F1: Ferrari Out Of Ideas For Improving Car?

Formula 1

F1: Ferrari Out Of Ideas For Improving Car?

Some commentators believe Ferrari's 2011 car is too conservative...

SPEED Staff / GMM | Posted April 27, 2011 GMM Newswire

Ferrari teammates Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso run together in the recent Chinese GP. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

One of Ferrari's key problems is a lack of imagination, according to a specialist Italian magazine.

The new 150 Italia car fell in line behind Red Bull and McLaren in the early races of 2011, and it threatens also to be outclassed by Mercedes and Renault.

The problem has been identified as aerodynamic in nature, with rumors suggesting development of the car will be moved to the Toyota wind tunnel in Cologne as a recalibration of the Maranello facility is undertaken.

But even before Ferrari's current problems became clear, some commentators had observed that while the other top teams had obviously pushed the envelope for 2011, the Italian-made single seater appeared too conservative.

Autosprint said: "When was the last time another team took advantage of a Ferrari development? It was 2008, when the Ferrari had the hole in the nose.

"Since then, no one has even tried to emulate Ferrari's ideas," the analysis added.

Autosprint also said Ferrari has suffered ever since — due to the sport's efforts to cut costs — it was no longer able to take advantage of its ownership of two private test tracks.

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SPEED Staff / GMM

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