Tag Archives: Alonso

Dreaming About Someone Else’s Car – Ferrari F138

Since Alberto Ascari finished second driving a Ferrari on their debut in the second round of the World Drivers Championship in 1950 Ferrari have made 868 further championship Grand Prix starts, scored 207 championship Grand Prix pole positions, 221 championship Grand Prix victories contributed to 15 World Drivers Championships and won 16 Constructors championships, the latter first being introduced in 1958.

Ferrari F138, Massa, Young Diver Test, Silverstone

When Fernando Alonso seen below left Renault to sign up to replace Kimi Raikkönen at Ferrari for the 2010 season few could have imagined that four seasons later his tally of 11 wins, 2 poles and 8 fastest laps would not have added any further championships to Scuderia Ferrari’s unsurpassed tally.

Ferrari F138, Alonso, British Grand Prix P2, Silverstone

Such has been Ferrari’s technical disadvantage that despite being regularly hailed as the best driver on the Formula One circuit by pundits Fernando has managed three 2nd place finishes in the season end championship standings in 3 of the last four years.

Ferrari F138, Alonso, British Grand Prix P2, Silverstone

The 2013 season started quite well for the Spaniard with a second place to Raikkönen’s Lotus followed by wins in China and Spain interrupted only by a rare retirement in Malaysia, there after the best Fernando could manage was four second place finishes while his championship rival since 2010 Sebastian clocked no less than 11 victories out of 14 following the Spanish Grand Prix to claim his and Red Bulls 4th successive title.

Ferrari F138, Massa, Young Diver Test, Silverstone

So Fernando finished second in the 2013 points standings yet again and perhaps crucially for 2014 championship aspirations, let slip that for his 32nd Birthday he might like something other than a Ferrari.

Ferrari F138, Alonso, British Grand Prix P2, Silverstone

Fernando’s team mate Felipe Massa, seen driving the F138 during the Young Driver Test at Silverstone below, has been the Ferrari defacto No.2 driver since 2006 when he replaced Rubins Barrichello to drive alongside Michael Schumacher.

Ferrari F138, Massa, Young Diver Test, Silverstone

Felipe’s best shot at winning a World Drivers Championship came in 2008 when he comprehensively out drove his team mate and reigning 2007 World Champion Kimi Raikkönen in 2008 only to lose the championship by a songle point to Lewis Hamilton.

Ferrari F138, Massa, British Grand Prix P1, Silverstone

In 2009 Felipe’s season was cut short when a spring fell off his compatriot Ruben’s Barrichello’s Brawn and caught Felipe’s helmet. Lucky not to loose his eye, Felipe returned to Formula one the following season since when he has scored 3 podium finishes, 2 fastest laps and was ordered to hand over lead of the 2010 German Grand Prix to his team mate Alonso.

Ferrari F138, Alonso, British Grand Prix P2, Silverstone

Last season saw Felipe score a season high third place finish in the Spanish Grand Prix and finish 8th in the season end drivers championship standings having contributed to Ferrari’s third over all finish in the constructors championship.

Ferrari F138, Massa, Young Diver Test, Silverstone

Unsurprisingly Felipe was not retained for 2014 and he has found a new job at Williams where he will be team leader, Alonso meanwhile may yet rue the day he told a reporter that he would like “someone else’s car” for his 32nd Birthday as Ferrari President Luca di Montemozolo appears to have taken the humorous comment to heart and reemployed a very much in form Kimi Raikkönen, the same driver he sacked to take on Fernado Alonso in the first place.

Ferrari F138, Massa, Young Diver Test, Silverstone

Without question if the 2014 Ferrari F14T is even vaguely reliable the goings on at Maranello should be fascinating as the team comes to terms with having signed two drivers capable of taking points of each other and possibly letting a rival from another team win the drivers championship.

You can follow Ferrari through their website on this link, on their facebook page linked here and twitter feed linked here.

Thanks for joining me on this “Dreaming About Someone Else’s Car” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be starting a new series of Saturday blogs on Buckler cars. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Promises Promises – Lotus Renault E21

In four short years Toleman Motorsport rose from sponsor of drivers in junior categories to becoming Champion Formula 2 constructors and by the end of 1980 they made an ambitious move into Formula One with turbocharged 4 cylinder Hart motors from their premises in Whitney in Oxfordshire. Over the next five years Toleman struggled to qualify for races for two year and then struggled to finish races for a further two years but high lights including three podium finishes in 1984 with rookie Ayrton Senna driving and Teo Fabi’s pole position at the German Grand Prix in 1985 showed enough promise for 1985 sponsor Benetton to buy the team.

Lotus Renault E21, Raikkönnen, British Grand Prix P2, Silverstone

Under Benetton ownership the team from from Whitney raced for one season with BMW motors with which Gerhard Berger scored a single win in the Mexican Grand Prix before switching to Ford motors in a partnership which lasted until 1994 when Michael Schumacher won his first of two consecutive championships in 1994 despite two disqualifications and a highly contentious maneuver which eliminated his only championship rival in the season finale. By now the team had moved to premises in Enstone, Oxfordshire.

Lotus Renault E21, Grosjean, British Grand Prix P2, Silverstone

In 1995 Benetton secured a supply of Renault Motors with which Michael secured his second championship before moving to Ferrari. Benetton slipped from 1995 Constructors Champions into a graceful decline until 2001. A year earlier Renault bought Benetton out but refrained from renaming the team Renault until 2002 when their latest motor was fully competitive.

Lotus Renault E21, Prost, British Grand Prix P2, Silverstone

Under Renault’s ownership the team from Enstone won two drivers championships with Fernando Alonso in 2005 and 2006 breaking Michael Schumachers five year strangle hold on the championship. Renault also became only the second French constructor after Matra in 1969 to win the Constuctors Championship in 2005 and 2006. Alonso left for an ill feted spell with McLaren in 2007 but returned in 2008 for a two year spell during which the team could not match McLaren or Ferrari for top honors.

Lotus Renault E21, Grosjean, British Grand Prix P2, Silverstone

After a scandal involving race fixing allegations in 2009 Renault moved swiftly to divest itself of it’s interest in the Enstone team and the Luxembourg group Genii Capital became majority owners of the team which in 2011 was rebranded Lotus Renault GP. In 2012 the somewhat underfunded Lotus Renault GP Team pulled off a coup by bringing Kimi Raikkönen back to Formula one after an enforced sabbatical which had seen his place at Ferrari taken by Alonso in 2010. Raikkönen’s return netted a single win in 2012 for the team now known simply as Lotus F1 at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Lotus Renault E21, Prost, British Grand Prix P2, Silverstone

Last season promised much for Lotus F1 as Kimi Raikkönen took a comfortable win in the Australian Grand Prix and there was talk of a new backer being brought into the team. Kimi followed his win up with a string six second place finishes and until midway in the season looked to be a genuine contender for the title until the development of tyres decisively went to the advantage of Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull. By the seasons end the promising backer had all but disappeared and it emerged that Lotus F1 were struggling to pay Kimi his promised bonuses to the point where Kimi had a back operation and missed the last two races of the season consequently dropping from 3rd to 5th in the seasons standings secure in the knowledge that for 2014 he would be returning to Ferrari to partner Fernando Alonso the man who usurped him at the end of 2009 !

Lotus Renault E21, Raikkönnen, British Grand Prix P2, Silverstone

Lotus F1 who name their cars with an E for Enstone were among the last to confirm a drive train deal for 2014 and the last to show their 2014 contender will start the season with Kimi’s team mate Romain Grosjean and Venezuelan Williams refugee Pastor Maldonado sharing the driving duties. 4 time champion Alain Prost’s son Nicholas is seen driving the unnamed car in the 3rd and final photographs during the Young Driver Day at Silverstone last year.

You can follow the fortunes of Lotus F1 on their website linked here, on their facebook page linked here and on their twitter feed linked here.

Thanks for joining me on this “Promises, Promises” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Wrong Footed By Safety Car – Ferrari F10

For 2010 Ferrari produced it’s 56th World Championship challenger the Ferrari F10, seen here earlier this month at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, that was driven by incumbent number two Felipe Massa and Kimi Räikkönen’s replacement Fernando Alonso in the de facto number one Ferrari seat.

Ferrari F10, Goodwood Festival Of Speed

The credits for the design of the Ferrari F10 are attributed to Technical Director Aldo Costa, Engine and Electronics Director Luca Marmoni, Chief Designer Nicholas Tombazis …

Ferrari F10, Goodwood Festival Of Speed

and Chief Aerodynamicist Marco de Luca. A team of several dozen will have worked on constantly improving the design and performance of the front wing alone.

Ferrari F10, Goodwood Festival Of Speed

The independent front torsion bar suspension is activated by the diagonal elements that rise from the bottom of the wheel hubs to a position within the chassis above the wishbones. The semi-automatic, electronically controlled sequential gearbox has seven forward speeds plus a mandatory reverse.

Ferrari F10, Goodwood Festival Of Speed

800 hp is claimed from the 2.4 litre / 146 cui V8 which is restricted to 18,000 rpm. The motor is mounted at 3.5° to horizontal to improve the airflow under the car that generates much of the cars downforce.

Ferrari F10, Goodwood Festival Of Speed

The 2010 season proved a success for Ferrari, team leader Fernando Alonso won
5 races in Bahrain, Germany, Italy, Singapore and Korea. Going into the last race of the 2010 season Alonso only had to finish 4th to claim the championship.

An unforced team error when the team failed to call Fernando in during a safety car period meant that Fernando was on the wrong tyres at the wrong time unable to challenge Vitaly Petrov for fourth place while rival Sebastian Vettel won the race and the championship driving a Red Bull.

Felipe Massa finished 6th in the championship having been robbed of his only opportunity to win the German Grand Prix by team orders directing him to let Fernando Alonso through to win the race. The one-two result stood despite a US$100,000 fine which Ferrari attracted for the team order call which were expressly forbidden at the time.

Ferrari finished third in the manufacturers championship behind Red Bull and McLaren.

Thanks for joining me on this “Wrong Footed By Safety Car” edition of ‘Getting a li’l psycho on tyres”, I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

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It’s Not A Pick Up Truck – Ferrari 150° Italia

Having snatched World Drivers Championship defeat from the jaws of Victory at the Abu Dahbi Grand Prix in 2010, where Fernando Alonso went into the last race of the season with a 15 point lead over third placed Sebastian Vettel but left 4 points in arrears to the German in the final Championship standings, Ferrari regrouped for 2011 building a new vehicle with the design credited to Aldo Costa and Nicholas Tombazis which was known at its launch as the F150 in celebration of Italy’s 150th unification anniversary.

Ferrari 150° Italia, Autosport International, NEC, Birmingham

Formula One attracts controversy like flies to jam and a large number of jokes by even the most technical minded Formula One anoraks aside it was not long before Ford objected to Ferrari’s use of the trade marked F150 name and eventually Ferrari settled on the 150° Italia in which the ‘°’ stands for the ordinal cento cinquantesimo or one hundred and fiftieth in English.

Ferrari 150° Italia, Autosport International, NEC, Birmingham

Technically Ferrari’s 2011 2.4 litre/146 cui V8 powered challenger was caught on the hop having failed to spot the potential handling benefits of off throttle blown diffusers, a failure which echoed Enzo Ferrari’s assertion that aerodynamics are for teams that cannot build engines.

Ferrari 150° Italia, Autosport International, NEC, Birmingham

As a consequence Alonso was rarely in contention for podium finishes as Red Bull and McLaren who had refined their off throttle blown diffusers, won the opening 8 races of the 2011 season with Sebastian Vettel in the Red Bull winning 6 and Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button driving McLarens winning the remaining two.

Ferrari 150° Italia, Autosport International, NEC, Birmingham

For the ninth race of the season the British Grand Prix Ferrari had managed to persuade all the teams that they should run without off throttle blown diffusers, which basically hooked up an electronic engine programme to wind up the engine speed when the driver was off throttle to force hot air through the exhaust into the diffusers which produced additional downforce when running off throttle through the corners.

Ferrari 150° Italia, Autosport International, NEC, Birmingham

In the prevalent wet conditions which dried through the race Alonso, starting third, managed to beat the Lewis Hamilton driving a McLaren and Sebastian Vettel in his Red Bull to score the Ferrari teams only victory in 2011.

Ferrari 150° Italia, Autosport International, NEC, Birmingham

By the next race the teams despite objections from Ferrari and the Ferrari powered Sauber team reverted to running off throttle blown diffusers in anticipation of a ban on these devices for 2012.

Ferrari 150° Italia, Autosport International, NEC, Birmingham

Ferrari ended up a distant third in the manufactures championship behind Red Bull who scored six further victories to take their 2011 total to 12 and McLaren who scored four further victories in the 19 race season.

Fernando finished the 2011 championship 4th behind Vettel, Jenson Button and Mark Webber who scored just one point ahead of the Spaniard. De facto Ferrari number 2 driver Felipe Massa was lucky to keep his Ferrari seat for 2012 after he finished 6th in the championship 99 points behind Lewis Hamilton having failed finish any higher the 5th all season.

Thanks for joining me on this “It’s Not A Pick Up Truck” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

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