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The podium he conquered in Istanbul as a starting point for climbing up to the top: Fernando Alonso believes in Ferrari's means.
"We cannot be satisfied. We had been missing an important placing for too long, but the main thing for us was to fight until the end. In China Felipe Massa had succeeded, we finally materialized something that was fully within our possibilities".
In the opinion of the Spanish driver, the result deriving from the Turkish Grand Prix may be the jolt that was needed.
"This third place is also important for team morale. We were all disappointed with a start to the season that did not live up to expectations, and we know how good it feels to see daily efforts pay off. From here we have to build the future: it will be crucial to grow in performance during qualifying. Always starting behind makes things complicated for us. We hope to bring upgrades as early as next week in Barcelona that can enable us to take a major step forward in qualifying as well".
Alonso is optimistic and proves it with a couple of calculations.
"You know I like to play with numbers and going back and forth between home, Maranello and Turkey, I tried to compare my first four races from last year with this year's races and the corresponding Grand Prix. What comes out of this little game is that compared to 2010 I am eight points short (49 versus 41) but in the same four races this year I brought home 13 more points than last season (41 versus 28). True, today my gap to the top in the drivers' standings is much wider (-52) than the one I had after Shanghai 2010 (-11) but I remember well that after Silverstone the gap was 47 points and there were only nine races left while today we still have 15 Grands Prix left to run".
The Spanish pilot broadens the discourse.
"This means that you can see the same thing in two different, sometimes opposite ways. What matters is results, and we have started to get on the podium; we will have to do that on a regular basis, and I am convinced that if we do, we can still have our say in the title fight".
Finally, a special thought.
"In Istanbul on Sunday morning there was a serious accident in GP2, involving one of our drivers, Davide Rigon. I feel very sorry for him, and he will have to be stationary for some time: we hope he will recover soon, I say this also in a selfish way, because he was doing valuable work for us in the simulator".
Fernando Alonso had always said he wanted to end his career behind the Ferrari wheel, and he was true to his word. In fact, the Spanish driver will remain at Ferrari until 2016. The announcement is made on Thursday, May 19th, 2011, by the Maranello team, through a statement published on its website.
"Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro announces that it has renewed the technical-sporting cooperation agreement with driver Fernando Alonso until the end of the 2016 season".
And emphasizes President Luca Montezemolo:
"We are very pleased to have extended our relationship with a driver who has always proven to be a winner, even in the most difficult conditions. Fernando has all the qualities, both technical and human, to be fully part of Ferrari's history, which, we hope, can soon be enriched with new successes".
Also expressing satisfaction is the Spanish driver, who aims to repeat with Ferrari the triumphs achieved with Renault.
"I am very happy to have reached this agreement. I immediately felt comfortable at Ferrari and now feel it like a second family. I have great confidence in the women and men who work at Maranello and in thosewho lead them, so it was natural for me to decide to extend such a long-term relationship with what will be the last team of my Formula 1 career".
A losing driver does not change. The joke going around the paddock, and according to some attributable to an anonymous Red Bull mechanic, is the only, albeit ungenerous, verbal wiggle following the news of the contract renewal that now binds Fernando Alonso to Ferrari until 2016. The official announcement came Thursday morning from Paseo de Gracia 44, in the heart of Barcelona, the busy location where Ferrari is opening one of its countless stores around the world.
"It is a pleasure to renew the contract of a driver who has demonstrated a winning mentality even under the most difficult circumstances".
Says Luca Montezemolo to the applause of Spanish fans.
"Fernando has all the technical and personality characteristics to play a leading role in Ferrari's history. And I really hope that he will enrich this with a bunch of victories as soon as possible".
In fact, the Spaniard, approaching 2016 without surprises, would become the second driver with more appearances at Ferrari, only behind Michael Schumacher. One more than Felipe Massa currently has (contract expiring in 2012 and renewal on its way), who displays an enviable serenity. Ferrari's enthusiasm for the Spanish boy had been known for some time. In recent weeks, Stefano Domenicali, team principal of the Maranello-based team, who has linked his professional fortunes to the Spaniard, had called him one of the company's best assets. What was not known was that for a couple of weeks they had been negotiating the renewal of his contract.
"After the Turkish Grand Prix we saw each other and closed the deal quickly".
Apparently there was no reason to rush into it in this way: the contract signed in 2009 would expire next year and included an option for the next two. And yet the parties wanted to seal their mutual love with a gesture that apparently has many meanings. The main one of which is an act of trust on Alonso's part. Those who know him well state:
"Fernando is someone who would kill to win, if he has decided to tie himself to Ferrari for life it is because he evidently has confidence in the team and thinks that only Maranello can give guarantees of competitiveness".
Which is then exactly what he says himself:
"I had said I wanted to finish my career at Ferrari. And I confirm that. I can't imagine a better place in the world for a driver. In Maranello you have a kind of guarantee of competitiveness, in the years when it goes wrong you finish second or third. And I will say more, in the end, if I am still fit and if Ferrari wants me I will stay even after 2016".
Another meaning of the newly renewed contract is provided in a clause: the driver is tied to Ferrari no matter what happens. This means that if from 2012 Formula 1 no longer exists, or if it changes its name because of ownership turmoil or because of the teams' splintering fancies, Alonso would follow Ferrari.
"When you make contracts like this you have to anticipate everything".
Then there is the economic aspect: no official figure, only generic indications that speak of about fifty million total (about half of what was fabled in the paddock). Finally, among the meanings of this early renewal, the tactical one should be stressed: here in Barcelona Ferrari enters a very delicate period of its World Championship. Should they lose more ground in the coming Grands Prix, they would be forced to give up the 2011 race and start thinking about the 2012 car. That is, to self-certify failure. Instead, the Spaniard still believes in it. In Turkey he saw a breath of hope and he wants to throw himself into it with all the enthusiasm he has:
"Signing at this time is a gesture that helps create stability in the group. And my only thought now is to bring some wins to Ferrari".
As the mechanic at Red Bull Racing would say, lose-lose team doesn't change. Or almost. Given that after flaws surfaced during the stops made in the Turkish Grand Prix, Felipe Massa scolds his team ahead of the upcoming Spanish Grand Prix.
"We need to train even better in pit stops. It is important that every member of the team, including the driver, is extremely precise and that everyone works in tune, because a good stop cannot be followed by a bad one. Everyone in the team is involved and every single action must strive to make it perfect".
The Brazilian is calling for an immediate turnaround especially thinking that in Catalonia he will be competing on a track that puts a strain on tires. Pirelli again this time will bring mixed sets of Hard and Soft tires. The hard compound has been modified to produce more consistency in performance and, in fact, create a greater difference between the two compounds. And this could induce more aggressive strategies, although it seems that most drivers already know that they will be working on three stops. Massa already envisions the race:
"In the past on this circuit there has never been much overtaking, I think with the new rules there will be more action than usual, and this will make the show more interesting for the fans because there will be a lot more to watch from the beginning to the end of the race".
Teammate Fernando Alonso is eager to give great satisfaction to his countrymen:
"It is a unique feeling to run my home race. For me it's an extra motivation, wanting to do well in front of my people, even if there is more pressure because everyone expects a lot, it's still a good pressure".
The Spaniard knows what lies ahead and what Ferrari can improve on:
"There will be a big difference as air and asphalt temperatures will be higher than in February. It will be necessary to make some changes in setup adjustments to deal with the weather difference. This is a track that all the teams and drivers know very well, I think it will be a good reference point to see what the World Championship will be like".
After his renewal, Fernando Alonso is throwing himself into the pursuit of the World Championship dream with Ferrari.
"I hear talks of an impossible victory in a context like Formula 1: it is not true, there is time to catch up even if we have to get to the most competitive single-seater of all times. Let's see if it will be possible to get closer to the top thanks to the second phase of development".
The Spaniard believes.
"We have to become the most competitive, and to do that it is necessary to grow, to catch up. I am in a team that, in the long term, gives me the best chance to win. With Ferrari I know that I will always fight for the title even in the most difficult seasons. At the beginning of the championship we lost important points, but we know that things can change quickly".
Concrete steps forward are already needed from Barcelona.
"The first one was in Turkey, Massa and I have been working hard in the factory to improve the single-seater. We hope to see more progress in Montmeló. All races are important, nothing is irretrievable. There is time to make a comeback, but to do so you need a better single-seater in the second half of the season. Otherwise you can't".
While Felipe Massa relies on knowledge of the Catalan circuit.
"We run here all year round, we know how important it is to have a good car and we hope this week of development work will prove useful. We are here to try to have the best race of the season, the confidence has always been there and continues to be there. We hope to see something good as early as this weekend".
With little, very little, scandal, as is often the case in F1 when difficult news concerns English-speaking teams, a case involving Red Bull Racing is unfolding in the hours leading up to the start of the Spanish Grand Prix program. As everyone knows in F1, testing during the season is prohibited. At most, you can do some straight-line mileage, but real testing, with corners to develop aerodynamics, no. Ferrari is fighting to reintroduce them but Red Bull Racing doesn't want to, saying they cost too much. Well: on Thursday, May 19th, 2011, apparently a Red Bull Racing test driver, a guy named Neel Jani, posts this message on his twitter:
"This week I've been butchering my neck".
During a 400-kilometer test held in Idiada, Spain. And he explains that the pain was due to high-speed cornering. The few onlookers who take to the Red Bull Racing box to ask for an explanation are given a rather icy communication, the gist of which is: the Spanish test did not violate any rules. The driver's tweet has been deleted, though. The FIA will strike a blow. Maybe. Meanwhile, Mark Webber's Red Bull Racing starts in the sign of the Spanish Grand Prix, the fifth round of the Formula 1 World Championship scheduled for Sunday, May 22nd, 2011, at the Montmeló circuit. The Australian driver, already the fastest in the first session, repeated himself in the second one by setting a time of 1'22"470. Behind him, detached by just under a tenth of a second, the McLaren-Mercedes of Englishman Lewis Hamilton (1'22"509). Third time (1'22"826) for the Red Bull Racing of German Sebastian Vettel, followed by the McLaren-Mercedes of Englishman Jenson Button (1'23"188). Fifth was the Ferrari of Spaniard Fernando Alonso (1'23"568), followed by the Mercedes Gp of Germans Nico Rosberg (1'23"586) and Michael Schumacher (1'23"981). Seventh is the other red car, driven by Brazilian Felipe Massa (1'24"278). Fernando Alonso is moderately optimistic ahead of qualifying and the race:
"I'm very happy with the changes brought, let's see tomorrow what we can do with the gap. We should be a little less than a second away, but even if it's a second we'll see in the race. Everything we tried today according to the data is positive, this is good news. Especially for the future and trying to solve the problems at the beginning of the season. Does the podium seem like a possibility, even remotely? No, it is closer than it was in Turkey. The most important thing is to get ahead of Vettel".
Asked about the performance of the Hard tires, Alonso prefers not to talk about it merely adding:
"I expect a very major degradation, I think quite similar to Turkey".
Same on Hard tires for Ferrari's other driver, Felipe Massa:
"It's better not to talk about it, otherwise I have to say things too loudly. Is it an abnormal situation compared to other races for the tires? That too, but changes are made to improve, not to get worse".
Ferrari had a smart idea. The fact that the phrase uttered without any irony by the race director, Charlie Whiting, is judged by the entire paddock as the news of the day perfectly describes the state the Maranello team is in these days. And yet it also tells of the spirit of a team that finally seems to be on the right track. So, Ferrari took to the track and suddenly found itself within a few tenths of a second from Red Bull Racing. Much closer than it was in Turkey (where they also eventually snatched the podium). And it had nothing to do with the wind tunnel and its finally, apparently, rediscovered parameters; it had nothing to do with Pirelli tires or even Bernie Ecclestone. It simply has to do with the fact that Ferrari had a clever idea, that's all. The technical explanation for this idea is complicated: boiling down through the thousands of parameters and prohibitions set by the Federation, the engineers managed to raise the Gruney Flap, that is, the end of the rear wing, by a few centimeters. A move that, together with other perhaps less extreme and original ones, has ensured a greater performance gain over competitors McLaren and, above all, Red Bull Racing, which are now still ahead, yes, but by only 0.7-0.8 seconds. The problem now is the one facing everyone (or almost everyone) in F1 who has good ideas, the examination of their regularity.
"We have been warned about Ferrari's developments, and overnight we will discuss them with them".
Announces Charlie Whiting himself, who defers any verdict to the hours immediately preceding qualifying. That promises to be, even beyond the nightly clarification, a little less predictable than usual. For several reasons. The first is the resurgence of Mark Webber, finally back to last year's levels. The second, the approach to Red Bull Racing by McLaren, which especially with Lewis Hamilton has become really threatening. And the third is Ferrari itself, especially if it can mount the new devilry. Says Fernando Alonso:
"If in Turkey I thought I could fight for a podium, here I am even more optimistic. Everything we brought to the track seemed to yield the results we expected. Just what had not happened until today. We'll see".
One of the key variables is Pirelli tires. In Barcelona, after months of political and shrewd statements, the entire paddock threw off its mask and, exhausted, said what it really thinks about the Italian supply. Lewis Hamilton says:
"Pirelli tires are a disaster".
Then the others follow. Stefano Domenicali adds:
"Terrible tires, yes. But unfortunately they are the ones we have to compete with".
And Fernando Alonso points out:
"About the tires you'd better not talk".
Felipe Massa concludes, saying:
"Yes, it's better not to say anything or else it's trouble for everyone".
Apparently, Pirelli has managed to make its product worse after the record 82 pit stops in Istanbul: at the request of the FIA (which is beginning to explicitly regret Michelin), it brought ultra-durable tires to Barcelona in the hope that they would last a few more laps. Vain hope. They last very little anyway. In return, however, they go much slower. Saturday, May 21st, 2011, also in the third session the best time is set by a Red Bull Racing driver. But this time Sebastian Vettel is ahead of Mark Webber. The German completes only six laps, due to a technical problem on his single-seater. And so, in the afternoon, Mark Webber takes the first pole position of the season. The Australian driver will start ahead of everyone in the Spanish Grand Prix. On the Montmeló track Webber dominates Q3 by lapping in 1'20"981. Alongside Webber will start his teammate, German Sebastian Vettel, second on the grid with a time of 1'21"181. Britain's Lewis Hamiton, at the wheel of the McLaren-Mercedes, gets the third position, and will open the second row completed by the Ferrari Spaniard Fernando Alonso. Englishman Jenson Button's McLaren- Mercedes and Russian Vitaly Petrov's Lotus Renault will start on the third row, while Brazilian Felipe Massa, in the other Ferrari, will start from eighth, behind German Nico Rosberg's Mercedes. The surprise of the day is Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado, ninth in the Williams ahead of German Michael Schumacher's Mercedes. Red Bull has always started on pole in the current World Championship, proving clearly superior to the competition on the single lap. The two drivers of the world-champion team mark their best performances well in advance of the end of the third round of official practice. With the front row secured, Webber and Vettel decided to save a set of tires ahead of the race. After four fifth-place finishes, Fernando Alonso manages to hit the second row of the grid at his home race, the Spanish Grand Prix:
"The second row was not easy after free practice, but we have to keep working because the pole is still far away. In the race it won't be easy, McLaren will definitely start strong but we aim for the podium, that's our goal, even if Red Bull have a set of new tires and we don't. We have changed a lot in the set up and it seems like the right direction".
Felipe Massa, only eighth in the other Ferrari, says:
"It was not an easy weekend, between yesterday and today I had big problems with balance. I could have started further ahead, but I risked not even getting into the third heat of practice. Now we are trying to have a more balanced car for tomorrow, I couldn't get everything fixed in time for qualifying. We will have to study the best strategy, the straight is not as long as in Istanbul or Shanghai but overtaking is possible".
Ahead of everyone, as always, is Red Bull Racing but, as mentioned, for the first time this year, the pole is the preserve of Australian Mark Webber:
"It was a good session and we also had enough margin to save tires. My lap was very good. It was a good fight with Sebastian. Did going out after him give me an advantage? I had no idea what he would do, everyone pushes for themselves".
The World Championship leader, for his part, still complains of problems with his Red Bull Racing's Kers, the malfunction of which allegedly favored teammate Webber:
"This Kers thing is a never-ending story for which everyone is pushing hard to get it up and running. We are working on it, I didn't use it in Q2 and Q3, but we will definitely have it tomorrow while Mark also used it today and benefited from it. However, I can't talk about disappointment, we have also made changes to the car and Barcelona is a favorable track for Red Bull".
Third on the grid and podium hopes also for Lewis Hamilton, who will share the second row in Barcelona with Alonso's Ferrari:
"I am happy with the result, although it is clear that the gap between us and Red Bull has increased. We improved, we worked hard and we were lucky to be ahead of Ferrari, it was close. Keeping up with Red Bull? They gave us a second in practice, I will push as hard as I can but I don't think it's enough".
There is a moment during the usual sleepy Saturday press conference when Fernando Alonso sounds like someone else. The Spaniard stops rattling off the usual list of press release phrases and with his eyes shining with joy tells everyone about his perfect lap, the one with which he placed fourth in a car that with Felipe Massa, who is a normal driver, failed to go beyond eighth place. Driver's proper words, his.
"It was exciting. It rarely happens that you get the thrill of the perfect lap, because the track is long and even if you're doing it very well, in fact just because you're doing it very well, on the limit, that you go on the grass and ruin everything. But instead this time I did it. It went like this: at the first corner I braked late. In fact I thought I did, but instead the car responded great and stayed on the track. So I gave it confidence. I did turn 3 all the way through, for the first time since Friday, and then at turn 9 I played with the wind. On the entry I had it on the tail, and the car lifted a little bit, then when I entered the turn it shifted, to slowly become first lateral and then frontal. And that helped me a lot. I kept trusting the car, which stayed on the track and allowed me to push. It was beautiful".
That something strange, in its own magical way, had happened on that lap became clear soon after the finish line. Because Fernando, in spite of fourth place on the race grid, began to rejoice as if he had won a Grand Prix. We missed him thanking the mechanics and ducking his hands, as he does when he wins. Too bad that moments like these, of pure sport, are increasingly rare in F1. As indeed Saturday fully confirmed. It was enough to take a walk around the paddock a few minutes after Alonso's emotional account to be swept away by gusts of mephitic air, made unbreathable by controversies that are less and less understandable. As exemplified by the one involving Red Bull Racing, accused by Schumacher of breaking rules limiting the number of workers in the stable. One of the team bosses, Marko, has admitted, justifying himself in his own way:
"After all, the standard never went into effect".
Worst of all have been those of HRT, the Hispania Racing Team, who like vultures are trying to take advantage of the FIA's state of confusion: Colin Kolles, the team principal, is threatening to protest against blown exhausts, in vogue for a year now and used by nine teams, but only recently declared non-standard by the Federation. A completely senseless move that would only add chaos to chaos.
All of this does not change their track results, which for the Spaniards, by the way, are pathetic. Behind HRT in the worst ranking is the FIA.In the person of Charlie Whiting, the racing director, who, not content with only now realizing that blown exhausts are outlawed, has rediscovered himself as a justicialist by scrapping the only idea so far exhibited by Ferrari 2011, the modified wing.
"It does not meet the spirit of the regulations".
Exactly like Red Bull's flexible front wing, like McLaren's F-Duct (2010) and like Brawn GP's double diffuser, it should have been Ferrari's response, which instead, composed to the point of cowardice, preferred to tone it down:
"We thought differently".
And in the meantime, between half-truths, versions that do not match and the total omertà of the Anglo- Saxon press, the case of Red Bull Racing's phantom tests is getting more and more intricate. Too bad aerodynamic tests (those with high-speed corners) are banned, the only thing that can be done are tests on straight lines or with constant radius corners. Red Bull Racing's version, reiterated by Christian Horner, is as follows:
"Last Sunday Red Bull conducted a straight-line test at the Idiada circuit in Spain. Back and forth. That's all. The tweet is an error: the driver's page gets updated by a friend of his who didn't understand what the test consisted of properly".
However, a Federation spokesman explains it differently:
"Red Bull warned us about testing at a facility with constant radius turns, so it was no problem for us".
Which of the two versions corresponds to the truth? At Ferrari, where they do not comment any further, they give out the impression they do not fully buy this version. By phone calling the circuit, the reasons for disquiet increase. For it turns out that it has twelve configurations, many similar to F1 tracks, and that it is protected from outside intrusion like an atomic power plant. It gets worse by asking the manager what kind of work Red Bull Racing has done.
"It's confidential, we can't tell".
Wrong, since the type of work allowed was only: it can be said over the phone and does not hurt the drivers' necks. On Sunday, May 22nd, 2011, Fernando Alonso made a perfect start to the race, overtaking both Red Bulls and Hamilton into the first corner to the cheers of the Spanish fans, and leading the race until lap 18. However, Alonso faded after the first round of pitstops where Sebastian Vettel took the lead, a position which he held to the end of the race in spite of the efforts of Lewis Hamilton, who fought him all the way to the close, finishing only 0.6 seconds behind the winner, with his teammate Button over half a minute behind in third. Button had used a three-stop strategy instead of a four-stop strategy, like most other drivers, to get ahead of Webber and Alonso. On lap 31, Liuzzi's car stopped near the Pirelli tunnel due to a gearbox failure, forcing his retirement. Mark Webber came in fourth, after spending much of the race behind Fernando Alonso, only overtaking him on the 39th lap when the Spaniard pitted. Kovalainen crashed on lap 51, damaging the left side and wheels of his car. On Lap 57, Massa, struggling with his gearbox, beached his car in the Turns 6 and 7 chicane while running tenth, his game was over.
Despite starting in the pits, behind all the other cars, Nick Heidfeld had a successful race, bringing his car home in the points with an eighth-place finish. After saving a set of tires by not setting a Q3 time, Michael Schumacher finished sixth ahead of teammate Rosberg. The race was notable for Ferrari's lack of pace on the prime tire with Alonso slipping from first to fifth in the pit stops alone. Sergio Pérez scored his first Formula One points with ninth place, after he was disqualified from seventh place at the Australian Grand Prix.A massacre: the coronaries of Ferrari fans certainly cannot handle another race like the Spanish Grand Prix. And already, because before the usual domination of Sebastian Vettel, who crossed the finish line just ahead of Lewis Hamilton by a whisker, Ferrari really gave hope. And not only (although that would be enough...) because Fernando Alonso got off to a very fast start passing everyone and moving up to first position, but also because for the entire first part of the race, when running on Soft tires, Ferrari was perfectly holding up the pace of both Red Bull Racing and McLaren. Someone was already preparing the party... Then the disaster hit: with the arrival of the Hard tires (keep in mind that by regulation teams must use all compounds in the race) Ferrari's performance plummeted: at some moments Alonso was slower than Hamilton and Vettel by three seconds per lap. An unsustainable situation. However - it must be said - it is not that Ferrari is going badly with the Hard compounds, the point is that Red Bull Racing and McLaren are competitive with those tires. Suffice it to say that they lapped everyone today: Vettel, Hamilton, Button, Webber got lapped. And no other team managed to be that fast. Alonso in spite of everything, however, ended up fifth in the end, ahead of Schumacher, who - a true record - was ahead of his teammate Rosberg. And Massa? No way, he retired with a gearbox problem, but was only tenth. Fernando Alonso has no illusions: the good start and 18 laps in the lead did not make him forget that he was lapped:
"Today the Red Bulls and McLarens were flying and in the final race they showed impressive performances. We have to react right away, we can't struggle like this".
Although it doesn't look like it, even Sebastian Vettel had to struggle in Montmeló but still won in the end.
"It was tough, McLaren really made my life difficult. It wasn't a walk in the park, I'm even happier that I won. At the beginning I thought I had a good start, but suddenly on the straight Fernando Alonso jumped out and I found myself second. I was never able to take advantage of the moving wing in the first phase of the race and only managed to overtake the Ferrari at the pit stop. Then, with Hamilton behind me, I realized it was going to be tough. At the end McLaren seemed to be faster, particularly in the last sector, because they used the moving wing well on the final straight. Fortunately, in the last two to three laps, I was also able to go fast in the last sector. The Kers sometimes didn't work, but luckily I made it. We had a new confirmation, we are strong".
At the end of the race Lewis Hamilton sees the bright side of finishing second in the Spanish Grand Prix:
"We can't be disappointed, the team did a fantastic job. I didn't get a great start but I was able to keep up with the Red Bulls in the first few laps. The car was working great, but it was very difficult to pass Vettel".
McLaren-Mercedes' positive day is completed by Jenson Button's third place finish.
"My first lap was a disaster. I got stuck on the outside, I didn't even know what position I was in after the first three corners. I managed to recover and with a fantastic strategy I made it all the way to the third step of the podium. The three stops worked, with the soft tires I was able to pass Alonso and Webber - I had fun".
A disappointed Mark Webber, who started from pole position but finished fifth, stated:
"Today at the start I didn't do so bad only that Fernando (Alonso) made an incredible start. After that it was just a matter of strategy between all the teams. Vettel was the first to pass Alonso, then Hamilton and last was me. It was not my day, in the end everything was done in the pit stops".
Felipe Massa had gearbox problems, and was forced to park his Ferrari with six laps to go, when he was in 10th position.
"Something broke in the car, it stayed in neutral, and I couldn't even put it in gear".
It was supposed to be the turning point race; it was the day of judgment. Ferrari's 150th Italy race came to an end on a beautiful Spanish spring afternoon, plunging everything around it into the deepest humiliation,starting with the name celebrating the Unification of Italy and ending with Fernando Alonso, who was forced to suffer the shame of being lapped in front of his fans. Fernando's fifth place finish is a result that perfectly photographs the value of this Ferrari. Which of course has nothing to do with the unreachable Red Bull Racing of Sebastian Vettel (first) and Mark Webber (fourth) and which, at least here in Spain, also seemed far removed from McLaren. The overall standings confirm everything: an ocean of points, as of today, separates the Spaniard from Vettel (+67), Hamilton (+26), Webber (+15) and Button (+10), a total of 118 points to make up to the four most competitive men on the grid. In the face of these numbers, Stefano Domenicali's effort is poignant. Ferrari's team principal tries to encourage everyone:
"We had the worst race of the season, it's true, but I don't want to hear about giving up, I still believe in it, let's try, let's wait for the next three races and then we'll do the math".
He tells those who ask him if it is not time to give 2011 for lost and focus on the 2012 car. However, one only has to look into the eyes of the two drivers to see that it is a kind of therapeutic overkill, and that the rest of the year will be torture. A sad ending a dozen races long that also risks becoming undignified. Yesterday, apart from Alonso, nothing worked. The car was slow, aerodynamically unloaded, mechanically inefficient. The new solutions caused an incredible step backward. The mechanics in the pits seemed asleep. The race strategy was questionable. Even the much-lauded reliability failed: Massa's pitiful performance was interrupted by the gearbox breaking. A total disaster, compared to which Luca Montezemolo would also be authorized to lose patience and decide to intervene differently from the past, with a heavy hand, as indeed many fans are beginning to demand. For the time being, however, aerodynamicist Nicholas Tombazis and technical director Aldo Costa, i.e., the working group that got the last three single-seaters (2009, 2010 and 2011) wrong remain in place, so much so that Stefano Domenicali announces that, in parallel with developments for this year, preliminary work on the 2012 car has already begun. It is moving forward, then. But how? Apparently no one in Maranello has other plans than what can be summed up in words:
"Formula 1 is unpredictable, let's hope for the best".
Domenicali himself says so:
"In 2009 we decided that it was useless to keep pushing with developments and that it was better to focus on the next year's car. This year, however, the course of the season, the variability of performance, gives us hope. We will decide at the end of June".
Although it is unclear what could happen between now and the end of June that would be so revolutionary, given that, even to hear what Costa's engineer says, there is no revolutionary piece, no ingenious (and legal) wing, no something that would allow even in theory to make up a second a lap, under consideration, but only so many small developments to a car that, however, seems structurally unhappy, unbalanced. And that even if, by some miracle, it became fast, it would still need Red Bull and McLaren to commit suicide to get back in the race.
"Formula 1 is unpredictable, let's hope for the best".
The humiliation of the double-header he suffered at home, in front of his audience to whom he had given a perfect lap on Saturday and a resounding start in the race, leaves its mark. The mask Fernando Alonso usually likes to wear during interviews - fake smile and confident eyes - is creased under the cap with sponsors. And to see him like that, a little wilted and in a bad mood, tugs at the heartstrings.
"They were passing everywhere, for a while I managed to resist then however when we changed tires I couldn't take it anymore".
Let's start from the beginning: the start. Can you tell us about it?
"At the end of the day in the starts you always do the same thing, sometimes it goes well and sometimes it doesn't. This one went well. Unfortunately".
Unfortunately?
"In the sense that fifth place was the right result for us. If instead of starting so well and being in the lead I had started, let’s say, eighth, then this result, maybe it would be a little less sad".
What does a driver feel when he is lapped in the span of half a race, after being in the lead for the entire first half?
"A huge satisfaction (laughs). Because at the end you think: with the car they have I kept them behind for all those laps".
What about you, what car do you have?
"A car with little downforce, especially in the rear where the wing, obviously is inefficient. The wheels at the back slip and suffer from degradation faster. We urgently need to fix that".
Yet you promised a significant step forward here in Spain. Instead you took one backward. How come?
"That is not correct. We promised a step forward and we did it. Compared to Mercedes and Renault we did well. The problem is that Red Bull and McLaren took two steps forward".
You suffered a lot from the tires. Your fault or the Pirelli's?
"Let's say the Pirellis are very delicate, they have to be handled with care. An extra 0.1 of pressure and you have problems running them. We, especially with the hard ones, had a lot of difficulties. Unlike McLaren and Red Bull who were running great instead".
What was the key to the race?
"As far as we are concerned, just the tire management. We were in front and we were forced to defend the position with early changes. So we ended up doing more than 40 percent of the race on hards, the worst ones".
By now there is a huge gap between you and the top of the standings. Unbridgeable. Isn't it time to let go of this season and start focusing on the next one?
"The way I am, I will never give up. And still not after five races. I think anything can still happen. All it takes is two setbacks, two mishaps, and the issue can be reopened".
This time there are not even Montezemolo's words to fill yet another day after at Maranello. Alonso’s single seater being lapped in Spain burns too much to even breathe, let alone talk. And so the hours of the blackest Monday in recent times pass in silence at Ferrari. A grave silence weighed down by the reading of the race data. Monstrous numbers that tell of a situation being even worse than the one outlined Sunday night. Here they are: after the start, Alonso led the race for 18 laps until his second stop. 46 laps after which Vettel lapped him. That meant he lost an average of 1.9 seconds per lap. Most of the time, however, the Spaniard lost it in a single fraction of those 46 laps. The one following the pit stop on lap 29, when he switched from Soft to Hard tires. And that has chronometrically apocalyptic significance: in the 35 laps he did on the Hards, Vettel's lead grew by 87 seconds, an average of 2.4 seconds per lap. Something like that. In the face of data like this, it is clear that the problem cannot be just one, and that the usual change of attitude invoked after every slap received on track is no longer enough. Just the usual response is no longer sufficient: we cannot get the Pirelli Hard tires to work well. So what? Then it's time for the toughest questions. Two out of all of them. The first one: does it make sense to still insist on the 150th Italy project? The second one: does it make sense to still trust Nick Tombazis and Aldo Costa, namely the two designers who produced not only this year's car but also the losing ones in 2009 and 2010? Does it make sense to entrust them with the 2012 project as well? Stefano Domenicali says, there is no doubt:
"Yes, it makes sense".
And yet on closer inspection some suspicion of Domenicali's real conviction, furious, seems legitimate. If only because it was not more than a year and a half ago that the team principal himself made a bid to wrest Red Bull Racing's Adrian Newey, the man who is driving the Costa-Tombazis duo mad. The operation then crashed against the reluctance of the British engineer. But the episode fuels the suspicion that, if nothing has yet changed at Ferrari, it is not so much because of confidence in the men currently leading it, but because of a lack of real alternatives on the market.
"Three more races and we will decide what to do".
Domenicali explains in Barcelona, to those who ask him rather or not it is time to give up, scrap the Italy 150th and devote himself to the 2012 car. The impression is that what to do will not only concern the fate of the Italy 150th.