Ferrari Back On Track

Ferrari, after their intensive test at Mugello last week, believe they have resolved the issues which have caused both Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen to struggle for pace in we conditions in recent years. The three-day session proved to the Italian stallions that their lack of competiveness in the rain (seen at the British, Belgian, and most recently Italian races) was caused primarily by the car’s inability to get sufficient heat into its brakes.

The final day of the F2008 was a disaster for the Great Italian stallions. The wet conditions of the track had caused quite a lot of havoc when Felipe Massa was driving on the final day. Though Ferrari is right on top of the charts with 134 points, this loss has narrowed the gap between them and their all-time rival, Mc Laren Mercedes with 129 points.

Analysis of the data from the Monza weekend, revealed that the main issue that hampered the performance of the F2008 in the rain-affected Italian GP was the difficulty in getting the brakes up to the correct operating temperature. The situation of being unable to use the brakes properly had the knock on effect of preventing the tires then getting up to their optimal temperature range. This was particularly noticeable in the first few laps following the fitment of the intermediate tires. Furthermore, this situation was exacerbated when the cars were running in traffic.

This discovery has made Ferrari, the Italian stallions, to change the F2008’s set-up to avoid any more casualties. High ambient temperatures in Singapore mean the team was not expecting problems this weekend anyway, but the breakthrough could prove crucial to their title chances should it rain - as it often does - at the cooler Chinese and Japanese races.