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Scuderia
Ferrari headed back to Maranello on Sunday evening
determined to solve the mysteries that hindered their
performance in the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim on
Sunday. Felipe Massa finished third to Lewis Hamilton
and rookie Nelson Piquet, while Kimi Raikkonen finished
sixth.
Ferrari were simply unable to exploit their usual race
pace and strong disciplines such as economical use of
tyres, as team principal Stefano Domenicali explained
after the race. "This was one of the most critical
points of this weekend. Normally we know that McLaren
are fast over a single lap and that this is a trade-off
with consistency and pace during the race.
"Unfortunately today we have seen that that was not the
case. In qualifying of course they were really strong,
but if you consider the fuel that they had for Lewis and
Kovalainen, Felipe's lap was really good. This time, if
you think that in the first stint we were slower by half
a second it shows that there is something that has to be
really understood and we need to go deeply into the
details without making any quick solutions because
that's the mistake that we shouldn't make at this
moment."
One of the reasons for the lack of pace was the brakes,
as Massa had reported. "I think that we had a problem of
high brake temperatures," said Domenicali. "That is one
of the reasons why Felipe was not able to attack.
Generally, he was also not happy about the grip of the
car so he couldn't be aggressive either on soft or on
hard tyres. So that was really the main problem. That is
the reason why, in that condition, we were not even able
to attack Piquet."
Could the conditions have changed? Domenicali was
unwilling to draw any swift conclusions. "Possibly," he
admitted. "But as I said today I don't want to take any
premature reasons because we need to go deeply and
analyse the reason for this situation. because it's in a
way too microscopic to have an easy solution. For sure
what we have seen today is something that we haven't
seen since the start of the season in terms of
consistency and pace. It is clear that McLaren has made
another step forward in respect of the consistency
during the race. During this weekend, in the long runs
they were pretty good. But on the other side today I'd
say we were too slow and we have to understand the
reason why."
Kimi Raikkonen, in particular, struggled throughout the
weekend. "He was not happy at all with his car's
behaviour since Friday," explained Domenicali. "He said
the car was too nervous at the rear and he couldn't have
the grip that he wanted. If you compare that with what
we have seen during the test last week this is the
reason why I said I don't completely understand the
reason why because last week we were pretty competitive
in the last sector so we need to analyse a lot.
"He was not happy with the general grip of the car. He
couldn't be aggressive, he felt the rear was still too
loose and it was not possible for him to be on the pace
that he wanted. If you look at the first stint it was
the best in a way. It took a long time before he caught
Robert Kubica."
It was pointed out that it was not the first time that
Kimi has struggled with the setup between the test and
the race weekend. Is the window of the set-up quite
small on the Ferrari or is he generally having more
difficulties to find it than Felipe? "For sure the
window of setup can be wider if you go to the direction
that is not taking the car where you want," said
Domenicali. "Generally speaking the difference is not so
big but that shows how the car is, very sensitive if you
don't do the thing properly.
Raikkonen was not really showing a champion's form, it
was suggested. "Well, you have to look at the points.
The thing I don't want to do now or ever is to make a
risky conclusion of the driver situation, because as we
said for example in Silverstone for Felipe, after that
race, I didn't want to say something and in the other
direction with Kimi. So for sure he is the first one not
to be happy about the situation but I'm pretty sure that
he's very keen to react straight away in Hungary, as we
are all together."
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