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Ferrari
Starts: 883
First GP: Monaco 1950
Wins: 221
Poles: 207
Fastest laps: 230
2014 championship position: 4th
The SF15-T has given a newlook Ferrari cause for optimism
“Judging by the performance of the
SF15-T in testing, Ferrari looks to be
much stronger than last season”
SEASON
A
5
Age:
Starts:
First GP:
Wins:
Poles:
Fastest laps:
2014 position:
27
139
USA 2007
39
45
24
5th
KIMI RAIKKONEN
XPB IMAGES
7
Age:
35
Starts:
211
First GP:
Australia 2001
Wins:
20
Poles:
16
Fastest laps:
40
2014 position:
12th
Race engineer Dave Greenwood
and tech chief James Allison (r)
WorldMags.net
Had Vettel made this move 12 months
earlier, you’d be comparing it with
Michael Schumacher going to Ferrari.
But having shown great adaptability
in the exhaust-blown-downforce era,
surprisingly he struggled last year.
Maybe the change of scene is what he
needs, but it will be interesting to see
how he stacks up against Raikkonen.
When Raikkonen is happy with the
car and motivated, he is bloody
quick. Nobody has ever doubted
that. And he seems much happier
with life based on testing, so that's
encouraging for Ferrari. The question
is whether he can stay in that state of
mind and get the best out of himself
rather than repeating his poor 2014.
XPB IMAGES
SEBASTIAN VETTEL
Kimi Raikkonen needs a
much better season in ’15
MARCH 5 2015 AUTOSPORT.COM 59
PREVIEW
lot has changed at Ferrari over the
winter, as often seems to be the case
when things aren’t going well at
Maranello. But judging by the
performance of the new SF15-T in
testing, Ferrari looks to be much
stronger than it was in 2014, when
there were only two podium finishes.
That was never going to be good enough.
It’ s important not to get too carried away
with testing laptimes. While Ferrari is certainly
improved, it will still be a big ask even to be in
position to get the minimum of two victories
that the team has targeted. But this is the first
car that has been designed and produced solely
under the technical direction of James Allison,
who joined in September 2013, so we are now
seeing more of his influence.
But it will take time for the team to gel.
Fernando Alonso has gone, along with Stefano
Domenicali and Marco Mattiacci, who
respectively started and finished last year as
team boss, and Pat Fry has also gone on the
technical side. The team will only really be tested
once the season starts and things get tough.
The biggest problem Ferrari had last year was
the performance of its engine package. Given
that you would expect the performance of the
V6 internal-combustion engine across the four
manufacturers to be similar, that proves that
the hybrid systems were the main weakness.
If Ferrari has made a big improvement there,
and continues to make steps now that in-season
development is allowed, it will climb the order.
The signs are positive; I’m not saying Ferrari will
be right up the front, but it does seem to have
done enough at least to be knocking on the door.
59
Ferrari SF15-T