Ferrari pinning hopes on modified F60
The Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro will race with a modified F60 this weekend at the British Grand Prix. And alas, both drivers will use the new lightweight chassis, the first time by Felipe Massa. The updates were tested at Fiorano on Monday by Massa, whom was stuck with straightline testing duties as Marce Gene was away at Le Mans.
The main task was to evaluate a new front wing and suspension geometry, the latter aimed at improving the cars weight distribution by shifting it forward, thus improving frong end grip and reaching optimum tyre temperature more effectively.
And as the car is equipped with KERS, the weight distribution has been rear-biased. Thus another development which will aid in better weight distribution is the new lighter KERS system, which Ferrari has yet to share by how much.
Smaller but also important updates will be the new wheel flanges and their new respective mounting systems for the front wheels.
Silverstone’s characteristics are similar to the last venue, Turkey, in that it has several high speed corners and fast flowing sections, all leading to a slow final sector. For the British Grand Prix, Bridgestone will be bringing the same tyres as were used in the last round, the soft and hard, although they will be operating at far lower temperatures than those experienced in Istanbul.
Racing on the home track of the majority of Ferrari’s rivals has lost some of its significance, now that the British teams get no more testing here than the Scuderia, but the red cars have always been very popular with the knowledgeable British crowd who have always given the team a warm welcome.
This weekend will be all about local boy Jenson Button and his Brawn team, while Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa will be concentrating on making the most of the changes to the F60 package for this weekend, in an attempt to move up the order and out of the unusual position of underdog, which it and other usually front running teams have found themselves in so far this season.
