Ferrari: Montezemolo demands reaction after poor result | 2011 Chinese GP team review

18 April 2011 by Keith Collantine

Ferrari^[1] president Luca di Montezemolo says ?this cannot and must not be the team?s level? after his cars finish sixth and seventh.

	Fernando Alonso[2]	Felipe Massa[3]
Qualifying position	5	6
Qualifying time comparison (Q3)	1?35.119 (-0.026)	1?35.145
Race position	7	6
Laps	56/56	56/56
Pit stops	2	2

Ferrari drivers? lap times throughout the race:

http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/charts/2011drivercolours.csv

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38	39	40	41	42	43	44	45	46	47	48	49	50	51	52	53	54	55	56
Fernando Alonso	110.079	105.202	104.834	104.609	104.69	104.419	104.043	104.618	104.851	104.731	104.99	105.311	104.839	105.027	105.735	109.177	123.366	103.842	103.434	103.387	103.263	103.352	104.136	103.778	103.775	103.339	103.223	104.565	104.641	104.664	104.014	108.052	119.78	102.666	102.333	102.327	102.346	102.427	102.549	102.297	102.07	102.401	102.439	102.612	103.251	102.436	102.566	102.352	102.946	102.723	102.445	102.454	102.093	102.397	102.389	102.563
Felipe Massa	109.483	104.984	104.918	104.519	104.68	104.165	104.234	104.374	104.518	105.407	105.294	105.139	104.295	105.242	109.381	122.048	103.009	103.089	103.046	102.873	102.647	102.842	102.688	103.035	103.222	102.721	102.698	103.274	102.885	103.273	103.309	103.203	107.164	119.995	101.764	101.84	102.057	102.102	101.678	102.419	102.026	101.867	101.941	102.774	103.616	102.248	101.911	101.788	102.911	104.321	104.047	103.05	103.107	103.009	102.867	103.069

Fernando Alonso

A pair of hydraulic leaks cost Alonso time in second practice. The, after the team had spent the first session doing more aerodynamic tests and running a new front wing and brake ducts.

They decided against using them in the race. Alonso said: ?It?s still too early to use them in a race: we hope to make a significant step forward in Turkey.?

He out-qualified Massa for the third time in 2011 ? and Massa kept up his record of passing Alonso at the start.

Ferrari put both their drivers on two-stop strategies. But even though Alonso stayed out long enough to inherit the lead for two laps, when he came back out following his pit stop he was seventh, behind Michael Schumacher^[4].

The ensuing battle with Schumacher, which Alonso eventually won, cost the Ferrari driver as Pat Fry admitted afterwards: ?Fernando was battling with Schumacher for at least eight laps and his tyres suffered because of that, to such an extent that he was unable to push as hard as he wanted once he had a clear track ahead of him.?

Alonso was demoted to seventh by Mark Webber^[5] towards the end of the race and spent the final laps fending off Schumacher.

Fernando Alonso 2011 form guide^[6]

Felipe Massa, Fernando Alonso, Ferrari, Shanghai, 2011

Felipe Massa

Massa continues to show improved form, finishing the race almost 15 seconds in front of the team mate who gave him such a hammering last year.

However he wasn?t happy with his race strategy, as a team statement showed afterwards^[7]: ?In the heat of the moment, Felipe was not completely convinced about the choice made together with the pit wall.

?It?s easy to understand the frustration of the Brazilian driver who fought alongside McLaren^[8], Red Bull and Mercedes for most of the race and was still in third place eight laps from the end, only to see himself overtaken by three cars in the final moments.

?By yesterday evening, having further analysed the detail of the situation, even Felipe agreed how, for Ferrari, the difference between the two strategies would not have been huge in terms of finishing positions.?

The same statement hinted at the reasons for Ferrari?s problems: ?This year?s Formula 1 is much more unpredictable, you just have to think about the different performance of the same type of tyres on two identical cars or between one race and another.?

Massa ran second after passing Lewis Hamilton^[9] early on, but the McLaren driver came back past him on lap 43.

After that Jenson Button^[10], Nico Rosberg and Mark Webber all made their way past the Ferrari on consecutive laps.

Ferrari have not had a car on the podium for the last four races, which last happened at the end of 2009.

Felipe Massa 2011 form guide^[11]

2011 Chinese Grand Prix

Browse all 2011 Chinese Grand Prix articles^[12]

Image ? Ferrari spa/Ercole Colombo

References

1. ^{^} Ferrari (www.f1fanatic.co.uk)
2. ^{^} Fernando Alonso (www.f1fanatic.co.uk)
3. ^{^} Felipe Massa (www.f1fanatic.co.uk)
4. ^{^} Michael Schumacher (www.f1fanatic.co.uk)
5. ^{^} Mark Webber (www.f1fanatic.co.uk)
6. ^{^} Fernando Alonso 2011 form guide (www.f1fanatic.co.uk)
7. ^{^} a team statement showed afterwards (www.ferrari.com)
8. ^{^} McLaren (www.f1fanatic.co.uk)
9. ^{^} Lewis Hamilton (www.f1fanatic.co.uk)
10. ^{^} Jenson Button (www.f1fanatic.co.uk)
11. ^{^} Felipe Massa 2011 form guide (www.f1fanatic.co.uk)
12. ^{^} Browse all 2011 Chinese Grand Prix articles (www.f1fanatic.co.uk)

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/f1fanatic/~3/AHgHHzAaxAA/

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