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This year’s event is the second running of
the Korean Grand Prix, one that has good
memories for Scuderia Ferrari, because the
inaugural race was won by Fernando Alonso
(above) with Felipe Massa joining his
team-mate on the podium in third place. |
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This year’s event is the
second running of the Korean Grand Prix, one that has
good memories for Scuderia Ferrari, because the
inaugural race was won by Fernando Alonso with Felipe
Massa joining his team-mate on the podium in third
place. However, the Prancing Horse and the other eleven
teams will in some ways be facing a new challenge: last
year, heavy rain throughout meant there was little very
dry running time, with Sunday’s race ending in almost
darkness, having been delayed by 45 minutes and then run
for much of the time behind a Safety Car. Factor in a
new tyre supplier, Pirelli and, assuming it is dry,
Friday will therefore be very important as a test day.
Currently, the forecast is for mainly dry weather,
although Mokpo’s coastal location means it can have
something of a micro climate. The venue is meant to be a
part-street circuit, with some normal roads used in
making up the track layout and on the subject of tyres,
Pirelli will be bringing what could be described as its
“street combination” of Soft and Supersoft, usually
considered to be the pairing that works best for the
105º Italia.
Certainly, Fernando’s Japanese podium has been a shot in
the arm for the Scuderia, as Team Principal, Stefano
Domenicali confirms. “I think in terms of performance,
the race in Japan was very good. We fought well and this
second place showed we were really competitive. This
aggressive approach is the right one and we need to
maintain it, not just for Korea, but for all the
remaining rounds of the championship. Our objectives
remain the same: to maximise our points score, to focus
on bringing home another win where possible and to fight
to get Fernando into second place in the Drivers’
Championship, because it is important in terms of it
being a motivational goal, not just for the drivers, but
also for the entire team.” Domenicali had just two words
to begin his description of Fernando’s drive on Sunday
in Suzuka: “fantastic, perfect. “He remained focussed,
always doing what he needed to manage the tyres.” Felipe
Massa also had a good weekend, until the contact with
Hamilton. “It was a shame that what had been a very
strong weekend for Felipe was spoilt by this incident,”
said Domenicali. “The collision damaged parts of his
car, which made it hard for him in the second half of
the race to match the pace he had shown, not only in
qualifying, but in the opening laps, when he was very
fast. He deserved to finish in a better position.”
The targets set by Domenicali for the last moments of
2011 are not just aimed at boosting morale and securing
more points and podiums. “The learning curve we faced
this year with the effect of the exhaust plus the
behaviour of the new tyres, is something our engineers
need to make sure they understand fully, so that we get
the most out of next year with a much clearer
situation,” he said. “With this in mind, for the Korean
weekend, we will try and run some new components that
will help up develop a better understanding of the 2012
car.”
Before getting to Korea, the whole team faced a
different type of race. When you have two races outside
Europe, as is the case with this current double header
from Japan to Korea, the logistical implications of
ensuring the journey goes smoothly are very complex and
getting ready for this Sunday’s sixteenth round of the
Formula 1 World Championship is a race in itself.
“The first task is to ensure that the race cars are
fully checked over after the first of the two races,
because the most important thing is that the team knows
the cars are in a fit state to be operational,” explains
Diego Ioverno, Head of Track Operations and Car Assembly
for the Scuderia. “Every component of the two cars was
inspected carefully in Suzuka on Sunday night and if
it’s found that some parts need to return to the factory
in Maranello, they have to be packed up and shipped
separately. The cars themselves have to be packed in a
special way, as there is an agreement with the transport
company that race cars must always be transferred on
four wheels.”
The actual transportation from one venue to the next is
organised by Formula One Management and in the meantime,
part of the Scuderia Ferrari crew has gone on ahead to
the Korean facility at Yeongam, to start all over once
again, building up the garages, the team offices and the
catering facilities. Once the bulk of the team has
arrived, the race cars and equipment which have been
delivered to the teams is then unpacked and the
mechanics, having carried out a basic re-preparation of
the 105º Italias in Suzuka on Sunday night, now begin
the real race preparation for the Korean GP.
This system applies to all movements in between races,
where cars and equipment do not return to Italy in
between. However, when we have what is known as a
back-to-back, with two races on successive Sundays, the
work has to be compressed into a much shorter space of
time and the operation is therefore more challenging.
“It is important to start thinking about the second of
the two races even before the first one, for example
having components on the car that can be used for both
races in terms of their lifeing,” says Ioverno. “After
the first race, everyone in the team – mechanics,
truckies and engineers, helps to prepare the cars to a
good enough state to be packed, while the garages and
offices are stripped down. Once everything is ready on
the special pallets used for air freight, then the team
personnel themselves can travel to the next venue. The
journey, the flight is often the only time the personnel
can get some rest! If they are lucky, they get some time
to sleep when they arrive at the next venue and the
following day, the preparation work starts all over
again. In Korea, the work will have got underway on
Tuesday and the race cars must be ready for their usual
FIA pre-race inspection by Thursday evening at the
latest.”
The numbers involved in Formula 1 are always impressive,
in terms of the horsepower the cars produce and the
speeds at which they can accelerate, but equally
impressive are the numbers relating to the weight of
material that is involved in moving from one race to the
next. “On average, an F1 team sends between 20 and 30
tonnes of cargo to each race,” continues Ioverno. “That
is the equipment that travels to every race by air
freight, but in addition, to save costs, we will send
between 10 and 15 tonnes of less technical equipment,
much further in advance, by sea freight. Around 40 to 50
people per team are involved in unpacking and packing
and building up the infrastructure at each venue, so
effectively every member of the personnel moves one
tonne of equipment!”
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