Risky Strategy Does Not Pay Off For Ferrari


By Dale Calkins
September 5 2005

Ferrari went for a low fuel qualifying run for Monza and it worked well at the start, but in the end they were just too slow. Both drivers finished out of the points with Michael in 10th and Rubens further back in 12th.

Badoer Prepares Ferrari

Risky Strategy Does Not Pay Off For Ferrari

Dale Calkins
Michael Schumacher
Race: 10th + 1'36.070

Ferrari seemed to be back on pace after qualifying on Saturday, but that was clearly not the case during the Italian Grand Prix. Schumacher had a slightly difficult start, as he was held up by Jarno Trulli going into turn one and then while he was battling with him. Schumacher cut the corner to pass him, so Michael slowed to allow him by. Pit stops came early for Ferrari and became clear that they ran a very low fuel load in qualifying. After his stop, Michael would continue to fall back, and ended up racing Jenson Button for the final points paying position in 8th. Michael pushed hard for the single point, too hard apparently as he went off the track and dropped back to 10th. Here is what the 7-Time World Champion had to say about his race in Italy:

"Clearly, our race did not go well and we were much too slow. We are nowhere near where we want to be but we have to live with it. You could say we were a bit better than in Turkey, but that is still not good enough. Running ninth, I was prepared to take some risks to get a point, but I risked a bit too much and went off the track, which lost me a place. There is no point in getting angry about our situation, we must simply try and improve, maybe in time for Spa, although that is unlikely, but possibly before the end of the season. The championship was obviously lost a while ago, but we have had a lot of good years before this one. There is no need to give up because this is all part of competition. I feel sorry for the tifosi and thank them for their support, even though we were not able to deliver them a good result."

Rubens Barrichello
Race: 12th + 1 Lap

Rubens Barrichello got ahead of Jarno Trulli at the start of the race and was able to keep up with the BAR Hondas in front of him. Unfortunately Barrichello would follow the BARs all the way out of points as both teams clearly did not have the pace. Barrichello was looking to score a point in 8th, but he suffered a left rear tyre failure and dropped all the way back to 12th. Here is what the Brazilian had to say about his race:

"We had to adopt quite a risky strategy this afternoon, as we knew we were not really quick enough. So we were fighting to get into the points, but were unable to do it. Unfortunately the car was running with very light downforce and when you got close to a car in front it was therefore very difficult to overtake. I had a good start and the momentum took me up to fifth place and I think I could have finished eighth which is the best we could have hoped for today. But unfortunately a puncture on my left rear meant that even this was out of reach."

Ross Brawn
Technical Director

Ferrari's Technical Director Ross Brawn, was certainly dissapointed with Ferrari's results. Here is what Ross had to say about the Italian Grand Prix:

"Obviously this was a difficult race for us. We really needed better starts than we had in order to suit our chosen strategy, so that held us up in the early stages. Rubens had a puncture on his left rear tyre which spoiled his race and then in the closing stages, Michael went off at Turn 8 and did some damage to his car which affected his race. Generally, the cars performed okay, but we simply did not have the overall performance we needed and we must continue working to try and understand and rectify that situation."

September 4, 2005

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