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Articles by Darren Galpin
| Ferrari did what? - Sun 03rd Apr 2005 |
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It had to happen eventually, but what circumstances for it to happen. Ferrari suffered a mechanical breakdown! It was the first mechanical breakdown for Michael Schumacher in some 58 Grands Prix, since a fuel pump failure in the 2001 German Grand Prix at Hockenheim. It was all a function of Ferrari finally being put under pressure, and Ferrari have finally been found wanting.
Their predicament stems from a moment of hubris at the end of 2004. Ferrari started to believe that they really were that much better than everyone else, and decided not to ready a brand new car for the first race of the season, despite the numerous rule changes and necessary chassis modifications. Ferrari flattered to deceive with their modified car in Melbourne, as the weather in qualifying and Barrichello’s excellent drive masked the problems that they really had. This was driven home by the lacklustre showing in Malaysia.
What has also come back to bite Ferrari is their insistence on Bridgestone developing a tyre which only suits their car. The result of this is that one by one the rival teams defected to Michelin, which has reaped dividends given the rule changes for tyres this year. Tyres have to last the whole race, so by necessity have to be harder. But how much harder? This can only be found by testing, and Bridgestone only have Ferrari and Jordan to do it for them. Michelin by contrast have the remaining eight teams to test for them, a massive advantage. And Michelin got it right.
Ferrari decided to mobilise their massive resources and ready their definitive 2005 car for the Bahrain GP, instead of for the Grand Prix of Imola. This is a massive undertaking, and the results of the effort showed throughout the weekend, particularly on Barrichello’s car – he suffered two gearbox failures before he even got to the grid for the race. He started from the back of the grid, and he looked very quick as he made his way up into the top 10. However, once he got there he didn’t really look like making it much further. Also, as the race went on, his car began to eat its tyres, and he dropped out of the points with only a couple of laps to go, overtaken by David Coulthard’s Red Bull.
At least he made the finish. Michael Schumacher had managed to qualify second, and to begin with it looked as though the usual Ferrari pattern was asserting itself, with his team-mates suffering the problems while he went serenely on his way. He was in a good second place, hassling Alonso while never looking like really making a proper challenge. This became academic when Schumacher suffered a hydraulic failure – Schumacher went sailing on his merry way into the wild blue (or should that be yellow, given the desert?) yonder which are the copious run off areas as his car couldn’t slow as quickly as usual due to the gear change suddenly not working. He toured around and went back into the pits.
Ferrari haven’t had such a dismal showing for years, and it will be very interesting to see their reaction. Will they relapse into their old Italian ways, or will Todt, Brawn and Montezemelo still be able to drag them through? For some of the team, this will be a new experience, and it goes to show that having the biggest budget doesn’t guarantee success – you have to use your resources wisely. It also shows why Ferrari have been insistent in their refusal to limit the number of days of testing – imagine how much further back they would have been if they couldn’t have spent every day so far this year testing at either Fiorano or Mugello (and sometimes both together with different test teams).
A team which is now showing how to spend a huge budget wisely is Toyota. They have gone from being the white elephant of the grid to genuine second place contenders, at least they are in Trulli’s hands. Mike Gascoyne has demonstrated again that he is a master of re-organisation and systems management, and has finally got Toyota working together. They are now producing a chassis worthy of their engine. Toyota have a history of eventually winning championships that they enter – witness their success in CART and the IRL, but it is interesting that they have had to lose almost all of their original senior management to do it.
The race itself was notable for its race of attrition, with fewer finishers than for many a race, a result of engines having to last for two race meetings, and an air temperature of 42 degrees Celsius. The demands of an engine having to last for two meetings was demonstrated graphically by Heidfeld’s Williams. He had had a new engine fitted for the Malaysian Grand Prix, a legacy of his contretemps with Mikey in Melbourne, and given the heat and humidity of the race his engine received a pounding. The temperatures of Bahrain proved too much, and Heidfeld’s engine lost its cylinders in a cloud of smoke. Most others on the grid had fresh engines, and it showed.
Special mention must also go to Pedro de la Rosa, who was standing in for Juan Pablo Montoya – he had sustained a hair-line shoulder fracture in dubious circumstances. Montoya said he sustained it playing tennis, although there were rumours suggesting otherwise. Either way, Dennis said that it was Montoya who would suffer, as his contract stated that he wouldn’t be paid if he didn’t race. “An expensive tennis injury” was how he succinctly put it.
De la Rosa wanted to make the most of his opportunity, and was racy all afternoon, although his lack of match practiced showed with at least two missed braking moments (he should thank his lucky stars he was at Bahrain – he would have been out of the race at most other venues). Still, he managed to overtake several drivers, including Barrichello and Webber, and demonstrated the inherent speed that the McLaren now has. It also showed how kind the McLaren is to its tyres, as his looked nowhere near as worn as those on the other cars come the end of the race. If they could just sort out their performance in qualifying, then they might stand a chance of going for a race win. However, if they got into that position, we may well find that Alonso and Renault could go even faster. They simply haven’t been stretched enough this year for us to find out.
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