In an interview with the media yesterday, Ferrari Technical Director James Allison believes the team’s improved performance in Singapore showed they are making genuine progress with their car as they aim to overhaul Williams in the standings.
Ferrari’s 2014 season has increasing proved a tumultuous one following the departures of the two men formerly at the top of their faltering F1 operation, team boss Stefano Domenicali and long-time President Luca di Montezemolo.
On the track, the team have finished on the podium just twice all year and remain without a race win for 28 GPs, a dearth of results which keep them on course for their worst season since 1993. However, there were more positive signs at the last race at Marina Bay after Ferrari qualified within 0.3s of Mercedes and then finished right behind the Red Bulls with Fernando Alonso in the race in fourth.
That result, combined with Kimi Raikkonen’s eighth place, meant Ferrari took six points out of Williams in the battle for third place in the Constructors’ Championship, with Williams’ advantage over their old rival now a slender nine points.
And while Allison acknowledges the stark differences between the slow Singapore street track and the fast sweeps of Suzuka that await the F14 T at the Japanese GP this weekend, the technical boss feels progress has been made. In his interview with the media yesterday: Allison stated the following:-
‘We left Singapore with some satisfaction that areas we’d been working on the car, to improve its mechanical grip for example, appear to be paying off for us. So we go to Suzuka and the remaining races determined to close the gap to Williams and then try and actually pull ahead of them, with the aim of securing a third place in the championship.
‘We also plan to learn what lessons we can during the remainder of this season, to help guide us for the following year.’
As Allison points out, it is clear that their performance in Singapore and working on areas such as mechanical grip paid off for them and were rewarded with points finishes for both of their drivers. It would seem that Allison is pushing for the Ferrari team to close the gap as much as possible to the Williams team this weekend in Suzuka to claim third in the Constructors and they have to push with everything that they have and will also help them as they work on the 2015 car too.
Singapore qualifying was widely regarded as the first time this season in dry conditions that the Mercedes cars had faced a challenge for pole from multiple teams but Allision reckons “Mercedes probably had a bit more pace in hand, so that brought the front of the grid a bit closer together than normal”. Further on in his interview, Allison added the following:-
‘Also, it’s a track where the engine has a smaller effect compared with nearly all of the other tracks this year, so that provided another opportunity for the field to close up a bit.
‘And finally, the nature of the corners at Singapore are also sensitive to the amount of mechanical grip that you can get from your package. That’s certainly an area where Ferrari has been working recently and it allowed us to have a rather better weekend.’
As Allison has stated in his interview, Suzuka and it’s characteristics of the track could provide them with the opportunity to close the gap down a bit and gain a good result from the weekend. It would seem from Allison that working on areas such as mechanical grip in Singapore could help them at Suzuka this weekend and it certainly will help them at the remaining races of the season.
But overall, it is imperative as Allison says to have a good weekend at Suzuka and close the gap down to the Williams team in order to finish ahead of them and claim third in the Constructors Championship. And Ferrari under the leadership of Allison have to push as much as possible on the track in order to achieve their objective in the Constructors and also to prepare for the 2015 in the best possible way.
Even though we saw Ferrari improve during the Singapore GP weekend as Allison says, this could be the opportunity this weekend in Suzuka that Ferrari need in order to achieve their objective and to beat Williams. But will Allison get his wish this weekend? Only time will tell.
