Massa: Trouble-free test “essential” for Ferrari

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Felipe Massa, Ferrari, Jerez, 2012

In the round-up: Felipe Massa says Ferrari need to put lots of mileage on their 2012 car in next week’s test having not done as much as their rivals in Jerez.

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Two days in the simulator for Massa (Ferrari)

“There’s a lot of work to do to fine tune the F2012 but, as both Fernando and I said last week, I think this car has plenty of potential. It will be important to do a lot of kilometres next week, because we have many ideas we want to try out and it’s essential we don’t have any problems.”

Hard times in Maranello? (Joe Saward)

Ferrari was able to report that it has increased its sales from 6,573 in 2010 to 7,195 in 2011, an increase of more than nine percent. This included a mammoth leap in the Greater China market of 62 percent, jumping from 478 sales in 2010 to 777 in 2011.”

Ricciardo: Red Bull no extra pressure (Autosport)

“I feel pressure to deliver yes, but it’s not only pressure from Red Bull, it’s pressure from myself. And not only this year, but since I joined with Red Bull four or five years ago.”

Bernie Ecclestone unchanged on Bahrain stance (The National)

“‘The FIA, like many in the diplomatic community in the kingdom, the main political opposition ?���?� believes the staging of a Grand Prix would be beneficial in bridging some of the difficulties Bahrain is experiencing,’ a spokesman for the FIA said on Wednesday. ‘The FIA is not in a position to influence political matters in a sovereign country such as Bahrain and we can only wish for a long-term peaceful solution.'”

Thanks LAK for the tip.

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Comment of the day

"Flavio look, I'm Spiderman!"
"I know. You're hanging by a single thread."

As ever there were lots of terrific suggestions for yesterday’s caption competition.

Among the best were those from Bradandcoffee, Legnig, Mach 1, Failbane, Ecion and Robk23.

But my favourite gets to grace the caption (right) and that was the one submitted by Renner. Congratulations!

From the forum

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday to Phildick!

If you want a birthday shout-out tell us when yours is by emailling me, using Twitter or adding to the list here.

On this day in F1

A revealing quote from Michael Schumacher on the subject of retirement, which he gave on this day in 2002:

“As long as I can compete with them, that’s fine. But once I find out that I’m too slow then I will have to start thinking.”

Image © Ferrari spa/Ercole Colombo

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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32 comments on “Massa: Trouble-free test “essential” for Ferrari”

  1. Congrats to Renner. Easily the best caption. I’m so lpoking forward to the next test, want to see what changes there are to the cars since the last test, hopefully scarbs can help with the analysis.

    1. I doubt we’ll see many changes/updates to the Cars, First test in Jerez was about getting settled into the car,trying to find a good setup as well as get a basic understanding of the new tyres.

      In addition, Barcelona is a track all the teams are quite used to & is a aerodynamic dependant track, which should provide us with a proper indication on who’s ahead in this cat and mouse game that is F1 prior to Australia, with the Drivers really chasing lap times and pushing to the maximum. Then i’m certain that most if not all teams will be bringing siginificant revised aero packages/upgrades for the last test (which is at Barcelona as well)

      1. I doubt we’ll see many changes/updates to the Cars, First test in Jerez was about getting settled into the car,trying to find a good setup as well as get a basic understanding of the new tyres.

        Yeah, I wouldn’t expect any changes to the car until Melbourne at the earliest. And even then, they will likely only be minor changes – I don’t think the teams will introduce any significant updates until the Mugello test and the start of the European season.

        1. Either way, still looking forward to being able to analyse what’s going on in testing. We may yet see one or two things change on the cars, albeit more likely at the final test, after all it was the last test of 2010 when red bull showed there hand with the exhaust blown diffuser!

        2. Is it expected that the cars will be closer to Melbourne spec in testing this year given that the teams have less testing before the season begins? I thought most of the teams would be changing their front and/or rear wings from the launch cars, or has this happened already?

          1. Is it expected that the cars will be closer to Melbourne spec in testing this year given that the teams have less testing before the season begins?

            I would say yes, but I wouldn’t go looking for an accelerated development program. The cars will not be as developed for Melbourne as they were last year.

            I thought most of the teams would be changing their front and/or rear wings from the launch cars, or has this happened already?

            Front wings will likely be changed for Melbourne, but they are usually changed every other race. Rear wings will not get changed; the DRS regulations limit what can be done. I wouldn’t expect any changes to the floor, exhaust, splitter or engine cowling until the European season begins, though.

    2. and don’t forget the new mercedes ;)

  2. Brilliant caption-day, really! I’m amaized people can be so witty so quickly… I really struggle to come up with something and once I do, I read it and inmediately realize I suck at it.

    1. Same for me, love reading what people come up with though.

    2. tho thats comment of the day for me mate! totally agree

  3. I’ve just seen the new Marussia and HRT team logos, and I have to say, I think they look really good – they’re some of the best logos on the grid.

    1. Marussia looks really good. Sort of cyberpunk , transformers feel to it.

    2. Marussia reminds me of Citroen, because of those ‘chevrons’.

    3. HRT looks like the Abu Dhabi layout to me.

    4. I would love Marussia to have a nicely redone livery with a bit of clear paint over carbon for the black etc. But I guess it will be only a minor change from last year.

      The HRT logo probably means they will go for a completely new livery as well, a bit of a shame as the livery was the only thing making them stand out on the grid (apart from always being at the back)

      1. @BasCB I’m hoping for some blue on the Marussia car.

    5. @prisoner-monkeys The Marussia one looks brilliant, really like it. It looks like it should be plastered on the front of an American muscle car.

  4. Interesting on what Schumacher said back in 2002. He easily had three more years in him back then. And could have retired after 2009.

    1. Ah, but this was before Ferrari politics got in his way…

  5. This time’s caption competition was piercing.

  6. Oh hey, I didn’t think mine was good enough to be mentioned, lmao.

  7. Bernie’s position on Bahrain has more holes than my socks.

    The FIA is not in a position to influence political matters in a sovereign country

    Visibly it is, otherwise this whole issue wouldn’t have come up at all.

    we can only wish for a long-term peaceful solution.

    Yeah, because when majorities are being repressed in Monarchic(?) countries that is usually the most likely outcome when there isn’t any changes.

    I don’t think it’s anything serious at all.

    Bernie, an APC is a military vehicle, like a small tank.

    Why would there be APC’s in the capital? You know, I haven’t seen any in Melbourne recently. In fact, you’ll find freedom loving western democracies make a point of not doing stunts like that everywhere… Because it’s intimidation.

    If the [rulers] in Bahrain say ‘Look, Bernie, it wouldn’t be good for you to come over here

    Because they are a good, unbiased point of reference on the issue. Right?

    That is what they said last year.

    Only after it was evident that many teams may have boycotted it. And that it was rather an unpopular move.

    1. Pretty much my thoughts on reading that article as well @mike

    2. Visibly it is, otherwise this whole issue wouldn’t have come up at all.

      Bernie is not the FIA.

      Why would there be APC’s in the capital? You know, I haven’t seen any in Melbourne recently.

      APCs are not just military vehicles. They’re used by civilian police forces. Strike Force Echo – the NSW police’s operations against organised crime in the Western Suburbs – owns a Lenco BearCat, a type of APC. And if you look at last year’s Stanley Cup riots, I’m pretty sure you’ll find the Vancouver police used APCs. The same with the riots in England last year, and the Cronulla race riots a few years ago. APCs are used for two reasons: for one, they’re big, bulky and intimidating; nobody is going to try and attack it. And two, they keep the occupants safe. Almost any command vehicle during civil disturbances (wherever they are) will be an APC.

      It’s a bit like people complaining that the Bahrainis used CS gas last year. CS gas is a non-lethal anti-personnel weapon designed to break up crowds by irritating mucuos membranes in the nose and lungs. To hear some people tell it, the government had just used a chemical weapon like sarin against its own people – but CS gas is frequently used to quell riots.

      Because they are a good, unbiased point of reference on the issue. Right?

      If they say “yes, come” because they want the Grand Prix to show the country as being perfectly safe and if something – heaven forbid – should happen, it’s going to look pretty bad for them. As much as the government might want the race to go ahead, they’re not going to want anything to go wrong.

    3. you might wana get some new socks m8 not sure whats keeping them on your feet at this point magic? ;)

    4. ‘The FIA, like many in the diplomatic community in the kingdom, the main political opposition … believes the staging of a Grand Prix would be beneficial in bridging some of the difficulties Bahrain is experiencing,’

      Wasn’t a similar argument put forwards to try and keep Apartheid South Africa involved in the Olympics and other major global sporting events…

      Or maybe that is the problem, that stripping Major Sporting Events away from South Africa was instrumental in applying pressure that brought this regime down…. and that Bernie and his friends are aware that Bahrain loosing its GP because of political reasons/global condemnation would be one more nail in the coffin of the current regime.

  8. Yeah, first COTD !

    1. Really nice one, as soon as I saw it it was a winner to me!

    2. Defiantly deserved it :D

      1. gratz man it was a good one.

  9. happy birthday Phildick, enjoy a nice wintery day!

    1. Thanks very much BasCB :) It’s been quite cold lately but here in the northwestern Poland the snow has already melted. Looks like the thaw is coming, slowly but surely. As is the new F1 season, can’t wait!

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