V E T T E L AT F E R R A R I
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XPB IMAGES
Vettel sometimes
battled midfield
runners in 2014
HIGH HOPES FOR RAIKKONEN
39
PREVIEW
management has the wherewithal to back Allison
and give him what he needs – including the
all-important stability that Ferrari has lacked,
given that just about every major management
role has changed over the past 18 months –
then the nucleus is there.
Already, the signs are that Vettel is gelling
extremely well with a team that had grown tired
of the sometimes divisive Fernando Alonso.
After his first day in the car at Jerez, Vettel
made a point of shaking hands with each member
of the team; a small touch but one that echoes
the way Schumacher galvanised those around
him. Right from the first moment he visited
the garage during the post-Abu Dhabi GP test
last November, Vettel has had a very positive
impact on the Scuderia.
All of this is more important than results in
the short term. Yes, it would be great if Ferrari
can fulfil the stated objective of winning at least
two races, which even with the progress made
over the winter seems little optimistic given
that it could depend on circumstances (namely
Mercedes hitting trouble). But the key is that
a foundation has been created that will allow
Ferrari to attain the heights it has failed to
scale since Felipe Massa’s world championship
near-miss in 2008.
Central to this will be the effectiveness of the
power-unit package. Last year, this was Ferrari’s
Achilles’ heel, and it would be foolish to expect
the gap to Mercedes to be closed instantly. But
Ferrari is believed to carry the most development
‘tokens’ into the season, meaning that we should
see a couple of significant steps during the
year, the first expected to be around the start
of the European season.
This step-by-step improvement is what it’s all
about for Ferrari now. It will take several years
for it to re-emerge as a title-winning force, just
car that was adapted to the style of Kimi,” said
Ferrari team principal Maurizio Arrivabene. “Kimi
did not, last year, become an old ex-F1 driver. He
is demonstrating that these days, feeling the car
better. He is smiling.”
The struggle for front-end feel is nothing
new for Raikkonen, who even in his pomp with
McLaren – when there were days when nobody
could get near his speed – used to push the team
hard to deliver a car to work for him. While the
understeer balance that has been prevalent in F1
since 2007 works against him, one development
this year is the change in construction of the rear
Pirellis to widen the contact patch under load.
This will mitigate rear thermal degradation, which
would be accelerated by setting up a car with
a livelier rear to give better turn-in.
So things are lining up well for Raikkonen.
At worst, he should be significantly better than
last year. But if he can recapture the level of
performance of his best years, he could
give Vettel a real hurry-up. The trouble is,
the mid-2000s were a long time ago.
SEASON
Arrivabene (right) is
also a recent arrival
Pre-season form suggests that the Kimi
Raikkonen we will see in 2015 will be very
different to the one who sleepwalked his way
through much of the previous season. In terms
of results, last year was Raikkonen’s worst in F1
(worse even than his first year with Sauber). For
a driver with his fundamental ability, that simply
isn’t good enough. But right from the start of
testing, he was far happier with life.
“This year is a completely different story to
last year,” he said. “It’s a positive start and I had
a good feeling straight away when I went out.”
Talk is cheap, but what the Finn was saying
was backed up by the body language of the
Ferrari when he was at the wheel. Last year,
there were times when he was all over the place
trying to hustle a car that didn’t give him the
front-end response and feel he desired. At Jerez,
watching him turn the car in to the chicane, he
was smooth, decisive and confident. And this
has continued throughout testing.
“He had problems because he was not feeling
the car, especially the front, and it was not the
Ferrari needs time to
rebuild around Vettel
as it did when Schumacher joined, and Vettel has
every confidence that the direction the team is
heading in is the right one. One thing we can say
with certainty is that Ferrari will achieve more
than two podiums this season.
“I think it’s a step forward,” says Vettel of the
new car. “I didn’t drive last year’s Ferrari, but
I think compared to the car they had last year
it’s a massive step. People generally seem happy,
but that doesn’t mean we are satisfied. If you
want to win, you have to beat Mercedes
and that’s the target.”
For now, all the signs are that Vettel and
Ferrari are now still very much in the honeymoon
phase of their relationship. The lustre of being
a driver for the Scuderia has yet to wear off
for Vettel, for whom the past few months
have been the realisation of a dream. The
moment he becomes the 94th driver to
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start a world championship race for Ferrari
will be a very special one.
“The first time when I arrived last year I had
the opportunity to test the car from 2012, which
was already something magical. When the flag
drops in Melbourne I think it will be a very
special thing, the first race for Ferrari. Red is a
very special colour, because it means so much.”
What part Vettel will ultimately play in the
history of Ferrari remains to be seen. So far,
he’s completed six days of testing and the
honeymoon period has gone well. But you
could say that about so many partnerships.
One thing is for certain: Vettel is in it for the
long haul. In every way, this is the new start he
seems to have needed. Success will be expected;
anything else would reflect very badly on a driver
who, despite what happened last year, still has
to rank among the all-time greats.
MARCH 5 2015 AUTOSPORT.COM 39