Domenicali Resigns: Just What Is Going On At Ferrari?

He was a man synonymous with success. Behind the headlines of the Golden Generation at Ferrari alongside Ross Brawn, Jean Todt and Michael Schumacher, Stefano Domenicali played a central role in the success of Ferrari during his 23 years. Yesterday's news of his resignation comes as a great shock to me considering his past glories, but simply goes to show that sport is fickle and nothing lasts forever. Cliche, I know, but true.

Domenicali is the definition of a one-team man, spending his entire career to this point at Scuderia. Coming in during a period of Williams and McLaren dominance, his meteoric rise saw him become team manager by 1996 - just as the Schumacher era began. Though he did not earn his first championship until 1999, good things come to those who wait. Was the following 10 years merely a coincidence? No. Though it cannot be entirely attributed to him, Domenicali had plenty to do with the team's six-year run of championships from 1999-2004, ending with one of the most dominant Constructors victories in recent memory. After a couple of years underperforming as the rules changed considerably (sound familiar?), Ferrari and Domenicali were back to winning ways in 2007.

Now as I have said, I do not believe this is entirely down to him, but it is either a real coincidence that Domenicali was made team principle after 2007's return to victory, or he deserved recognition for his efforts. I know which I believe, and this argument is strengthened by Ferrari's continued success the following year. Though they failed to claim the drivers' title (Hamilton's final corner in Brazil put paid to that), they successfully retained the constructors'. However, sadly, that was the last time we have seen the Prancing Horse at the pinnacle of motor racing, as the sport has recently been dominated by another German.

However, Ferrari's 5 years without success does not tell the whole story. While the record books would suggest that the great team were in the wilderness, lagging behind their rivals and licking their wounds, it is far from the truth. In almost every season, Ferrari have been the side that have been challenging the eventual winners for the title. In some cases, entirely against the odds. The job done by Domenicali in 2011, where Ferrari looked entirely out of their depth, kept them in the title hunt, and led him to being put forward as one of Top Gear Magazine's 'Men of the Year'. Whilst again it is unfair to put the credit entirely in his lap (Fernando Alonso was absolutely incredible that year), it nevertheless demonstrates the stupendous job done by him.

So why now? Beginning with the timing of his departure, I am perplexed. His statement to the press after the announcement of his resignation talked of 'shaking things up'. This will certainly have that effect - and I would never imagine it would be a positive one. As football teams have learned and can attest to, for every Tony Pulis, there are one thousand Rene Meulensteens. More often than not, a change mid-season will end catastrophically. With such a big team like Ferrari, who have already demonstrated their lack of patience with underperforming, the next individual to take the job has the ultimate in poisoned chalices.

As for the reason for his departure, we can all make guesses. To say the statement was thinly veiled is almost a lie; it was practically uncovered. In my opinion, Domenicali jumped before he was pushed, and for what appears a ridiculous reason at a ridiculous time of the season. The next person to come in will take time to adjust to the changing demands of their new role, and I expect to see Ferrari's performances continue to dip. Whether the likes of Luca di Montezemelo can put up with that for much longer remains to be seen.

Italian Grand Prix 2013: The Place Where Ferrari's Dreams Died?

                            Today's Italian Grand Prix marked the end of the European F1 season. Next, the Formula 1 roadshow rolls into Asia, with races at Singapore, Japan and Abu Dhabi to come. With Red Bull and Sebastian Vettel so far in the lead in both championships, it looks as though the end of the European season has coincided with the end of the F1 season as a competitive entity. Vettel's victory in the heart of Ferrari territory, at a circuit where they were unfavoured, signals a level of dominance that I fear will continue for the rest of the season.

                            But just how dominant have the Red Bulls been in Europe? It is interesting to look at the statistics of the European season, and the winners of each race. I will do a run down of the races undertaken, the winners, and the points based purely on European races. Spain was the first race of the season, which saw Fernando Alonso take his second victory on home soil. Monaco saw a win for Mercedes and Nico Rosberg, who took their second win in the following European race in Britain. Another home victory saw Vettel take his first European victory of the season at the Nurburgring. He would win another two, in Belgium and today in Italy, after a first Mercedes win for Lewis Hamilton in the Hungarian Grand Prix. Whilst the Red Bull man has won the most European races this year, he only beats Nico Rosberg by one, and the majority have come in the latter part of the season. This implies that his dominance is not as strong as initially suspected.

                             This is supported by the points accrued. Though Vettel does remain in the lead on European points, he is only 16 clear of Fernando Alonso. If we compare that to the 53 point lead that the German enjoys overall, 37 points of that must have come outside of Europe. Bearing in mind that there have been only 5 races thus far away from the continent, it implies that Vettel's dominance is considerably greater in Asia and America than in Europe. A little further analysis of the points also indicates that Vettel's dominance in Europe has only occurred since his home win in Germany. 75% of his European points have come in the final four races of the European season. If we compare this to Alonso, the last four account for only 55%, meaning that he has remained the more consistent. Whilst Vettel may not have been as dominant in Europe as elsewhere, Red Bull as a team certainly have. Between them, Vettel and Webber have accrued 206 points on European soil, a full 53 points clear of their nearest rivals, which would be Mercedes, with Ferrari a further four points back. Overall, Red Bull's lead currently stands at 102 points, which implies that Red Bull's dominance as a team is almost identical in Europe to away from it. Obviously, these statistics may alter, with a further 7 races to take place away from Europe this season.

                               In terms of the Italian Grand Prix, the practice sessions were all dominated by the world-champion elect. The qualifying session on the Saturday was expected to have a similar result. After the heroics of the Marussias and Guido van der Garde in Belgium's Q1, they sadly could not replicate the feat, perishing at the first time of asking. Q2 proved far more shocking, as the pole sitter of the four previous races Lewis Hamilton, 'drove like an idiot', in his own words, and could only manage 12th. Both of the Lotuses also had to watch Q3 from the pits, with Nico Hulkenberg and the two Toro Rossos being the shock inclusions to Q3. Having sauntered through to third session, Vettel cruised to pole, with team mate Mark Webber ensuring that Red Bull locked out the front row for the first time since the second race of the season. The big surprise happened immediately behind them, as Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg angered the Italian population, beating the Ferrari pair to 3rd on the grid. In double disappointment, Alonso had to settle for 5th, being beaten by his teammate for the first time in several races. This would do his race victory chances no favours, and would ultimately see his title bid go up in smoke.

                                The start at Monza is always chaotic, with the opening chicane normally causing several collisions throughout the field. This danger will not have been lessened by the start of Vettel. The German locked both front brakes on the turn into turn 1, sending a considerable amount of smoke up, clouding the vision of those behind. This inevitably had an impact on the consertina effect that occurred behind, with Kimi Raikkonen damaging his front wing in contact with Sergio Perez, sending the McLaren driver onto the escape road. Even more concerning for Vettel, the lock-up left worries of flat-spots on his tyres, with the potential to cause damage to the car, and ruin his one stop race. The Ferraris both had excellent starts, passing both Hulkenberg and Webber by the end of lap 2, with Alonso making an exceptional pass around the Red Bull man at the Curva Grande. Inter-team cooperation then started taking place, with Massa offering no resistance to a move from Alonso a few laps later, meaning that the Spaniard could get after Vettel. The German, though, was showing no signs of a flat spot, edging out a gap of 7 seconds by lap 10.

                                 Further back, after a good start, Lewis Hamilton was still struggling in the midfield. Having made up two places from the start, the Brit had failed to surge through the field, instead being stuck in a battle with Jenson Button for 10th. However, his afternoon was ruined by a couple of early problems. First, the engineers discovered an issue with the radio communications between the driver and the team, meaning that no message could be delivered throughout the race. Even more dramatic was the announcement that the Mercedes had a slow puncture, meaning that the Brit needed to pit, wrecking his plans for a one-stop race. This also explained the slow progress that Hamilton had been making. That message could not be delivered to the driver though, meaning that Hamilton stayed out for a further 2 laps before finally recieving the message and making the stop, but this will have cost him valuable time. He rejoined behind Kimi Raikkonen, who had been fighting back from the first lap incident. The Finn had been setting a succession of fastest laps, and looked like flying through the field. Hamilton, on fresher tyres, got right among the fastest laps, swapping the honour with the Lotus. As a result of this scintillating pace, the pair of them managed to pass those they were fighting before they made their stops (Button, Perez, Grosjean, Ricciardo). But would they have to stop again?

                                  Vettel's suspected problems seemed to be coming back to haunt him, as when he past the 20th lap, he began to lose half to three-quarters of a second a lap. Clearly concerned, the Red Bull mechanics decided to pull him in on lap 23, when the lead was just 5 seconds. After a quick inspection (2.7 seconds), they concluded that all was fine, and sent him back out. Alonso, attempting to press home his advantage, stayed out. Unfortunately for the Ferrari driver, this plan completely backfired. The Red Bull team's decision to keep Vettel out there was vindicated, as the German extended his lead to 10 seconds by the time Alonso made his pit stop. Instead of retaining the lead, the Spaniard nearly fell back behind Webber. Further back, Hamilton and Raikkonen continued their onslaught on the field, passing the other Mercedes in Nico Rosberg. However, this was halted by the unsurprising decision by Lotus to pit Raikkonen a second time, dropping him way down the field. Hamilton pressed on, passing Nico Hulkenberg for 5th, but ultimately his progress came to the same end, requiring another stop. However, just like the stop before, continuing radio problems meant that he stayed out a further two laps than they intended. Despite the best efforts of the Mercedes pit crew, he rejoined behind Raikkonen once again, in 14th, meaning that he would need to pass him on track. But would they be able to trouble the points?

                                     Up front, whilst Vettel scampered away at the front, Alonso was challenged heavily by the other Red Bull of Mark Webber. The Red Bull team would have liked nothing more than a 1-2 on Ferrari territory, further showing their dominance. However, once again misfortune struck the Aussie, who was told that they had a gear issue between the 2nd and 3rd gears. This meant that he couldn't get the necessary acceleration to reel in the Ferrari, meaning that he began to fall back a little. Even worse news was to follow for Christian Horner and the boys on the pit wall at Red Bull. Vettel seemed to be developing the same problems as his team mate. Fortunately, he had built up a healthy lead of over 12 seconds, meaning that he could take it a bit easier without costing himself the race. However, the news that the Red Bulls were having problems had filtered back to the Ferrari pit wall, and the drivers were soon pushing hard to catch the pair in front.

                                       In the battle for the points, Hamilton took the lead in the push for the top 10, passing the Lotus brilliantly round the Curva Grande, before getting past Perez's McLaren to make it into the points. But he wasn't finished there. He quickly managed to catch and dispatch the other McLaren of Button, before chasing down the pair in front of him. This led to a final lap dash for 7th place, with both Grosjean and Ricciardo in the Mercedes's sights. Up front, despite struggling through the final few laps, Vettel managed to nurse his car home for the maximum 25 points, winning by just 5.7 seconds. His 53 point lead seems insumountable, but this race could have been a different story had the problem emerged a few laps sooner. Perhaps he will have a bigger fight from his new Australian team mate, but for now he remains the top dog in Formula 1.

Jumping Through The Loophole: Mercedes Escape With A Reprimand

            In a story that has been slowly unfolding over the last few weeks and months, Mercedes and Pirelli had their fates decided in the tribunal today over the alleged 'corruption' of the sport. Unlike recent F1 tribunal hearings, which have resulted in heavy penalties for alleged offences, both the German manufacturer and Pirelli have been let off with minimal penalties, and what the FIA have called a 'severe reprimand'. If we look at precedent in tribunals, McLaren Mercedes were fined a record $100 million, and excluded  from the 2007 Constructors Championship for their part in the infamous 'Spygate'. So why was the punishment for Mercedes and Pirelli so correspondingly small? This post will attempt to investigate the reasoning behind this decision, along with discussing whether process really needed to be that big of a deal.

             It is first worth reviewing the facts of the controversy. The problems came to light when Pirelli decided to use one of their allowed test sessions, immediately after the criticism of the wear of their tyres in the Spanish Grand Prix. The rules stipulate that the tyre manufacturers are allowed to participate in tyre test sessions. However, the rules also state that current cars cannot be used for the test, for fear of the tests giving the team involved an unfair advantage over the rest of the field. Pirelli decided to use Mercedes, and Mercedes chose to use the current car, which is currently driven by Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton. This put them in direct contravension with the current FIA legislation, a fact that was regularly broadcast by Mercedes' rivals, mostly Red Bull and Ferrari. Eventually, the German team were charged with bringing the sport into disrepute, along with several other charges, which led, eventually, to the tribunal this week. After much talk in the press, the drawn out controversy finally reached its conclusion today, with Mercedes handed the reprimand, along with a ban on their young driver testing. A real punishment to the Germans, I think you'll agree!

              However, before we start crying that it is inherent unfair treatment against British teams, it is worth attempting to explain why the punishment from the FIA was particularly lenient, after years of being especially strict. Firstly, the idea that the punishment doesn't fit the crime. Whilst it is true that the McLaren 'spygate' affair was considerably more serious than a simple testing misdemenour, and as a result, it would be fair to expect that the penalty would be more serious. However, the disparity in punishment is rather startling, especially when you consider the bare facts. In McLaren's case, it was Alex Stepney, their chief designer that was accused of the corruption, not the team as a whole. Nor was it assumed that Ron Dennis, then head of McLaren, had anything to do with the scandal. Therefore, an exclusion and a massive fine seems a touch extortionate considering it was a single 'rogue agent'. Enough for a dismissal and minor penalties for the advantage gained, perhaps?

               Another explanation for today's decision could be that the tribunal found that 'neither Pirelli or Mercedes acted in bad faith'. It would be incredibly difficult to argue that Stepney did not act in 'bad faith' if you like, as he was certainly aware of what he was doing. However, once again, there seems to be problems with this argument. The rules are not exactly ambiguous on the test problem. It clearly states that the current car cannot be used, a rule that seems fairly common sense if you ask me. And yet, both Pirelli, and especially, Mercedes, chose not to question the running of the current car on those grounds. To me, that seems suspicious at best, and at worst, they could certainly be accused of acting in 'bad faith'. I am not advocating a similarly sized penalty to the McLaren fiasco of 2007, but I am merely raising the idea that perhaps the motives were not so different, and that Mercedes can count themselves highly fortunate to have escaped without a harsher sentence.

               Regardless of the penalty, I think everyone can agree that this controversy has gone on far too long. If I look back to my Monaco Grand Prix post, I seem to remember mentioning the controversy hitting the news then. That was four weeks ago. Surely it cannot have taken that amount of time to work out what really happened at that test, as people up and down the paddock were quoting 'facts' to the camera even then. How true those facts were is debatable, but I refuse to believe that anything more than a brief examination of the data of the test would have given the FIA all they needed to know to conduct a fair and reasonable hearing. A week at most. The last real controversy regarding tyres was 'Indygate' back in 2005, where only 6 cars took to the start of the US Grand Prix after Michelin tyre failures in practice and qualifying. Despite a battering in the press, that debacle was sorted in 7 days. To suggest that, based on the ruling, a simple 'misunderstanding', required 4 weeks to decide on is, in my view, simply ridiculous.

              At least I can be thankful that this farce is now over, and we can get back to what really matters in motorsport: the racing. We have had enough bureaucratic procrastination to last us for the rest of the year. Whether it was fair or not is worth debate, but too much risks another descent into inter-team squabbling. I truly hope that this is the end of the matter, and that the FIA remember the lenient ruling when sentencing its next accused. 

Gateway to Europe: The 2013 Spanish Grand Prix

            After the four ‘flyaway’ Grand Prix around the Middle East and Asia, Formula 1 returned to Europe in the form of the Spanish Grand Prix today. The return to Europe certainly has its advantages for those watching in Britain, as finally qualifying and race times remain fairly stable. Getting up in the early hours of the morning to watch a race is never as pleasant as enjoying it over lunch! The 2013 championship remains incredibly open, with Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull looking the early favourites to take their fourth successive title, but Ferrari, Mercedes and Lotus believe they have a realistic chance. The Spanish Grand Prix certainly puts the most pressure on the Ferrari driver of Fernando Alonso, being his home Grand Prix. The vast majority of the 95,000 fans that arrived at the Catalunya circuit were undoubtedly supporting their home man. However, in qualifying, fans that had come supporting the Ferraris were left disappointed.

 

                Qualifying has very much been Mercedes forte so far this season, and so it proved again yesterday. A front row lockout for the German team, with Nico Rosberg leading Lewis Hamilton by a couple of tenths. A second successive pole for the German, who would have hoped to perform better in the race this time, having finished 9^th after starting from pole in Bahrain. Nevertheless, after qualifying, both Rosberg and Hamilton made statements to the press claiming that they were not confident about race pace. Vettel was once again successful in qualifying, finishing in 3^rd place and giving himself a great chance for his third successive race win. Home favourite Alonso, however, had to settle for 5^th place, behind Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen. British drivers, apart from Lewis Hamilton, had a relatively poor qualifying session, with Paul di Resta top in 10^th place. Fellow Brit Jenson Button had a poor qualifying campaign, finishing in 14^th place, a full 6 places behind his McLaren rookie teammate Sergio Perez.

 

                The early talk pre-race was all about pit stops and how many each team would do, with much debate over three or perhaps even four stops. As soon as Mark Webber pitted on lap 7, the decision appeared to have been made for four pit stops. With the developments Mercedes have brought to this Grand Prix, there was also much discussion over whether the Mercedes drivers would be capable of keeping the pack behind them. This was particularly important after the dismal performance of the Mercedes from pole last time out. The start of the race was certainly better for Rosberg from pole than Bahrain, as he led away for the first few laps. Hamilton, on the other hand, was instantly swamped by both Vettel and Alonso, falling back behind the pair of them by the end of the first sector. Whilst Rosberg may have led, he was certainly not pulling away from the lead group, causing a six car queue for the early laps. The first round of pit stops reshuffled the order slightly, with Rosberg maintaining the lead after a tight battle with Vettel, only for Alonso to split the pair of them after his stop. Alonso then went on to take the lead a few laps later, causing Rosberg to lose a further two places on the same lap. The indication was very much that the Mercedes were once again struggling to compete for race pace. This was illustrated by Lewis Hamilton, who at one point was fighting for 15^th place with a Williams, causing several exasperated exchanges on the radio. He continued to have a disappointing afternoon, finishing 12^th.

                In the second half of the race, both Ferraris and the Lotus of Kimi Raikkonen appeared to get stronger as the Red Bull of Sebastian Vettel and the Mercedes faded. Raikkonen’s claim to the race win was strengthened once it was realised that he planned on stopping one fewer times than the Ferraris, forcing Alonso to push harder to attempt to widen the gap. Felipe Massa, having a rather undramatic but successful race, had managed to get himself from his qualifying spot of 9^th, to 2^nd, by the end of the 2^nd stops. Whilst he had to relinquish his 2^nd place to Raikkonen after the final stops, a strong 3^rd place is certainly something he would have settled for at the beginning. Home boy Alonso, however, could not be touched, eventually opening up a gap of 12 seconds to the rest of the field, and comfortably taking the victory at the Spanish Grand Prix. As with Bahrain, the crowd were treated to a final few laps battle, this time between Rosberg and Paul di Resta, for the 6^th spot, which Rosberg eventually took. An incredibly disappointing end to a promising day for the Mercedes team, who will have to seriously re-think their race approach for Monaco.

 

                Alonso’s win at the Spanish Grand Prix has re-ignited the title chase this year, after a mini-period of Vettel and Red Bull dominance. Whilst this race was neither as controversial, nor as eventful as the Bahrain Grand Prix, there was much within it that implied that we have an incredibly competitive championship this year. With the ultimate drivers’ circuit of Monaco up next, there is much more than just pride for the protagonists this season to fight for.