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No points
for Scuderia Ferrari at the end of the Australian
Grand
Prix, the opening round of the 2009 season. Kimi Raikkonen was
classified sixteenth, after retiring on lap 55 with a differential problem,
while Felipe Massa stopped in the pits on lap 45, with a broken left front nose
support.
Stefano Domenicali: "This was definitely not a start worthy of Ferrari, from
any point of view. We were lacking on the reliability front, with two
cars forced to retire. Our performance was not up to the potential
we had expected after our winter testing: we struggled to manage the tyres.
Furthermore, our strategy choices did not work out, especially in the case of
Felipe. To sum up, it was a day to forget from the result point of view, but to
remember well so as to try and analyse everything we failed in, in order to
improve immediately. From that point of view, it's good we have a race coming up
immediately next week in Malaysia. It will give us the opportunity to react as
long as we draw the right conclusions, calmly but also decisively.
Australia does not seem to have been a happy hunting ground
for us these last few years: the circuit is a bit untypical where it could be
that the pecking order is not so clear. It will be more evident in Sepang, but
we are well aware that, apart from one team that was untouchable today, there
are numerous other strong competitors."
Felipe Massa:
"We knew the Brawn GP cars would be unbeatable today, but all the same, we thought
we could have a good race. The start was great, but after five or six laps, we
ran into trouble with the soft tyres, to such an extent that we had to pit
early. We then switched to a very aggressive strategy, which with hindsight
turned out to be the wrong one, as shortly after the pit stop, the safety car
came out on track. I found myself third, but after the restart, I had less than
ten laps to try and make up ground on those who were behind me, but with more fuel. At
the second stop, we filled it for the finish, but then I was very slow and
finally, I had the problem which forced me to retire. In my opinion, apart from
the Brawns, we are competitive, but we have to work perfectly to get to the
front. Here, it is very difficult to get the tyres to work, partly because the
track surface does not provide much grip. The solution for Malaysia? Work and
work hard."
Kimi Raikkonen: "When I ended up in the wall it was my mistake. A shame as,
given what happened later, I could have finished second. We lost valuable points
but we will try and make up for it starting right away in Malaysia. There, we
will get a clearer picture of the situation because this circuit is not very
indicative of performance. The KERS worked well at the start, but there was not
much room to go anywhere. If we did not think it gave an advantage, we would not
use it. Definitely the main problem was in managing the tyres, but we also need
to improve our overall performance."
Luca Baldisserri: "We opted to start on the softer tyres, a gamble that did
not pay off today, because, given the huge degradation suffered by both drivers,
we had to bring the first stops forward. We then went on two different
strategies: with Felipe, in hindsight, we went the wrong way, especially as the
safety car period did not help. Apart from this, we must admit that today, our
performance was not up to that of many of our rivals. We must work out why and
react quickly, starting in Malaysia."
Race Details
K. Raikkonen: 16th 1:28.59.301 3 laps 55 laps 276 chassis
F. Massa: R 1:12.45.106 - 45 laps 275 chassis
Weather: air temperature 22/21 C, track temperature 31/26 C, sunny.
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