Gene in Ferrari & what it means

[Diego440]

Ferrari has named Marc Gene as its second test driver. The Spaniard had considerable expertise as a tire tester with BMW Williams and with Michelin but was dropped by Williams after his two relatively unimprressive races when Ralf Schumacher was injured. Antonio Pizzonia did a better job and is now the main candidate for the second drive in 2005.

Ferrari has not agreed to testing restrictions this year although the value of winning if one tests twice as much as the opposition is questionable. Ferrari seems to have adopted the view that it will not back down to pressure and will take the circumstances as they come. This is fine but that means that whatever is achieved next year will inevitably be undermined.

The signing of Gene sends a clear message to the other teams that it has no intention of getting involved in any testing bans, presumably working on the belief that if Ferrari holds out the other teams will crumble and testing will be left as it is. Gene becomes the second Ferrari test driver alongside Luca Badoer. He replaces Luciano Burti, who did only limited testing last year and was replaced on occasion by Andrea Bertolini, the Ferrari-Maserati official sports car test driver.

Ferrari's attitude towards a reduction in testing appears to be as hardline as before with the company apparently willing to go into next season with an appreciable advantage over the opposition and apparently unconcerned that the result will be diluted in 2005 by the fact that everyone else will be testing less. But I guess that Ferrari acts on the principle that a victory is a victory, no matter if you have a very unfair advantage over your competition.

 

[GilesGuthrie]

I think that we've seen over the last 6 years that Ferrari are prepared to do what it takes to win, no matter how unpalateable that may be to the rest of the world.

What has always struck me is this: How would the FIA police Ferrari's adherence to any testing ban. Would they post onlookers at Fiorano and Mugello on a 24/7 basis?

Given that Ferrari owns two race tracks that host little in the way of public competition, it's extremely unlikely that they would consent to a testing ban of any sort. In fact, I think it's amazing that they agreed to the August and November testing bans.

 

[Pupik]

It's virtually impossible to enforce a testing ban; especially when Ferrari has the Fiorano Circuit on their property. Other marques are going to follow suit with their own tracks, if they haven't done so already.

On the other hand, FIAT isn't getting much of a return on their investment with Ferrari, both the road and race car divisions. FIAT's in a lot of financial debt, so Ferrari's advantage can't last forever.

{GilesGuthrie beat me to it.}

 

[Mike Rotch]

I am actually astonished that FIAT pours so much money into F1 when they themselves are in financial strife.

 

[kensei]

Why should Ferrari back down? They built their succesful F1 team since the mid 90s when they were anything but successful. Just because the other teams don't have the foresight to make the same choices for success doesn't make Ferrari wrong. If the other teams on the F1 grid stoped complaining so much (about Ferrari) years ago and focused on winning races they too could be where Ferrari is.

The other thing Ferrari has is stability in the team. Another thing the other teams could learn. Instead of chaging things ever single season due to strife within the team build an atmosphere that encourages winning and success, not finger pointing and name calling.

Ferrari has the largest budget, or one of the largest? The other teams can't afford to do it like Ferrari?

psshawww!

Williams, McLaren, even Renault could have built on their past success and for the future years ago. They have the money to do it.

But then again it isn't just about money here. Look at Toyota. Ferrari spend wisely and hire the right people and encourage the right atmosphere for the team to win.

 

[GilesGuthrie]

There's no doubt that Ferrari have spent wisely. However, they have at least 10% more money than the next richest team, and over 9x that of Minardi.

F1 has to disincentivise spending money. But that's a tough nut to crack.

 

[kensei]

There's no doubt that Ferrari have spent wisely. However, they have at least 10% more money than the next richest team, and over 9x that of Minardi.

F1 has to disincentivise spending money. But that's a tough nut to crack.

So Ferrari should be punished for having money. Getting their ducks in a row, lining up sponsors and playing nice with Fiat?

I agree there is a huge divided between Ferrari and Minardi. However it isn't Ferrari's fault.

I also agree that the field needs to be leveled for results to mean anything and the sport to continue but how the FIA goes about doing that I have no idea. I don't think it should be at the expense of Ferrari.

 

[Blake]

Considerring how much of an advantage Ferrari have over the competition testing wise, I'm suprised they lost as many as they did this season.

But this also mean means that Williams have a race seat and a testing seat to fill, 3 drivers to pick from (Pizzonia, Davidson or Heidfeld) and two seats to fill. Who do you think will get what seat?

Pizzonia is by far the favourite for the race seat and I think Davidson and Heidfeld are going to have to be bloody fast in the shootout to have a chance of getting it.

 

[Firestarter75]

There's no doubt that Ferrari have spent wisely. However, they have at least 10% more money than the next richest team,.

Gotta call bull**** on that one, Toyota actually has the biggest budget in F1. McLaren just built a huge testing and building facility which astonished most F1 veterans that have seen it so they very well could have more money in F1 then Ferrari. Toyota definatly has more, McLaren probably. Sure Ferrari spends tons of money but its the people that make Ferrari click, more then the cash.

 

[pimp racer]

I am actually astonished that FIAT pours so much money into F1 when they themselves are in financial strife.

really I didnt hear about that is this old news or fairly new?

 

[Majarvis]

I am actually astonished that FIAT pours so much money into F1 when they themselves are in financial strife.

GM is a partial owner of FIAT, thus Ferrari. 'Nuff said

 

[F310B]

disincentivise

Good word! lol

 

[The359]

GM is a partial owner of FIAT, thus Ferrari. 'Nuff said

GM is partial owner of FIAT Motors, not FIAT the conglomerate. GM has no connection to Ferrari.

 

[Majarvis]

GM is partial owner of FIAT Motors, not FIAT the conglomerate. GM has no connection to Ferrari.

True, however the funding they provide to FIAT surely trickles its way down to Ferrari in one way or another.

 

[Diego440]

Speaking of which, I recently saw on an Internet news site that GM may be thinking of enterinf Formula 1, although the subject as such would be better discussed in another thread. Either way, it would be great to have another big company pouring money into a lost cause (see Ford).

On another matter, I'd say that Ferrari does have an unfair advantage since they are testing more. If you look back, all the other teams agreed on this testing ban back in September I think, and only Ferrari has disagreed. Of course, you'd have to be a McLaren or other team fan (as myself) to see this as a bad occurence. Sure, Ferrari is the most stable team right now, but that's just part of the motorsport cycle. Look back to about 1988, where McLaren won 15 of the 16 races. Ferrari and all the other teams were going at each other's throats trying to put something together while McLaren just kept on winning.

Still, I'm all for the standarization of certain rules and actions, making them the same for every team. Not necessarily budget-wise, but at least set a limit, where the teams' budget can not go over a certain number. Well, it's just a thought.

 

[Blake]

I think Ferrari's wins are meaning less and less. The more testing they do the less their wins mean. They don't care about that obviously, they don't mind kicking people while they're down to beat them. I don't think Ferrari always winning is damaging the sport, but I think the testing advantage they have IS damaging the sport. Their wins aren't the same as another teams win is because of this advantage, it's just ruining it in my opinion.

 

[SouL]

Ferrari has the right to be against the testing ban proposal. Fiorano and Mugello are their race tracks. It's resource that they're defenitely putting to very good use. It's the same thing as having multiple wind tunnels/R&D facilities.
Instead of scrambling around buying the most expensive wind tunnel (or a 2nd one as is the case for... Williams, was it?) perhaps the team should take after Ferrari and secure a test track to conduct tests on.
Honda owns Suzuka... BAR should take advantage of this and run tests there.
If a team has available resources to improve their performance, there's no reason why they shouldn't be able to use them.

Also, Ferrari work very close with Bridgestone which helps them out tremendously during the races because tires are so critical in performance. It really helps a lot when you can have your tire manufacturer devote a large amount of their R&D to suit your particular car the best. There's no doubt that Bridgeston basically makes tires JUST for Ferrari. The other teams basically recieve Ferrari specified tires. More or less.
The addition of Gene will further help Bridgeston help Ferrari boost their performance this year. Gene has done extensive Michelin tire tests and no doubt has a lot of knowledge as to how their tires work. Bridgestone have already openly admitted that they will hold talks with Gene to get as much as they can out of him regarding how Michelin tires work.

And just like Diego said... it's all cyclical. 1 team will alwalys hold the upper hand for several years at any given sport. The biggest things that play into Ferrari's favor are that they have the ability to test, test, and test, they have arguably one of the best F1 drivers on the grid, and the rest of the teams have "rookies" driving their cars.
Eventually Schumacher will retire (he's getting fairly close to 40 now - not too many years left in him) and the rookies we have now (if they stick around long enough) will gather a lot of experience and will start challenging themselves for the championship.

Sure you can say that F1 is a bit boring now, but I'm pretty sure that within the next several years, things will get very exciting.

 

[Diego440]

Of course, it's when one team is going down (in the cycle) and the others are fighting to be on top of that cycle when things start getting interesting. I'm not sure if we'll have to wait 'til Schumi retires to see it, and I certainly hope not, since he doesn't show any signs of getting tired, but hey, that's not the issue.

It'll be interesting to see that battle next year, since most teams don't have rookies anymore, although less experienced than Schumi and Barrichello, of course. Still, it should be very interesting.

 

[iceburns288]

Ferrari did not like the rules proposed by the other teams, that's not a bad thing they don't agree. They actually brought MORE plans to the table for the FIA to consider, but no one else agreed. Ferrari's plan was 24-day testing with a 15k km limit, plus another 15k of tire testing for each tire manufacturer.

Q.Why has Ferrari not adhered to the proposal put forward by the other teams, preferring to come up with its own suggestions?

A.Because we believe that what has been proposed would not be effective and would not produce a real reduction in costs, as well as leaving the teams to work in a not very efficient fashion. At the moment, we face two alternatives: maintaining the agreement that has been in force since 2004 or come up with a plan that would lead to real cost savings for all the teams.

Q.What are the main points of your proposal?

A.Let us start with an assumption: limiting testing to 24 days, with two cars running on track, would mean an average of 400 km per car per day, giving a total of 19,600 kilometres. Well, we propose a limit of 15,000 kilometres per team, for the purpose of developing the car, with an obligation to run at just one track.


--Ferrari's F1 rivals have rejected the Italian team's proposal on how to limit testing and cut costs. "Ferrari's proposal is completely unacceptable," Renault's Flavio Briatore said after he met with other team bosses in London on Monday to consider the proposal.
Reuters reported Minardi team boss Paul Stoddart describing the proposals from Ferrari as 'a piss take.'

I still do not understand the concept of not letting people win. Ferrari has worked very hard for a long time to get these wins and are just slapped with rule changes and restrictions since they signed the best driver in the world into the best car in the world.

 

[Wastegate]

I still do not understand the concept of not letting people win. Ferrari has worked very hard for a long time to get these wins and are just slapped with rule changes and restrictions since they signed the best driver in the world into the best car in the world.

Ferrari are all for rule changes to reduce costs, or so they say. They have been complaining (like all the teams) that F1 costs too much and that they need to reduce costs and increase revenue. But when everyone else comes up with a proposal to reduce costs they dismiss it out of hand.

Let's not forget that these proposals are not specifically to hamper Ferrari. They are to try to ensure the survival of teams like Minardi, Jordan and Red Bull. Indeed the teams like McLaren, Williams, BAR and Renault are going to hamper themselves massively compared to Ferrari should Ferrari not comply with the proposed rules.

Ferrari's proposed rules are, in Paul Stoddard's words, "taking the piss". According to their rules they will get almost twice the amount of testing as any of their rivals and get paid by Bridgestone for half of it too! This will give them much more money than anyone else to spend on things like simulation and wind-tunnel testing. A win-win situation for Ferrari.

The way I see things developing for 2005 is that Michael Schumacher will dominate the championship from Barrichello, playing to a different set of rules to everyone else, who will be limiting their testing. Many will consider whoever finishes third to be the 'moral world champion', and Ferrari and some of it's supporters will be annoyed by that.

Personally, I applaud Ferrari and MS for what they have acheived over the last 5 years, but I also believe that the proposed rules changes from everyone else are being made for the good of the future of the sport. If that means we have a FIA World Champion and a (different) moral world champion, then that will be sad.

 

[Blake]

Great post, I completely agree with you.

 

[Dudley]

True, however the funding they provide to FIAT surely trickles its way down to Ferrari in one way or another.

There's no down for it to trickle to. You might as well say if Blockbuster are part bought by someone, the money goes to UPN.

 

[riquii]

Forza Gené ¡¡¡

 

[fangorn_forest]

The V8 rule for F1 in 2006 is something I don't understand if the FIA is trying to slow down Ferrari. Any change like this that will require extensive reengineering will surely give Ferrari more of an advantage. Considering they have so many great engineers working for them.

 

[Blake]

the FIA is trying to slow down Ferrari

They're not trying to slow down Ferrari, that's what the teams are trying to do with the testing limitations. The FIA is trying to slow all the cars down...

Blake

 

[fangorn_forest]

Yes, I realise that, however; Bernie Ecclestone has stated before that he believes Ferrari's dominance is harmful to the sport, and that he would like to make it more competitive. Also, notice that I said IF the FIA is trying to slow down Ferrari.

 

[Blake]

Making the sport more competitive does not necessarily mean slowing down the fastest team. Of course the sport would be more competitive if Ferrari were slower.

And if the sport was made more competitive Ferrari's gap over the others would inherently decrease.

Blake

 

[darkfinal]

GO GENÉ!!!!!

Whoops sorry... an old one....