Todt confirms - F2005 to be used in Bahrain

[iGav]

Official

Rinky dink link

It's difficult to imagine it being fully competitive at Bahrain, with similar temp conditions and tyre wearing characteristics to Sepang, but I think from Imola onwards they'll be right back up there.

Lets just hope that the new Bridgestone family are going to be competitive with the Michelins.

 

[anonymous161]

well the moment of truth. I wish the car were a little less "green" but with the 2-race engine rule Ferrari really have no choice. They must get some better rubber on the track at Bahrain if they want to stand a chance this year, so I hope the F2005 is kind to its tires. Either that or we have to hope it rains You know, with Ferrari doing well the past several years and so far this season Renault doing well, it sure helps to be a Benetton alum.

 

[Chappers]

I'm bored with F1 - soon they'll have a speed limit on the track too.

 

[Don't panic]

Either that or we have to hope it rains

does it ever rain in bahrain?

 

[Lord Blackadder]

does it ever rain in bahrain?

Very rarely. The odds are better that half the grid will crash out than a rainstorm, statistically speaking.

I expect the F2005 to be the usual very fast yet super reliable car Ferrari has generally produced out in recent years. I also think that Bridgestone will come through with the new tires, but obviously in Bahrain it's up to the cars to pick up the slack if they can. Ferrari's program is so solid I wouldn't count them out even with a unproven car.

I'm interested to see if Renault continues their butt-kicking and if Red Bull stays competitive; I'm excited about the prospect of Scott Speed possibly getting a ride there. It would be nice to have a Yank to root for.

 

[iGav]

so I hope the F2005 is kind to its tires.

It'd better be

The tyres and the engine are 2 area's where Ferrari have been heavily compromised. Remember in winter testing Ferrari blew up more engines than they have done for the previous 4 seasons combined. From what I've read this was because they were establishing the performance parameters of the engine to allow it to stretch over 2 races, the current engine is essentially last years one, which was only designed for 1 race, so that suggests that Ferrari had to compromise the performance of that engine to allow it to stretch over 2 races.

With regards to the tyres, the F2004 simply wasn't designed to survive on 1 set of tyres, so I think Ferrari and Bridgestone have had to compromise speed and go for harder compounds to allow them to complete the race.

I'm expecting the F2005 to be much better in both respects.

That said, I still don't think they'll be fully competitive in Bahrain, even though they won there last season, that had more to do with the competition than Ferrari being outstanding. Bahrain will likely be very hot, although not as hot as Sepang, and as hard on tyres.

Once we get to the cooler climates of Europe, I'm expecting Ferrari to be once again at the front of the field, if they're not then the season will be written off.

does it ever rain in bahrain?

yep... sand probably.

I'm interested to see if Renault continues their butt-kicking and if Red Bull stays competitive; I'm excited about the prospect of Scott Speed possibly getting a ride there. It would be nice to have a Yank to root for.

Renault = Yes.
Red Bull = Yes.
Scott Speed = If he's good, that might help F1 break into the U.S. mainstream a little more. = A Good Thing.

Can't wait for the next race though... just to see if Ferrari can fight back. Anticipation.... that's the word I was looking for.

 

[Don't panic]

I'm excited about the prospect of Scott Speed possibly getting a ride there. It would be nice to have a Yank to root for.

who was the last one? Mario Andretti was the last good one. I guess Eddi Cheever qualifies (kind of). anybody else in the last 20 ys?

For what is worth, Speed clocked a very good time in barcelona (link) although I don't see him getting ahead of Liuzzi for the third drive at red bull

 

[anonymous161]

For what is worth, Speed clocked a very good time in barcelona (link) although I don't see him getting ahead of Liuzzi for the third drive at red bull

Yeah, go Scott Speed.
I hope Liuzzi does well when he gets his chance to drive in Klien's place. He has seemed to do well in the practices so far. But really, he should fix his hair. The mullet died 15 years ago man (and it wasn't a good idea in the first place)

 

[Don't panic]

Yeah, go Scott Speed.
I hope Liuzzi does well when he gets his chance to drive in Klien's place. He has seemed to do well in the practices so far. But really, he should fix his hair. The mullet died 15 years ago man (and it wasn't a good idea in the first place)

i heard this before about klein. why is he being cut? it seems to me he has done fairly good in the first two races.

 

[Counterfit]

who was the last one? Mario Andretti was the last good one. I guess Eddi Cheever qualifies (kind of). anybody else in the last 20 ys?

Michael Andretti drove for McLaren most of the '93 season. He also got royally shafted, thanks to Ron giving most of the testing duties to Mika H. Seems Mike didn't even get a chance.

 

[CmdrLaForge]

Official

Rinky dink link

It's difficult to imagine it being fully competitive at Bahrain, with similar temp conditions and tyre wearing characteristics to Sepang, but I think from Imola onwards they'll be right back up there.

Lets just hope that the new Bridgestone family are going to be competitive with the Michelins.

The new car is hopefully much better then the current. The performance (of Ferrari) is not acceptable. Schu out in the first (his fault) and finishing 7th in the second race is really so bad that they need to improve soon.

Cheers
LaForge

 

[Don't panic]

another question is -if they do well and finish in bahrain- how well will the same engine hold up at imola? Sauber has been using it without reliability problems so I suppose it should be ok

 

[anonymous161]

another question is -if they do well and finish in bahrain- how well will the same engine hold up at imola? Sauber has been using it without reliability problems so I suppose it should be ok

I have heard that cooling could be a problem for the F2005, but I think the rumor stems from Ruben's test of the car ending a little early on Wednesday, so I will believe it when I see it. I think the Bridgestones are the Ferrari's only Achilles' heel at the moment. Although now that you mention it Sauber have already revised their cooling system but they maintain it was due to the relative height of their sidepods.

 

[Don't panic]

the first laptimes seem ok for the maranello boys. if the cars are reliable, we shall be enjoying a good race.

on a different note, wurz was impressive: first ever time in the car, and first ever time on this ccircuit and he pulls a time almost as good as last year's pole!

 

[anonymous161]

Wurz looked fantastic.
The F2005's looked good from the timing and they didn't seem to be pushing to hard, but then again nobody seemed to push too hard. Rubens gearbox failed, and now they have to rebuild it as they apparently didn't have a back up unit constructed (of course, the way the gearbox is integrated I believe a replacement gearbox would be the whole backend of the car!) Chewing gum and duck tape it is.

Has anyone seen anything on Renault's "vee keel" concept? I know the team are proud of it, saying it's the "best of both worlds" but I havent seen any pictures or technical drawings on it.