Ferrari changes development approach
Ferari's technical director Pat Fry recently acknowledged the team has struggled to make some recent developments to work, but now it understands why the updates failed. With this understanding, Ferrari has changed its development approach and will have new updates ready after the summer break.
In an interview with “Scuderia Ferrari Racing News”, Fry praised the team for getting back on its feet after a disappointing start of the season.
"I remember that in Melbourne we were around a second and a half behind the best. We then put in a huge effort, in the wind tunnel, the production department and at the design stages. The entire workforce reacted to the challenge we faced. In my opinion, we have overtaken a large part of the other teams in terms of development over the season: we staged a good recovery, but there is still a long way to go.”
Fernando Alonso however recently mentioned a lack of updates on the Ferrari F2012, resulting in the struggle during the Hungarian GP. Part of that was caused by some updates that failed to work out as expected, including a new front wing that the team tested at three events but was never used during a race.
“It’s true we had a handful of parts that did not work the way we had expected: there’s always a chance that can happen in work like this. The positive aspect is that we understood the problem and everything is alright now: that way, we can use this experience to move forward rather than being left confused about it. In fact, we have a clear idea on the direction we need to take and we have already begun to work in this direction.”
“I think that when one tries to get to the limit, one definitely encounters new problems. Now we have a good understanding of the situation, therefore we only need to modify our development criteria and continue to push.”
Fry mentioned that the team has continued to work hard in the first week after the Hungarian GP, focussing on wintunnel work for updates to be introduced at Spa and Singapore. Other than that, Ferrari have also prepared an aerodynamic and engine package specifically suited for the team's home event, the Italian GP at Monza.
