Ferrari will be bolder in 2012
Back in the spotlight for a few races now, the Scuderia has no plans to ease up its efforts on both the 2011 car and the 2012 car, on which Nikolas Tombazis promises significant changes.
Unable to match the level of Red Bull or even McLaren during the first third of the season, Ferrari seems to be back in business, much to the delight of fans of the Prancing Horse and F1 Circus spectators, who believe the more contenders, the more suspense. However, this revival came with difficulty as Aldo Costa was pushed out, allowing Pat Fry to take control of the technical department. Subsequent modifications seem to have borne fruit.
Nikolas Tombazis, Scuderia’s chief engineer, reflects on these beneficial changes, particularly in the exhaust system, and looks ahead to the short and medium term: « First of all, we have made improvements to the exhaust system. We believe there is still a lot of potential to improve the car and with the various regulatory clarifications, we have a clearer vision of what will be possible in the upcoming races to further develop this aspect ».
Tombazis explains more specifically what changed during the German weekend: « We had a new braking system at the rear. We also had a new rear wing, on which we will be able to work because with the DRS there are many possibilities for improvements this year. Finally, we also implemented a quite advanced program for the front wing for the upcoming races which should bear fruit ».
The Greek engineer continues, on the blown diffuser this time: « It allows for a performance gain for the car this season, so naturally, we need to spend some resources on it this year because we want to win races. Obviously, this research won’t be usable next year, but the other things we are doing for 2011 will have an influence on the 2012 car. It’s a kind of mix that we are trying to achieve: we want to make the best use of our resources for both cars ».
Silverstone was a sign regarding the improvement of our performance and, at the Nurburgring, we were not on a track that was considered favorable for us, and where we would have been off the pace a few months ago. Tombazis also wants to send a strong message to Ferrari’s direct competitors: I believe that the developments we have in the pipeline for the upcoming Grand Prix should allow us to be in the fight with the best.
Regarding that famous 2012 season, the 43-year-old engineer admits that it will be necessary to be more daring to hope to fight for the titles: “We have chosen a very gentle approach [for the 2012 car] and there are many areas where substantial changes will occur. In this regard, it represents a huge shift compared to previous seasons and cars, and quite frankly, we need it because we need to make a bigger leap forward than we have previously. In F1, you never start from a blank sheet by saying: ‘OK guys, let’s start from scratch!’ You have a lot to learn from past experiences and you must apply them. If you observe the different cars, you will find strong points in each single-seater, even in the slower ones, so nobody starts from nothing. I think the degree of change will be very significant.”
