12-04-2012, 23:01
STRAIGHT TALK
DAVID COULTHARD
With the Chinese grand
prix looming, Ferrari finds
itself at the top of the pile.
But can it sustain its
surprise lead in the face
of its current issues,
not to mention the poor
form of Felipe Massa?
AUTOSPORT
Who would’ve expected that
Fernando Alonso and
Ferrari, after all the doom
and gloom predicted of them
pre-season, would be leading the
world drivers’ championship after
the opening two grands prix?
Ferrari has endured a very
troubled start to the year, and
although it’s the nature of the
beast that you need to keep
reinventing yourself to stay
competitive in the complex
world of F1, there will always be
unexpected twists and turns to
any given season. Alonso made
sure he took full advantage of the
chance that came his way in
Sepang. It was a fully deserved
victory, and Fernando came alive
when the conditions changed in his
favour. He’s a class act, that’s no
surprise – a guy who has just that
right amount of energy and focus.
Alonso is always a threat when the
opportunity arises.
Because of its long association
with Formula 1, and without
wishing to be disrespectful to the
other teams, you can’t help but feel
a certain level of affinity towards
the Scuderia. It feels strange to see
a Ferrari languishing outside the top
10 like in Melbourne qualifying; in
fact, I don’t think that’s good for F1.
ONE SWALLOW DOESN’T MAKE A SUMMER
How long will it take for Ferrari
to fix its problems? Well, if you’re
further away from the peak, you
can make bigger steps towards it.
While McLaren and Red Bull are
in the process of fine tuning,
Ferrari will be able to make large
jumps towards them – presuming
it can discover the necessary
improvements its package requires.
The victory in Malaysia has
to have taken the pressure off
the Ferrari management, and
unquestionably given them a bit of
breathing space. It’s nice to get one
in the bank early on, that’s very
valuable to a team that is expected
to win races. The team won that
grand prix fair and square. In
highly testing conditions, that was
a phenomenal victory. The track
conditions might have come to
them, but Ferrari needed the right
tyre strategy and Fernando had to
make the correct driving decisions
in the cockpit.
Talking to the drivers afterwards,
it was clear it had been one of
those races where it was a case of
simply keeping your car on the
track at some points – and that
final run to the finish wasn’t a
five-lap scamper after a late safety
car, there was some serious
distance covered by Alonso with
Sergio Perez nipping at his heels.
MASSA REMAINS UNDER PRESSURE
The last degree of being quick in an
F1 car comes from confidence. Even
if you put Alonso in a Red Bull, he
wouldn’t be as quick as its regular
drivers in his first test; it would
take him a little time to find the
nuances of that particular car.
Obviously, Felipe Massa has been
at Ferrari for a long time, so there’s
no excuse in that respect, but he’s
suffered a dip in form like you’d
see in a golfer. As we saw in the
US Masters at the weekend, Tiger
Woods has been the best in the
world in the past, but he seems
decidedly average at the moment.
In Massa’s case, the team will
support him for as long as they
can, but there comes a certain
point when they have to think
about moving on. Without wishing
to beat-up on Felipe, you do
wonder why Ferrari has gone into
this year thinking it will be any
different from last year. Is it
because Fernando is comfortable,
and that’s the best way to get the
maximum out of him?
We’ve known for a while that
Sergio Perez is a star of the future,
but would Ferrari be a better team
if Massa was replaced by him?
At the moment, I don’t think so,
because it’s not going to challenge
for the title anyway without
consistent upgrades on the car.
So perhaps looking the other
way, and ignoring Massa’s poor
performances, is the correct
strategy. After all, this team has
won a lot of world championships
and races down the years and
knows what it’s doing.
DAVID COULTHARD
With the Chinese grand
prix looming, Ferrari finds
itself at the top of the pile.
But can it sustain its
surprise lead in the face
of its current issues,
not to mention the poor
form of Felipe Massa?
AUTOSPORT
Who would’ve expected that
Fernando Alonso and
Ferrari, after all the doom
and gloom predicted of them
pre-season, would be leading the
world drivers’ championship after
the opening two grands prix?
Ferrari has endured a very
troubled start to the year, and
although it’s the nature of the
beast that you need to keep
reinventing yourself to stay
competitive in the complex
world of F1, there will always be
unexpected twists and turns to
any given season. Alonso made
sure he took full advantage of the
chance that came his way in
Sepang. It was a fully deserved
victory, and Fernando came alive
when the conditions changed in his
favour. He’s a class act, that’s no
surprise – a guy who has just that
right amount of energy and focus.
Alonso is always a threat when the
opportunity arises.
Because of its long association
with Formula 1, and without
wishing to be disrespectful to the
other teams, you can’t help but feel
a certain level of affinity towards
the Scuderia. It feels strange to see
a Ferrari languishing outside the top
10 like in Melbourne qualifying; in
fact, I don’t think that’s good for F1.
ONE SWALLOW DOESN’T MAKE A SUMMER
How long will it take for Ferrari
to fix its problems? Well, if you’re
further away from the peak, you
can make bigger steps towards it.
While McLaren and Red Bull are
in the process of fine tuning,
Ferrari will be able to make large
jumps towards them – presuming
it can discover the necessary
improvements its package requires.
The victory in Malaysia has
to have taken the pressure off
the Ferrari management, and
unquestionably given them a bit of
breathing space. It’s nice to get one
in the bank early on, that’s very
valuable to a team that is expected
to win races. The team won that
grand prix fair and square. In
highly testing conditions, that was
a phenomenal victory. The track
conditions might have come to
them, but Ferrari needed the right
tyre strategy and Fernando had to
make the correct driving decisions
in the cockpit.
Talking to the drivers afterwards,
it was clear it had been one of
those races where it was a case of
simply keeping your car on the
track at some points – and that
final run to the finish wasn’t a
five-lap scamper after a late safety
car, there was some serious
distance covered by Alonso with
Sergio Perez nipping at his heels.
MASSA REMAINS UNDER PRESSURE
The last degree of being quick in an
F1 car comes from confidence. Even
if you put Alonso in a Red Bull, he
wouldn’t be as quick as its regular
drivers in his first test; it would
take him a little time to find the
nuances of that particular car.
Obviously, Felipe Massa has been
at Ferrari for a long time, so there’s
no excuse in that respect, but he’s
suffered a dip in form like you’d
see in a golfer. As we saw in the
US Masters at the weekend, Tiger
Woods has been the best in the
world in the past, but he seems
decidedly average at the moment.
In Massa’s case, the team will
support him for as long as they
can, but there comes a certain
point when they have to think
about moving on. Without wishing
to beat-up on Felipe, you do
wonder why Ferrari has gone into
this year thinking it will be any
different from last year. Is it
because Fernando is comfortable,
and that’s the best way to get the
maximum out of him?
We’ve known for a while that
Sergio Perez is a star of the future,
but would Ferrari be a better team
if Massa was replaced by him?
At the moment, I don’t think so,
because it’s not going to challenge
for the title anyway without
consistent upgrades on the car.
So perhaps looking the other
way, and ignoring Massa’s poor
performances, is the correct
strategy. After all, this team has
won a lot of world championships
and races down the years and
knows what it’s doing.
#LoMejorEstaPorLlegar