There is sometimes an argument that Ferrari is given preferential treatment by the FIA. This is more of a perception than a reality and dates back to Enzo Ferrari’s shameless exploitation of his companys value to the sport. However, the case for some sort of FIA favouritism was bolstered over the weekend as Felipe Massa avoided a penalty following the stewards investigation into his driving.
Ferrari released Massa into the fast lane of the Valencia pits when it was not entirely safe to do so. If the Brazilian had been exiting his box from anywhere other than the very end of the pitlane, he would have taken himself and Adrian Sutil out of the Grand Prix right there and then.
The Italian team uses a series of lights, instead of a lollipop man, to unleash their drivers from a pitstop. They are triggered by the fuel nozzle being removed from the car, but the team may want to reconsider these lights because a) they released Massa into the path of Sutil, and b) Kimi Raikkonen doesn’t look at them anyway.
In fairness to Ferrari that sort of pitlane racing isn’t uncommon. We saw it as recently as Hockenheim where Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel came together. It is not the sort of offence that regularly attracts a penalty so Massa would have felt rightly aggrieved to have been stripped of his race victory.
Having said that, it was not a ‘safe’ pit exit and some sort of penalty would have been fully justified. Perhaps a grid place demotion at Spa would have been appropriate.
However, it wasn’t the Scuderia’s pitlane antics that had the other teams talking this weekend.
Ferrari’s engines are now coming under fire.
Literally.
With the current engine freeze in place the teams are not permitted to update or develop their powerplants. Only minor adjustments are allowed in the name of reliability and a number of teams are rightly taking advantage of this.
It has now emerged that some teams are taking more advantage than others.
Since Ferrari’s engines are becoming quicker, whilst also becoming more breakable, you can safely suggest the ‘tweaks’ they are making at Maranello are not within the spirit of those rules.
There was further evidence of this at Valencia when both Toro Rosso’s regularly topped the speedtrap figures. The four fastest cars in a straight line all weekend were powered by Ferrari.
Raikkonen’s engine also turned out to be a hand grenade, which suggests those adjustments Ferrari made were aimed at increasing performance and not reliability.
Formula One is all about pushing the boundaries so there is nothing wrong with what Ferrari is doing. Yes, it is a little sneaky, but rules will always be exploited where possible and there shouldn’t be much wrong with that in a competitive sport.
Then again, it is a very subjective topic and will depend on your feelings towards the Italian team. Some observers may have a biased opinion.
If your car uses a Renault engine, you are likely to have a biased opinion.
Flavio Briatore didn’t hold back when questioned about his thoughts on Ferrari and the engine freeze. Renault’s team boss said “The problem is that us, Renault, have stuck to the letter of the current regulations on frozen engines, and we’ve been buggered. Others didn’t do that and are far ahead while we suffer. It’s not fair”
Saying it is “not fait” is a little over dramatic since I’m sure Renault would have done exactly the same if they had the foresight to see the advantages.
Mark Webber also believes that Ferrari has snuck in some extra horses, and claims Toro Rosso now have an advantage of four tenths over the senior Red Bull team. He would appear to have a valid point. Sebastian Vettel’s fastest lap around Valencia on Sunday was almost a full second quicker than Webber’s. Bourdais was right up there as well which says a lot about their car’s performance around a circuit that relies heavily on engine power.
On a side note, Toro Rosso’s recent good showings could actually be a good thing for Red Bull as they try to increase the value of the team before selling it.
That will be of little consolation to Mark Webber.
Ferrari’s main concern though is not what their rivals think about engine development, but why their cars have become so fragile. The Scuderia needs to get on top of their mechanical gremlins quickly before their title challenge slips from view.
Ferrari’s mechanical strength over the past decade has been phenomenal. Few teams can boast such a strong history of reliability.
Consider this. Michael Schumacher spent eleven years with Ferrari which is more than any other driver has ever spent with any one team. During those years he took 72 wins and a staggering 1066 points. That is mighty impressive.
Perhaps the most amazing thing was that in all that time, Schumacher suffered just four race engine failures. Only four! They were at France 1996, Australia 1998, France 2000, and Suzuka 2006. Only one of those failures occurred after he won his first (of five) Ferrari championships!
That is a monumental statistic. Yes, Schumacher had a few other mechanical retirements but none of them were the cause of a direct engine failure. A gearbox or hydraulics system might have broken occasionally, but there was nothing like a conrod or piston going AWOL inside an engine block.
Throughout that same period of time, Schumacher’s teammates had the same number of race engine failures (Germany 1997, Europe 1997, San Marino 1999, and Malaysia 2002). Again, only one of those occurred after Ferrari started winning regular championships.
Since Ferrari had no engine problems last year, that gives them a total of eight race blowups since 1996. That is an amazing record, especially when you remember that six of those failures occurred before Ferrari’s most recent dominance of the sport began.
That supreme record is starting to unravel.
Ferrari has now had four engine breakdowns this year alone.
That is a huge drop in performance. The team have experienced four failures since 1999 (almost a decade) and have now four in six months.
Then of course there are the Scuderia Toro Rosso drivers who have had two of their own failures this year with Ferrari engines. It isn’t really fair to count them statistically but it highlights the point that Stefano Domenicali’s men have not produced a solid powerplant in 2008.
Even more alarming for Ferrari is that the current two-race-engine rule, along with the engine freeze, have made this current era of Formula One racing the most reliable in all history. Large plumes of blue smoke are now a thing of the past and are extremely rare, so this blip on Ferrari’s radar is nothing short of serious.
It will be a huge concern for the folk back at Maranello, and they will be doing everything possible to ensure there are no further repeats. Over the next month we will be racing at Spa Francorchamps and Monza where engines are pushed to the limit, so any mice in the machinery will be highly exposed. Another failure for either Kimi Raikkonen or Felipe Massa would be a massive blow to their championship campaign given how close this season has turned out.
I suppose Ferrari will have to make a few modifications to their engines to make them more reliable J