Ferrari Has Huge Silver Lining In Bad Spanish Grand Prix
Ferrari had a horrible Spanish Grand Prix. It can take solace in the fact there is a huge silver lining in this abomination of a performance.
Ferrari have stunk it up about as bad as you can to start a year. After three races, the team had as many points as Force India and about the same performance level for the car. Unfortunately, Force India was showing better strategy, reliability and pit stop performance! Yes, it was that bad as Ferrari fans looked longingly at Michael Schumacher sitting along the pit wall.
The Spanish Grand Prix was supposed to be different. It was supposed to be the race where Ferrari introduced a radically redesigned car that incorporated new aerodynamics and a double diffuser. This was the race where Ferrari would discover if it was going to fight for Championships in 2009 or not. The results were decidedly mixed.
The Good News
The good news is the car appears to be much better. The third practice saw the Ferraris finish 1-2. Practice doesn’t mean much, so it was off to qualifying. What did we find? Felipe Massa came in with a much improved 4th place on the grid. This was all the more impressive when car weights were released and Massa was found to be heavier than the four cars in front of him.
Massa proved the car had pace in the race as well. He used the KERS system to jump to third in the start. He even led a lap during pit stops, a first for Ferrari this year. Massa was also able to hold off the very talented Sebastian Vettel and the very fast Red Bull for most of the race. “Most” of course is the key word.
The Bad News
The people working the wall for Ferrari need to be removed. It is that simple. Not once, but twice Massa was not given enough fuel to get to the end of the race. He could’ve been third – a podium for Ferrari, but poor fuel delivery caused him to have to slow in the final laps to make it to the finish. The first fuel delivery problem may have been mechanical, but two in a row? That is a team problem.
The incompetence of the team management was even more apparent during qualifying. A Ferrari driver was once again left in the pits when other teams were turning laps. This time it was Kimi Raikkonen who was stranded as the team screwed up qualifying once again. Starting from the back of the field on a track were passing is near impossible is not the way to go. The brilliant idiot that did not send Raikkonen out for the last laps of the qualifying sessions should be removed from the team.
Overall
Overall, the car showed increased pace. That is incredibly good news as the car was horrible and humiliatingly bad. Now it is adequate, if not great. The team can rack up points and maybe win the odd race or two if it can start acting like a professional outfit and not a bunch of clowns.
Still, there is not doubt 2009 is over for Ferrari as far as championships go. The team should be focusing on the 2010 car. You can bet McLaren will. Look for both McLaren and Ferrari to bounce back next year. This year? Ah, it is a good year to spend some time outside with the family!
Lemmy