Stefano Domenicali hopes Ferrari will not face 2012 testing issues in 2013 – Formula 1 news
Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali is hopeful of the fact that they will not be facing the 2012 testing issues with their 2013 car when the pre-season tests get underway.
The Scarlet team suffered many problems with the development work of their F2012 before the start of the season in Australia. They were behind schedule and were well off the pace in the race as well. While Felipe Massa retired from the race due to an accident
in Melbourne, Fernando Alonso was as much as 21.5 seconds behind race winner Jenson Button. This baffled the Italian team and they were left with a lot to ponder about.
The main reason for their pre-season issues with their 2012 car was their wind tunnel programme where they were simply not able to develop the F2012 up to the required standards. However, the team has now partnered up with Toyota for the wind tunnel testing
of their 2013 car and this makes the boss really optimistic about their prospects.
“What happened to us last year in the first winter test in Jerez, will not happen to us this year, “ Domenicali told Auto Motor und Sport. “Because we are now sure that the wind tunnel gives us no more surprises.”
However, the Ferrari boss also feels that teams will not be developing their 2013 cars largely because of the arrival of new engine specifications for the 2014 Formula 1 season. The FIA has decided to use turbo-charged V6 engines from the 2014 season in
order to cut costs and improve fuel efficiencies. Some teams are already busy developing their 2014 engines and this is the reason why development work on the 2013 engines will be slow in Domenicali’s opinion.
He said, “The upcoming season will be decided in the first race, the teams are pretty quick to set to work on the 2013 cars and concentrate fully on 2014. I guess this will be the case no later than July; that's why it is important from the beginning to
have a good car.”
The 2013 Formula 1 season gets underway in March in Australia but teams will undergo through three pre-season tests starting from the first one in Jerez, Spain from February 7, 2013. Let’s see if Ferrari are able to keep up with the pace from the word go.
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