Ferrari analyzes its future

Based on the results obtained at Monza the Italian team will decide if they focus exclusively in the development of next year’s car, or keep on betting on the F150 for what’s left of the season. rnTwo key races are what Scuderia Ferrari has on schedule, races that will dictate the way to go for the rest of the 2011 Formula 1 season. Based on the results achieved -at the Belgian Grand Prix on August 28 and the Italian GP on September 11- the team will choose whether to start developing the 2012 car if their title options are over, or if the scenario changes favorably, continue on placing all their hopes and effort in the F150. If it wasn’t for the great results that their star driver Fernando Alonso obtained in the past month of July -victory at Great Britain, second place in Germany and third in Hungary for a total of 58 points- the decision would have had already been taken. These improvements that the F150 has experienced after a harsh early season has led the team to be cautious about their decision, for in the second half of the season they could pull a comeback, that as of today seems improbable, but not impossible. For Spa history is not on Alonso’s side, for his best result was a second place obtained in 2005. Catalogued as the best circuit in the F1 by the Spanish driver, he would like to win his first race there to keep on adding pressure to the solo leader of the championship and defending champion Sebastian Vettel, the German youngster from Red Bull Racing. Alonso is 89 points behind him and only a high percentage of victories in the last eight races left, added to a streak of unfavorable results from Vettel can make the comeback happen. In Monza the history does lean on his side, for he has achieved two victories in the last three races (2008-2010). The fact that the race is ran in Ferrari’s homeland represents a boost for them, and Alonso is anxious for reviving the wonderful experience that climbing to the highest spot on the podium in front of the Italian crowd means. Unsatisfactory results would lead Ferrari to activate plan B, which consists of investing all efforts in the development of a better car for the 2012 season. The evolution of the F150 won’t be stopped, for the improvements that the engineers have been working on for to the upcoming four races at Spa, Monza, Singapore (September 25) and Japan (October 9) are ready to be introduced. Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali doesn’t want to experience another early season as negative as the one that they have been through this year. He wants to guarantee the drivers –Alonso and Brazilian Felipe Massa- a competitive car since the first race of the 2012 championship, and to do so he wants to invest the last races of the current competition to develop it, taking advantage of the fact that rules for next season will remain the same. The team of engineers chosen by Domenicali to develop the new car is composed of Pat Fry, Nikolas Tombazis and Rory Byrne. His faith in their knowledge is atop, as he believes they are the right people to lead a deep restructuration in Ferrari’s operations, adapting them to the demands of press time where teamwork and strategy have the same relevance.