Ferrari: Confidence in Räikkönen Remains Intact According to Allison
Since the beginning of the season, Kimi Räikkönen has been significantly outpaced by his teammate Fernando Alonso. This lack of performance has in no way affected the confidence that the Scuderia places in the Finn, according to James Allison.
The technical director of Scuderia, James Allison, who had the opportunity to observe Kimi Räikkönen closely during two seasons at Lotus, expressed both optimism and praise on the team’s official website. For him, it’s only a matter of time: « He is a driver of great class, and we know we will soon see the results on the track. He works extremely well with the team, collaborates with his engineers, with the other car in the garage, and helps us move forward with his car. He helps us pinpoint what is wrong, and this makes us stronger ».
It is therefore out of the question to establish any hierarchy: We are very happy at Ferrari to have two such good drivers, two drivers of the caliber of the best. But James Allison cannot help but especially thank Fernando Alonso, who is keeping the Scuderia afloat with flair: With Fernando, we have seen, as always with him, an extraordinary level of performance: he takes advantage of every possible opportunity to collect every possible point. And we must thank him for what he has achieved with the car so far this year.
For the British engineer, with a car below the competition, salvation will come from aggressive development throughout the season: « The key to a successful season is to continue improving the car at every race. If we can do that, if we can bring a significant amount of performance to each race, we will only be making steps forward. And that will show us what the true F14-T is. »
Indeed, the technical director of the Scuderia believes that the F14-T is a very good base whose full potential is beginning to be unlocked: « Where have we seen the true performance level of the car? In Bahrain, in China? It’s a mistake to think that way, because it wasn’t the same car on these two tracks. Between these two tracks, we improved it substantially: so it’s not the characteristics of the track that changed, it’s also our car ».
The Circuit de Catalunya is traditionally a good indicator for understanding the hierarchy for the rest of the season; but according to James Allison, the development race is set to be more frantic than ever this year, and the hierarchies could quickly shift from one race to another.
