the championship challenge. At the end of winter testing, they were JUST 0.2 seconds behind Mercedes !!!
3. Next year.... "Oh, we didn't get the regulations right, so let's concentrate for 2018".
bhall II wrote:motorsport.com, Jun 11, 2016 wrote:However, Ferrari sources insist that Allison is wholly committed to the Ferrari project and is fully focused on sorting out the 2017 car that the team hopes will allow it to regularly compete at the top.
Given the same budget and facilities, a Force India would surely win a championship every other year, to say the least.