04-05-2012, 13:20
'Exhausts are not the critical area' - Alonso
Fernando Alonso has played down the significance of Ferrari's changes to its exhaust layout during this week's test at Mugello.
Ferrari brought the first stage of a major update to the rear of the F2012 on Thursday, featuring an exhaust layout more in line with its rivals. Several other cars featured revised exhausts at Mugello too, but Alonso played down the significance of exhaust technology this year.
"There's no difference in terms of driving compared to the one I tried on Tuesday," he said. "The exhausts are not the critical area this year, which can be seen from the fact that so far, cars with different configurations have won and, in Bahrain for example, the Red Bull won with the downward facing exhausts, but the quickest car on track was the Lotus, which has straight ones."
Alonso said Ferrari had made gains in performance this week, but reiterated the new parts he tried were just the start of a wider-ranging upgrade.
"I am very pleased with these three days of testing," he added. "The feeling I have after the test is a positive one. We have introduced a few small, and I stress that word, aerodynamic updates, that have produced the response we were expecting and that is the most positive news, which means I am confident for the future, in the short and the long term.
"It means that what we see in the factory in Maranello has now also been confirmed on track. Furthermore, we have worked on other areas, especially the tyres, doing short and long runs, on set-up and also on starts, given we were also trying out a new clutch.
"I cannot say if today at Mugello we can claim to have made up some ground, but in Barcelona, we will have more important updates and we hope that there, we can begin to close down the gap that separates us from the teams currently at the top.
"We have decided to favour development time in the wind tunnel rather than bringing forward all the new components to this test. Sure, it would be nice to be able to test all the updates on track first, but it is also nice that we can count on all the possible development potential for every single part. Barcelona will be a key moment in the season, but not a decisive one. It's not a case that we will suddenly find ourselves back on pole position, because there is no magic button. "
Alonso said the aim of the updates was to get both cars into the final session of qualifying in Spain before closing the gap to the front of the field over the following races.
"We must start by no longer struggling to get through to Q3 and get closer to the top six, then continue with development in the following races, making a step forward in Monaco, Canada and Valencia also. That is the only way in which we can contemplate finding these seven or nine tenths - it's hard to assess exactly how far off we are on the basis of the first races - which separate us from the leaders. Certainly, I am not denying that next weekend's event is a significant one: we cannot allow ourselves to struggle to get into Q3 if we want to fight for the title."
La misma fuente.
Fernando Alonso has played down the significance of Ferrari's changes to its exhaust layout during this week's test at Mugello.
Ferrari brought the first stage of a major update to the rear of the F2012 on Thursday, featuring an exhaust layout more in line with its rivals. Several other cars featured revised exhausts at Mugello too, but Alonso played down the significance of exhaust technology this year.
"There's no difference in terms of driving compared to the one I tried on Tuesday," he said. "The exhausts are not the critical area this year, which can be seen from the fact that so far, cars with different configurations have won and, in Bahrain for example, the Red Bull won with the downward facing exhausts, but the quickest car on track was the Lotus, which has straight ones."
Alonso said Ferrari had made gains in performance this week, but reiterated the new parts he tried were just the start of a wider-ranging upgrade.
"I am very pleased with these three days of testing," he added. "The feeling I have after the test is a positive one. We have introduced a few small, and I stress that word, aerodynamic updates, that have produced the response we were expecting and that is the most positive news, which means I am confident for the future, in the short and the long term.
"It means that what we see in the factory in Maranello has now also been confirmed on track. Furthermore, we have worked on other areas, especially the tyres, doing short and long runs, on set-up and also on starts, given we were also trying out a new clutch.
"I cannot say if today at Mugello we can claim to have made up some ground, but in Barcelona, we will have more important updates and we hope that there, we can begin to close down the gap that separates us from the teams currently at the top.
"We have decided to favour development time in the wind tunnel rather than bringing forward all the new components to this test. Sure, it would be nice to be able to test all the updates on track first, but it is also nice that we can count on all the possible development potential for every single part. Barcelona will be a key moment in the season, but not a decisive one. It's not a case that we will suddenly find ourselves back on pole position, because there is no magic button. "
Alonso said the aim of the updates was to get both cars into the final session of qualifying in Spain before closing the gap to the front of the field over the following races.
"We must start by no longer struggling to get through to Q3 and get closer to the top six, then continue with development in the following races, making a step forward in Monaco, Canada and Valencia also. That is the only way in which we can contemplate finding these seven or nine tenths - it's hard to assess exactly how far off we are on the basis of the first races - which separate us from the leaders. Certainly, I am not denying that next weekend's event is a significant one: we cannot allow ourselves to struggle to get into Q3 if we want to fight for the title."
La misma fuente.