Ferrari a team in crisis?

[Il_leone]

I got the impression that when Todt was so successful at Ferrari he could dictate who he wanted in the team from drivers, engineers and team crew....which irked Di Montezemolo somewhat that Ferrari under Todt was an international team rather than ran by Italians

First indications that Luca wanted control back of the team was thinking about replacing Schumacher and then denying Brawn the chance to be team principle and Stepney to be technical director. It is noted that under Todt they were less sensitive and immune to the savage and impatient Italian media. Probably part of the politics at Ferrari given last year some politician decided to have a go at Ferrari for failure at Abu Dhabi and Luca responded swiftly with " When he achieves at one percent of what Ferrari does for Italian economy then he can speak"

 

[Il_leone]

Well is it unreallistic? 4 DNF with Alonso needing top step of the podium, that said I would hardly think he is willing to just forgo this season.

[/http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/formula_one/13921513.stmquote]

I should say Mansell was 34pts down after 4 races in 1991 and he did not give up the title and fought back at least until the penultimate round

What Vettel is having at the moment to go with his consistency is "LUCK" all the mechanical gremlins and duffed pitstops seems to hurt Webber all the time even the bungled pitstop at Monaco

Lets hope Silverstone is not a precession like Valencia is and always has been

 

[Sarinaide]

I got the impression that when Todt was so successful at Ferrari he could dictate who he wanted in the team from drivers, engineers and team crew.........

It is his style of running the team, so when people say "axe Alonso and sign Perez for the future" is that necessarily an outlandish thing to say, maybe to some it seems like the right decision to make, he wanted to secure Ferrari post Schumacher, Todt, Brawn that were coming to the end of tenures, despite the fact that it is a rather barren spell I would hardly think that a care bear approach is the better option, constant failure should result in heads rolling.

 

[Sarinaide]

You make your own luck, and luck is percieved in the sense of prevailing circumstances, RB have better luck because they are the best team and have everything working to a T. It was Ferrari at one point having like 150 odd races without a machanical failure in the period of their domination.......it is a wheel of that goes round, right now have to wait it out.

I have always suggested that the design and tech teams need change.

 

[cider_and_toast]

In general if a team has spent a long time winning then there is a) a feeling that if they start to not win on a regular basis, there is a major problem within the team and b) because they have won so much for so long there is a general feeling among supporters that their team winning is more of a right than a combination of hard work and effort by all those involved in making the team successful.

The press love to jump on the nearest band wagon at the first sign that the biggest beast in the jungle may even have the slightest limp because lets face it, most people want to see their team on top of the heep and enjoy reading about another teams woes. How many football fans want to see Man Utd fall from the top for example?

For a team to be in crisis they need to have a performance such as that of Mclaren or Ferrari in 1980.

 

[Sarinaide]

Agreed Ferrari are far from perfect but hardly a crisis, that said again some changes are needed and welcomed.

 

[Cookinflatsix]

For a team to be in crisis they need to have a performance such as that of Mclaren or Ferrari in 1980.

True, having said that it probably doesn't help to be having what are deemed crisis meetings and then sacking people almost ritually

 

[Slyboogy]

I feel as if that they don't have a proper leader, Todt left (now that guy was a great leader), Domenicalli doesn't strike me as a leader as he constantly has strops and blames others, then there is Luca who just without analysing anything just makes knee-jerk reactions by firing some key member.

But Ferrari did surprise me with their comeback in 2010, in Turkey they seemed nowhere, from a 1-2 in the first race to qualify 8th and 12th was it? (can't remember where they finished), then they won 4 races after that....

The team still has it, I just think they are too conservative at the moment.

 

[RayInTorontoCanada]

Ferrari's "New Spaghetti Culture" argument was put forth by Lauda (probably a biased observer given his falling out with Enzo Ferrari in late 1976/early 1977) a few years ago after Brawn, Todt and Byrne were replaced by Latins.

Ferrari need to hire the best available talent, irrespective of nationality/language.

Ferrari need to start with a clean slate and get rid of both di Montezemolo and Alonso. Alonso may be Top 3 but he's a poison to a team interested in fielding two highly competitive and equal cars.

Ferrari have the resources to field two equal cars and yet they seem to be catering to a driver who doesn't seem to want another top liner in the other car.

Ferrari needs to get an apolitical head and apolitical drivers.

 

[Sarinaide]

Well your point is noted, but maybe the real irritation is waiting until the season is gone to get a competitive car, to me that is the irritation factor.

 

[sportsman]

Hmmm get rid of Luca di Motezelmo.Its not a simple matter to "get rid" of the chairman of the company.
Unless he resigns there is no one with the authority to fire him.

 

[Sarinaide]

Ferrari need people with new ideas, if that means employ without firing then well so be it.....I think Ferrari have a rather lack lusture pre-season, blow smoke up the powers to be' rears and then get found out by the time Bahrain/Aus arive.

 

[Incubus]

I do have eyes, and I don't need glasses to tell me that this year's Ferrari is a handful to drive, and that FA is getting the absolute maximum out of it. You could see in Monaco, traction was poor, he just couldn't get the power down exiting tight corners and he always looked to be about half a millimetre from the barrier, and the car just didn't look anywhere as well-balanced as the Red Bull.

 

[Sarinaide]

I do have eyes, and I don't need glasses to tell me that this year's Ferrari is a handful to drive, and that FA is getting the absolute maximum out of it. You could see in Monaco, traction was poor, he just couldn't get the power down exiting tight corners and he always looked to be about half a millimetre from the barrier, and the car just didn't look anywhere as well-balanced as the Red Bull.

Couldn't have said it better myself......great sir.

 

[Slyboogy]

I thought this thread was about "Ferrari a team in crisis?" not "is Alonso worthy of the Ferrari seat?" or an "Alonso" thread...

 

[Cookinflatsix]

I agree that Ferrari with its history, fans and vast resources have a lot more expected from them than others. To have almost everything and still struggle must be painful for a company that does no advertising but relies on F1 success to sell road cars and merchandise.

It does seem in this era that the best personnel must be hired and managed using your resources, so as Ferrari are the biggest they should be attracting and keeping the best. They did this in the MS, Todt brawn era but have fallen into disarray since.

Alonso I think is not the cause but a symptom of the problems of hiring based on politics and not ability. The Latin superstar in a Latin dreamteam might have been the original idea after the MS era but even Ferrari seem to be dismantling this concept. If thats the case they nee to look hard at Alonso place in all this.

Lewis and Seb are the young guns who have stood in the way, both were low paid team players, bred from within and happy to do what the team wants. Alonso needs the highest wage, a veto on team members and strategy, and a de facto 'head of development' role. This approach is starting to appear primitive because the best names such as Newey do not seem to prefer the Ferrari culture to the fizzy drinks upstatrts

I think Monte should keep away from the F1 division, employ a new man with a new vision to be implemented over a few years targetting the new regulations. Alonso should also be replaced by a young gun or a talented youngster (Perez maybe) who can grow to be a part of the team and not the messiah type. The problem with putting all your eggs in one messiah basket is that if he turns out to be selfish, you are stuck when the inevitable bust up comes if success isnt handed to him. Alonso has departed his last three teams acrimoniously. The is more chance that this happens again than him retiring happily ever after with a few more WCs

Finally, Alonso at Abu Dhabi last year, in front of assembled European royalty, his team were almost reluctant to radio him and urge him to overtake Petrov, to use his talent. IMHO Hamilton, Vettel and maybe Button, with a WC at stake would have hungrily forced Petrov into an error, they would have used their talent in other words.

 

[Incubus]

Actually Hamilton was similarly stuck behind Kubica's sister car for almost as long and equally unable to do anything about him... which wasn't surprising considering the Renault was some 10k quicker in the straights than either Ferrari or McLaren...

 

[Sarinaide]

Petrov had a car which was faster in a straight line. It was not possible for Alonso to get past.

Hamilton had a car which was slightly faster on the straight than Kubica's, he still could not overtake him.

Neither of these drivers deserves a criticism on the overtakes.

Actually Hamilton was similarly stuck behind Kubica's sister car for almost as long and equally unable to do anything about him... which wasn't surprising considering the Renault was some 10k quicker in the straights than either Ferrari or McLaren...

Damn you both beat me to it....I guess it is life in the fishbowl as they say, Ferrari and serial plague Alonso ought to have done this.......

For a man that hates not winning or getting his way the last 3 odd years he has been pretty mellow and played the realist card very well.

 

[Incubus]

Renault in the second half of last year had higher top-speeds than any other car, and not by a small margin either.

 

[Brogan]

You know, it would help if some of you actually used the damn report system, instead of throwing accusations around and moderating by proxy