MERCEDES ON TOP
FERRARI HAS
WorldMags.netTAKEN A
CLEAR STEP FORWARD
MERCEDES BOOST FOR LOTUS
The same can be said for Lotus,
which looks like a team reborn
after a miserable 2014. This time
12 months ago, it was stuck
with a car that was unreliable
and ultimately flawed. This time
around the team has a stronger
chassis, continuity in its staffing
and the best engine on the grid
in the Mercedes.
It’s a measure of how far it
has come that when Pastor
Maldonado crashed following a brake
problem on the final afternoon of
testing, he said: “That was the only
issue we’ve had like this during
testing so we can look to the
positive. I think we have good
potential this season.”
Lotus’s Romain Grosjean ended
the second test with the fastest
time, while the team topped the
timesheets on three of the four
days. “Certainly things are getting
better and better,” said the
Frenchman. The team learned a
lot last year and have made some
positive changes.” There’s no
doubting the car has speed, though
it does look like a bit of a handful
out on track. Crucially, the team
seems to have a better understanding
of the car than before.
Ver stappen has ingratiated
himself well at Toro Rosso
ahead of his debut season
“Seb and Kimi said
they could feel the
car’s improvement”
MAURIZIO ARRIVABENE
REGAN/GETTY
Ferrari’s pre-season testing
programme began superbly at
Jerez and, apart from a few minor
technical glitches along the way,
has continued almost flawlessly.
While it’s clear the SF15-T is
not going to be an immediate
Mercedes-botherer, rivals have
noted the apparent step forward
the Scuderia has made over the
winter. Ferrari is now expected to
be in a close fight with Williams
and Red Bull for ‘best-of the-rest’
status, rather than struggling to
hang on to their rear diffusers.
Both Sebastian Vettel and Kimi
Raikkonen endured troubled
campaigns last year, but each has
looked much happier driving this
year’s Ferrari. Significant gains on
the engine side, which was largely
blamed for Ferrari’s terrible 2014
form, have created much cause
for optimism inside Maranello.
“The targets are absolutely
achieved,” says team principal
Maurizio Arrivabene, who still
reckons it is “ambitious but realistic”
for Ferrari to win two races this year.
“[But] at the test everybody is on
different settings, different fuel,
different programme, so we don’t
get a clear idea. In Australia you
have to go and to be serious.”
When asked about gains made
with the power unit, Arrivabene
told reporters: “Seb was doing a
Arrivabene:
“ambitious
but realistic”
comparison with his old team and
Kimi with last year’s car. Both said
they could feel the improvement.”
So it seems the 2015 Ferrari
will be a much more competitive
beast, but progress at the Scuderia
is not limited to the circuit. Massive
management and technical
restructuring over the winter has
also produced a more productive
working culture inside the team,
which is designed to prevent the
sort of infighting that made
progress so difficult in 2014.
“If we are going to fail, this is
a problem of aero, or engine, or
chassis designer,” Arrivabene adds.
“I want to see calm, even if we have
problems. I want to see discipline.
If we fail, we fail all together.”
Ben Anderson
Structure and culture
are much improved at
Ferrari, as is the car
WorldMags.net
MARCH 5 2015 AUTOSPORT.COM 15
15
S BLOXHAM/LAT
Bottas showed the
Williams FW37’s pace
on the final test day