Pre-Europe analysis - Ferrari feeling upbeat for Valencia 25 Jun 2010
Ferrari are very optimistic that they will turn a corner this weekend and fight for victory, now that their F10 is fitted with the ‘blown’ diffuser that is one of the keys to Red Bull’s aerodynamic advantage. The system basically uses the positioning of the exhaust system to direct hot air over the double diffuser, increasing the level of downforce. Cleverly, Ferrari gave Fernando Alonso a brief shakedown run in the revised car at Fiorano last week, as part of a filming project.
“I think we have been improving the car every race more or less, so I think it is a matter of how much the others improve as well to see a clearer step ahead, a step forward,” said the Spaniard, who believed he could have won last time out in Canada. “I think we are optimistic. We are happy with the job we have done in these last couple of weeks, so we arrive in Valencia with a good package in our car but we remain very calm about our expectation as other teams were not watching television in these last two weeks, so I think everybody will bring updates here. Hopefully ours is a little bit better than others.”
Of the ‘test’, Alonso added, tongue-in-cheek: “The feeling was very good. I was running behind a car with cameras, so it was very good at 60km/h, very stable! We also did some laps without a car in front but we had like 10 cameras on the car and on the helmet, so it was not very comfortable to drive. It was also my first time driving a Ferrari Formula One car at Fiorano, so I really have no idea but I think tomorrow we will have a better answer. We expect a step up with the car, a little bit quicker, but as I said before, I think all the other teams will bring some new parts here, so I think the most important thing is to confirm that we are competitive here, as we did in Canada, and we need to keep improving the car. Silverstone, Hockenheim, Budapest… it’s not one evolution in the car, in the year and you stop. This is a job that we need to keep doing until Abu Dhabi, so there is a long way to go but we are optimistic.”
Both Alonso and Ferrari chief Luca di Montezemolo were very critical of the role of backmarkers in Montreal.
“I think the problems lapping people in Canada…” Alonso began, before deciding there was no point in pursuing the line of thought. “There’s nothing we can do now. We still think that we lost the opportunity to do something better out of that race. I think that at the end of the year, over 19 races, everything balances out. So sometimes it happens to us, I’m sure it happens to the others at other races. It’s already happened, and we didn’t realise it and we took advantage maybe in China or Malaysia... we don’t know. It happened to us, it was very obvious because we were fighting for the win but we also know that there were some problems in other races. I think there’s nothing to say in tomorrow’s briefing. We also know that it’s not the easiest part of the race, to drive those cars, but it’s the same for everybody, so we just need to do a better job next time.
“And for next year, the 107 percent rule… I don’t think that next year we will see the difference that we’ve seen this year. I think the three new teams arrived very late this year and I think next year they will be better prepared and the gap will be closer.
“I think it will be interesting to see this race, how it goes. There have been some circuits better, some circuits with problems, some up and down for the team performance in the last couple of races, so hopefully we can continue the performance we saw in Montreal. The line that put us in a competitive level fighting with McLaren and Red Bull. In Turkey we were not quick enough, so just try to confirm the feeling of Canada and be competitive here again and hopefully finish on the podium again.”
David Tremayne
