Thanks to the new gear box ?
Thanks to the new gear box ?
Pre-Race Baku 2021
Laurent Mekies is promoted to "100% Racing Director" and has the responsibility, Inaki Rueda becomes the new sporting director at Ferrari. Ravin Jain is responsible for the strategy now. Binotto is still the team principal, but won't sit at the pit wall, staying in the garage.
This reorganisation was planned by Binotto himself, so that he can stay more often in Maranello and work from there, especially in the view of 2022 . You can say that Mekies sort of becomes a "second" team principal, when Binotto is not there at the track.
It's not how start but how you finish.
This season has so far been such a vast improvement over 2020, just the ICE letting us down slightly, but it's heading in the right direction. The drivers are also doing a great job, so there is hope after all the despair.
So, now we know the names behind the improvements.
And I am surprised about the Engineering Academy, that's a very good idea!
That's not so true...
And the promotion of an English guy, no matter how capable he might be, is an advertisement as well.
Pre-Race Baku 2021
Looks like Toto feels this issue with the flexi-wings is a dead issue with regards to a protest.
"Bored" Wolff yet to decide on F1 flexi-wing protest
Tensions between Mercedes and Red Bull have escalated in recent weeks on the back of F1’s flexi-wing clampdown by the FIA.
Mercedes is unhappy that rival Red Bull has been allowed to keep an advantage for using the flexi-wings for this weekend’s race in Baku, and has indicated that it may elect to protest the team if it continued to run them.
A protest can be lodged immediately after any session, but no action was taken after practice on Friday or Saturday's qualifying session.
However, the door remains open for Mercedes to take action in the immediate aftermath of the race.
Wolff believes the flexi-wing saga has taken up too much of everyone’s time already, but says a final call on what his team will do has not been set in stone.
He suggested that analysis of the wing Red Bull is using for the Baku race will be the first thing to look at, with the Milton Keynes-based team using a different configuration to the one that caused controversy at the Spanish Grand Prix.
Asked by Autosport if there was going to be a protest, Wolff said: “Well I think the flexi-wing saga starts to bore everybody, including myself.
“I guess we will see. I don't know what was on their car, and what they are going to have [for the race]. I think it's then to decide.”
McLaren is the other team that has been unhappy about the delay in the FIA introducing tougher pull back tests to check on the rear wings.
Its team principal Andreas Seidl made clear that it would leave matters to the governing body to decide if it takes action should teams be spotted running flexi-wings during the Baku race.
“To be honest, I haven’t seen an analysis yet of what happened in qualifying. We were busy with ourselves, and we usually also try to just focus on ourselves,” he explained.
“But I think the ball is in the court of the FIA to act if they think they have to act, within what is also written in the technical directive. So on our side, we just focus on ourselves now.”
https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/bo...otest/6540214/
It's not how start but how you finish.
from Mclaren:
It is with deep sadness that McLaren Racing announces the death of Mansour Ojjeh, shareholder of McLaren since 1984.
Mr Ojjeh passed away peacefully this morning in Geneva, aged 68, surrounded by his family, to whom the team sends its most heartfelt condolences.
It's not how start but how you finish.
I wonder why nobody complains of merc's FW bending that much under load as seen in Baku. Or are RB waiting for Toto to launch a complaint against them and would return in kind for their flexi-FW.
New
AMuS
Domenicali on the calendar: "We have plan A, B, C and D." Recently Singapore canceled its race. In Japan, it all depends on the Olympics. "If the Olympics can happen, we have a chance," we hear from the F1 headquarters. Turkey, Malaysia & China are traded as replacements.
"In Australia the strict corona policy is an obstacle. Melbourne wants the Grand Prix to happen, but the authorities are stepping on brakes. There were even talks of a second race in "The Bend" near Adelaide."
Should the Brazil GP not happen due to the virus mutation, Austin, Indianapolis, Qatar or a second GP in Sakhir could step in.
It's not how start but how you finish.
I'm glad you posted this here as I was about to do so. Mr.Ojjeh was the kind of distinguished gentleman that Formula One requires more of. I had the pleasure of meeting him some years back and will always remember what a true gentleman he was!
My deepest sympathies to his family in this sad period and at least we were priviledged to know him and know of him. RIP
Size comparison between MCL35M (2021) - MP4-23 (2008)
https://twitter.com/F1ADDICT3/status...603140/photo/1
https://twitter.com/F1ADDICT3/status...640961/photo/1
https://twitter.com/F1ADDICT3/status...640961/photo/2
It's not how start but how you finish.
F-1 wise what good is Merc giving up the front spot for $$ F-1 fans to come back if the races are being cancelled all over again!
NEW FERRARI CEO
Benedetto Vigna will be the new Chief Executive Officer of Ferrari starting from 1 September.
He commented: “It’s a special honour to be joining Ferrari as its CEO and I do so with an equal sense of excitement and responsibility.”
https://www.ferrari.com/en-EN/articl...nt=all_organic
It's not how start but how you finish.
Forza Ferrari
"And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It's your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it."
It's not how start but how you finish.
Most of us knew this all along. The cars need to get 150kg lighter, smaller, and cut down on the aero.
Kimi has a say as well.
Hamilton: I don't understand why F1 cars are getting heavier
Mercedes Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton says he does not understand why F1 is letting cars get continually heavier while also trying to improve sustainability.
F1’s new generation of cars in 2022 are set to be the heaviest ever, with the minimum car weight currently set at a whopping 790kg.
The move to heavier turbo hybrid powerunits from 2014, allied to improved safety structures and the arrival of the Halo, have contributed to a big hike over the years.
From around 640kg at the end of the V8 era, the cars went past 700kg in 2016 and are now nudging 750kg.
The extra bulk that is carried around has contributed to cars being less nimble, and is believed to be a contributing factor in why venues like Monaco no longer appear particular well suited to F1 machinery.
For seven-time world champion Hamilton, the extra weight also seems to go against a push by the wider world for cars to get lighter in a bid to use less energy.
“I don’t understand why we’re going heavier,” he said. “I don’t understand particularly why we go heavier when there’s all this talk about being more sustainable – just as the sport is going in that direction.
“By going heavier and heavier and heavier, you’re using more and more energy. So that feels that’s not necessarily in the right direction or in the thought process.”
As well as cars being heavier, they are also much bigger in dimension compared to previous years.
Hamilton says the whole feel of the cars has changed hugely since he started in F1 in 2007.
“The lighter cars were more nimble, were nowhere near as big, naturally, and so racing, manoeuvring the car, was better,” he said.
“On the tracks we’re going to, they’re getting wider. In Baku it’s quite wide in places and of course it’s narrow in other places.
“Monaco was always relatively impossible to pass, but now the cars are so big that it’s too big for the track. And, as I said, as we get heavier and heavier, that’s more energy we’ve got to dissipate – bigger brakes, more brake dust, more fuel to get you to the locations.
“I don’t fully understand it.”
Alfa Romeo veteran Kimi Raikkonen says the change in car weight since he started in F1 in 2001 has never been a shock, as it has happened gradually.
However, the 2007 world champion says that it is only when looking back in the history books that the scale of the change hits home.
“It’s a lot when you see the old cars next to this year’s cars or even the last year’s cars,” he explained.
“Some years it’s, ‘How small they look!’ So, obviously we are not here to design.
“I think if we still did race the mid-2000s or whatever year you want to pick cars, it wouldn’t make any difference to racing. It just wastes an awful lot of money on the way to get to here and nothing else has changed.”
https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/ha...avier/6560699/
It's not how start but how you finish.
In Ferrari's case, pole does'nt necessarily mean you're the fastest in the race given the track......Monaco yes, but other tracks...not so much.
Street track poles don't reflect Ferrari’s true performance - Binotto
Mattia Binotto believes Ferrari’s back-to-back pole positions in Monaco and Azerbaijan are not a true reflection of its place within the current Formula 1 pecking order.
Charles Leclerc took a surprise pole for Ferrari in Monaco last month as the SF21 car’s slow-speed strength lifted the team into contention with Red Bull and Mercedes at the front.
Ferrari scotched suggestions it would be able to take pole once again in the lead up to qualifying in Baku, only for Leclerc to top qualifying for the second race weekend in a row.
But Sunday proved more difficult for Leclerc as he slipped behind Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton, Sergio Perez, Pierre Gasly and Sebastian Vettel, ultimately crossing the line fourth.
Ferrari F1 chief Binotto admitted after the race that the team was “expecting something better” given its grid position, only leaving Baku two points clear of McLaren in the battle for third in the constructors’ championships.
But Binotto acknowledged that the pole positions were outliers and not a true reading of Ferrari’s current level of performance, maintaining it trails Red Bull and Mercedes for outright pace.
“I think obviously there are two cars ahead of us which are still stronger, no doubt,” Binotto said.
“It was great to have pole position both in Monaco and here in Baku, but I don’t think that is reflecting our true performance overall. I think there are two cars which are stronger.
“But we are progressing. We are progressing because eventually we are learning [about] the car, we are exploiting it better compared to the start of the season. And we know that there will be some developments coming in the future.
“So overall, I think that’s where we are. [In the race] I think we were hoping for a better pace overall, seeing the qualy.”
Despite seeing Leclerc drop down the order in the opening stint on the soft tyres, Binotto was pleased with both his and team-mate Carlos Sainz Jr’s pace once moving onto the hard tyres and running in clean air.
“We knew that on the soft, we would have struggled,” Binotto said.
“I think as a matter of fact, we struggled the most with the soft. On the hard tyres, when in free air, and I think Carlos in free air pace was representative, we were competitive.
“Certainly we still need to improve our pace in the race, no doubt. But I don’t think that overall, we were poor in performance when in free air.
“We were suffering in the dirty air, which both drivers mentioned, and that’s where we need to focus our analysis."
https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/bi...mance/6560700/
It's not how start but how you finish.
Finishing quali on pole is not to be looked at as nothing big. Ferrari fans watching the quali are thinking pole would be the max. It's the next best win to a race win. Just no points. I'm sure Binotto will feel the same when one of our drivers gets a win, it's no big deal. What's one win .
Brembo, you posted the same thing in 3 different threads.
Ok, we got it you don't like him. But what he says is true. In both cases we got the pole because of the red flags. Yes, it was a morale booster3, but nothing else.
The key point is the firty6air performance. And from what I read, they plan to do something about it, somehow. Thus, the only element that cannot be improved is the engine. Let's see
BREAKING NEWS
Technical Insight: How the FIA will test flexible-wings going forward
excerpts from the article (the meat portion)
Precisely for this reason, the regulatory changes that will come into force on June 15 are not unusual. The leaders of the FIA were also lenient with the teams, giving them time until the French GP to make all the rear wings conform to the new rules.
Specifically, the rules of Articles 3.9.3 and 3.9.4 were simply tightened, where the various parameters and efforts to be applied were amplified.
https://www.motorsportweek.com/wp-co...ng-compare.jpg
In fact, from the French GP the rear wings will be subjected, during the FIA checks, to vertical forces of 100kg (+25kg compared to before), with a maximum flexion angle to always be respected of 1°.
At the extremes of the airfoil, a horizontal rearward force of 75kg will be applied, compared to 50kg. Overall, the wing must not exceed 1mm of flexion, while the previously allowed tolerance was a maximum of 3mm.
A presents a nice challenge for the technicians, especially for those teams like Red Bull who were very borderline with the old regulation. It will undoubtedly affect the teams’ budget, which remember, must respect the financial constraint imposed by the sporting regulations (budget cap).
https://www.motorsportweek.com/2021/...going-forward/
It's not how start but how you finish.
I just fear that our drivers will take Binotto seriously with regards to no immediate hope. They so far want to be with Ferrari for keeps. Williams has a Merc super engine compared to Ferrari's engine, but.. we have two really strong drivers. All I'm saying is he should stop with the disparaging words of doom. I believe Ferrari has a shot every race at the podium. The red flags were there for any other team to take the pole also!!
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