Alonso and Ferrari - What's in going to take?

[pino]

What Alonso needs ? A car as fast as the Red Bull...it would be exciting then

[zako85]

Sometimes I wonder that all Alonso needs is a car that would put him at least on the second row. His starts are very good and he is pretty fast in race trim. However, this year's Ferrari has not delivered that. He was starting from what.. 3rd, 4th.. 5th rows. That was still good enough to fight for the podiums but usually not for the win.

[kfzmeister]

What Alonso needs ? A car as fast as the Red Bull...it would be exciting then

it would be game over.

[dj_bytedisaster]

I think if you gave Alonso, Hamilton and Vettel equal cars we'd see some very intense racing.

That may well be the case next year. With the rules as stable as they are, there are no new loopholes for A. Newey to exploit, so Ferrari is likely to catch up and the McLaren already is as good as the RB.

[dj_bytedisaster]

McLaren isn't going to help Lewis next year. Its looking likely he will be one of the best drivers fighting in a middle field car, unless the Brackley team have developed a better car from earlier this season.

They have been developing it "for more than 12 months now". Brawn said that in an interview that was published on the website of German racing journal "Motorsport Total", 90 minutes ago. If there's interest I can post a translation of the article.
So what it sounds like to me is:

a) They knew as early as dec. 2011 that the 2012 challenger would be a dog.
b) They knew that they wouldn't retain Schumacher and started to design the 2013 car extremely early with the knowledge that they would try to get a star driver for '13.

After all Brawn has experience with that method. Extremely early start of development was, how the Brawn came to be the dominant car in early '09.
So maybe there's hope after all.

And there's also hope in a different aspect. In another Interview for the same paper, Horner admitted that "Adrian is a bit behind on schedule with the RB9", because they couldn't afford to stop development of the RB8 until the last race.

[CaptainRaiden]

They have been developing it "for more than 12 months now". Brawn said that in an interview that was published on the website of German racing journal "Motorsport Total", 90 minutes ago. If there's interest I can post a translation of the article.

That would be great! Or you could just post the link and we can use Google translate (but their translation is absolute rubbish most of the times).

[Knock-on]

I don't think it was too much of a surprise that Mercedes have been developing a car for next year. They haven't hidden the fact that personnel and mnagement have been brought in.

They also had a reasonable driver that was not capable of challenging for the championship and one that is over the hill. Not much incentive for continued improvement of the 2012 car.

It's logical that they would get a top flite driver in and push for a package that can challenge in 2013. I predict it will be very competitive in Lewis's hands.

[dj_bytedisaster]

Here's the translation of the full article. The original can be found HERE

New Silver Arrow - No more postponed debut
The track debut of the new Mercedes will most likely happen at the very first day of testing in 2012. After restructuring there can be no more excuses

The Formula 1 season has barely ended and already preparations for 2013 are in the final phase. The finishing touches are put to the new cars, which have been developed since May at least. Meanwhile the designers are already working out the plans for updates in the next season. But the real pressure will be on from February 05th, when the first day of pre-season testing will start in the Andalusian Jerez de la Frontera.

In February 2012 Mercedes showed up for the first tests with the old model MGP W02. The W03, which would win the first GP in the hands of Nico Rosberg three months later did not debut before the second test at Barcelona. The goal behind this postponement was to buy more time for design and windtunnel testing - an old trick of Red Bull ace Adrian Newey. But in 2013 the new model shall be running on all 12 winter testing days. "The car will be at the first test, at the first day, except we hit unforeseeable circumstances," team boss Brawn announces.

He further explains that the new car "has been in work for 12 months or longer". Back then, after the disappointing 2011 campaign, internal restructuring had started. A result of that are the current technical team of Bob Bell, Aldo Costa, Geoff Willis and Mike Elliot as well as an upscaling of windtunnel models from 50% to 60%. Brawn remembers: "Twelve Months ago we realized that we have to strengthen the operation."

"Geoff Willis joined us this summer and we have hired other people as well. We have updated and improved the windtunnel. This all has been going on for some time already." Main focus of the changes has been the aerodynamics. "We decided to restructure the aerodynamics team. It always takes a bit of time after that until a team really works as a unit." Mercedes felt that from the middle of the season, when their development went in reverse at top speed.

"Loic Bigois, who had been leading the team has left in April/May. Then we had to wait for Mike Elliot to arrive, who was still at Lotus at the time. He arrived a little later [than planned] and we didn't make a good job of bridging the gap between Loic's departure and Mike's arrival," Brawn admits. "At the same time we switched from a 50% to a 60% windtunnel as well as a few other aspects of the aerodynamics team. Maybe we could have handled that phase a little better."

Bus, since Elliot arrived and the windtunnel has been calibrated, the restructuring is finished. That means, while there might have been some slight turbulence in the earliest planning phase of the 2013 project, there can essentially be no more excuses for the new car. All at Brackley, Brixworth and Stuttgart know: In the forth year a significant step forward has to come.

Speaking of Brackley and Brixworth: The cooperation between chassis and engine departments is meanwhile working flawlessly, which could prove a substantial advantage for 2014, because then the new revolutionary engine formula will come into effect and the integration of chassis and engine will become even more important. "The working relationship betweenb chassis in Brackley and engines at Brixworth is developing well. That is very important for 2014," Brawn says. "2014 is a huge opportunity and that will be, when we will show our strength as a unit."

---fin---

[Ranger]

I don't think it was too much of a surprise that Mercedes have been developing a car for next year. They haven't hidden the fact that personnel and mnagement have been brought in.

They also had a reasonable driver that was not capable of challenging for the championship and one that is over the hill. Not much incentive for continued improvement of the 2012 car.

It's logical that they would get a top flite driver in and push for a package that can challenge in 2013. I predict it will be very competitive in Lewis's hands.

:\

Mercedes sing that same "early development of next year's car" tune every year, with the same average results.

The only difference in 2009 was the interpretation of a 'gap' and a 'hole'. Even then they lost out in the development race, like every car the team has produced since.

I don't expect 2013 to be any better than their 2012 campaign but I would happily be proven wrong.

[AndyL]

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Mercedes sing that same "early development of next year's car" tune every year, with the same average results.

The only difference in 2009 was the interpretation of a 'gap' and a 'hole'. Even then they lost out in the development race, like every car the team has produced since.

I don't expect 2013 to be any better than their 2012 campaign but I would happily be proven wrong.

The difference between the 2009 car and every one since was a billion dollars.