295 replies to this topic

[FirstWatt]

Zava, on 12 May 2015 - 15:13, said:

[...] 
ferrari was already falling apart prior to the (unanimously voted) tyre change. based on previous races, they were destined to dominate in silverstone, and well, that didn't really happen did it.

Wrong.
First changes to tyres have been done already before Montreal, not after Silverstone. http://somersf1.blog...s-ahead-of.html
It wasn't enough, obviously. After Silverstone was the radical change though.
The first change of tyres was already bad for Ferrari, and they were not "destined to dominate" in Silverstone.

[kevinracefan]

blah blah blah blah..
nonstory constantly re-hashed by reporters too lazy to figure out a relevant question...

and now, it's click bait, LOL...

[Buttoneer]

krea, on 12 May 2015 - 15:42, said:

Not sure if you are serious or if you trying to troll me.
 
In what world is not finishing the race/being lapped is a good sign?

And you're not sure if He is trying to troll You?

Alonso has taken a gamble which may or may not pay off. The McLaren has gained in ultimate pace since the start of the year, there are clearly still problems to resolve, yet there is progress. Ferrari was second or third best for his entire time there. Clearly, progress forwards from a long way back is more attractive to him than relative stagnation near the front.

[sopa]

Buttoneer, on 12 May 2015 - 16:16, said:

And you're not sure if He is trying to troll You?

Alonso has taken a gamble which may or may not pay off. The McLaren has gained in ultimate pace since the start of the year, there are clearly still problems to resolve, yet there is progress. 

 

I find it amusing that McLaren's move from 17th on the grid to 13th is considered as "progress". Hell, if that is the case, Toyota and BAR made far better progress in F1.

 

I mean... improving from 17th to 13th, let's celebrate.

 

IMO that's desperation.

 

I'd say there is something to talk about, when McLaren can regularly start finishing around places from P6-P8. Because that would be in the upper spheres of midfield. And an absolutely minimum level at which a team like McLaren should be performing at!

 

Improving from 17th to 13th is like an easy task for a big team like McLaren. It is like celebrating that university professor can solve 4th grade school tasks. Yeah, that's fantastic indeed!

 

Everyone calls BAR's 1999 season as utter rubbish. And Villeneuve's career choice as garbage. Yet that BAR was often inside top 10 in qualifying sessions, so somewhat fast, even if unreliable.

 

From my side there is no praise to McLaren as long as they are not at least in the range of current Red Bull. Any level below that is utter failure.

 

Perspective needs to be kept...

Edited by sopa, 12 May 2015 - 16:27.

[as65p]

sopa, on 12 May 2015 - 15:37, said:

By the way, it can't be said nothing has changed in Ferrari. The whole management has changed and lots of other people lower down in the pyramid as well, including the cook (very important to mention!).

 

The jury is still out I'd say, but if Ferrari is again clear second best or worse at the end of 2015, then all the changes they made to the staff do actually emphasize Alonsos notion that [in terms of final results] really nothing has changed. Not even firing the cook made them champions.

Edited by as65p, 12 May 2015 - 16:26.

[AustinF1]

Massa, on 12 May 2015 - 12:41, said:

...They are the second best team with a new era for them. And Barcelona was the first time this year Ferrari was more than 30 seconds behind on merit. Australia, Massa blocked Vettel during the first stint, Malaysia and China one win and a close result, Bahrein Raikkonen almost won the race. Last year Ferrari were one minute behind Mercedes, but 20 seconds behind Williams and Red Bull. And he is saying with a straight face nothing have changed ?

 

...

Most people have been waiting for Spain to see what the true hierarchy is. Now we've seen it. Has Ferrari improved marginally relative to Merc? Yep. Marginally. But in the big picture, in terms of winning a WDC ... which is what matters to Alonso at this point in his career, nothing has changed at Ferrari.

 

Interesting way to revive a locked thread, BTW.

 

brr, on 12 May 2015 - 12:49, said:

Last year Ferrari wasn't even 2nd best.

It doesn't matter. He's not interested in 2nd best. 2nd best, 3rd best, 4th, 5th, whatever. It's all the same to him at this point.

Edited by AustinF1, 12 May 2015 - 16:43.

[sopa]

aramos, on 12 May 2015 - 15:29, said:

 McLaren are atleast heading in the right direction.

 

We can start talking again, when McLaren is competing for top 6 positions. Which is absolute minimum and the level on which McLaren was operating last year. But people were not happy with Button's 4ths and 5ths during 2014, saying for McLaren it is not good enough!

 

All I say. People have been carried away with the hype and PR. Getting used to "McLaren PR glasses" means that 13th on the grid looks like a good result now and a firm promise of championship challenge soon enough.

 

Well, I am not going to get carried away. Just looking at how things are. When there are actual results and performance to talk about, we will see. At least in Ferrari's case there is some performance to talk about!

 

I can't remember last time such a badly performing team was hyped up so much with possible championships coming up! This is the McLaren+Alonso effect - two big fanbases united together. It creates a huge hype-train without basis.

[as65p]

AustinF1, on 12 May 2015 - 16:41, said:

 

Interesting way to revive a locked thread, BTW.

 

You'd think seeing Alonso struggle at the back should satisfy even the most ardent detractors, but apparently it's still not enough...

 

No bigger compliment, really.

[YoungGun]

AustinF1, on 12 May 2015 - 16:41, said:

It doesn't matter. He's not interested in 2nd best. 2nd best, 3rd best, 4th, 5th, whatever. It's all the same to him at this point.

 

At this point he is 10 best, but in all fairness it can't get any worse.

[aditya-now]

Massa, on 12 May 2015 - 12:41, said:

i don't understand why he is always talking about Ferrari ? Each race he try to diminush Ferrari improvement. If he is sure of his choice, why this behaviour ?

 

And nothing have changed ? They are the second best team with a new era for them. And Barcelona was the first time this year Ferrari was more than 30 seconds behind on merit. Australia, Massa blocked Vettel during the first stint, Malaysia and China one win and a close result, Bahrein Raikkonen almost won the race. Last year Ferrari were one minute behind Mercedes, but 20 seconds behind Williams and Red Bull. And he is saying with a straight face nothing have changed ?

 

He is talking as if Ferrari is the same Ferrari than during Domenicali era, but it's false, it's a new era and Ferrari is closer to beat Mercedes than Mclaren, and the past 3 years Ferrari have shown much more than Mclaren.

 

Alonso loves Ferrari and I am sure he has taken his decision to leave the team heavy-heartedly. Same by the way for Felipe who felt it very painful to leave the Scuderia.

 

That (difficulty leaving the Scuderia) and the fact that many bystanders now feel free to comment that Fernando has taken the wrong decision by going to McLaren-Honda have probably lead to Alonso repeatedly confirming that it was right for him to leave the Scuderia.

 

Imagine yourself in his situation - well, you can't.

Edited by aditya-now, 12 May 2015 - 16:52.

[BillBald]

BCM, on 12 May 2015 - 12:45, said:

Is he wrong though? Forget what the commentators are saying and look at the gaps. 2nd best is still that. 2nd best. 

 

He's taken a gamble on McLaren Honda which may or may not pay off, but I for one admire his cojones.

 

I hope you haven't followed him into the bathroom.

[AustinF1]

MikeMM, on 12 May 2015 - 13:19, said:

Yes he is wrong.

 

Last year in Barcelona  Alonso finished 1min 27 sec behind.

This year in Barcelona Vettel finished 45 sec behind.

 

 

 

Quote

not half a minute, a minute but  a minute and a half gap Mr ALO... 87.743 seconds last year 2014.

 

 

so this year Ferrari halfed the gap (nearly, as it was 45.342 gap for VET...)  nothing has changed. I see 

 

 

 

Maybe Arrivabene can get a trophy made to commemorate the improved gap to the leading Merc..

Edited by AustinF1, 12 May 2015 - 16:57.

[brr]

AustinF1, on 12 May 2015 - 16:41, said:

 

It doesn't matter. He's not interested in 2nd best. 2nd best, 3rd best, 4th, 5th, whatever. It's all the same to him at this point.

 

I wasn't talking about Alonso but Ferrari. Clearly Ferrari has changed for the better, contrary to what Alonso claims. His lack of interest does not change the reality.

[aditya-now]

SealTheDiffuser, on 12 May 2015 - 12:56, said:

Most bitter person on the grid?

 

Who - you or Massa?

[RedBaron]

Right now Ferrari and McLaren are in exactly the same boat, which is not fast enough to beat Mercedes to the WDC. For a top driver that's all that matters.

 

Winning the odd race and finishing anywhere other than Champion is not enough for Alonso. So he probably doesn't care about Ferrari's improved form, if they started dominating races and heading for a title the he would.

[YoungGun]

RedBaron, on 12 May 2015 - 16:58, said:

Right now Ferrari and McLaren are in exactly the same boat, which is not fast enough to beat Mercedes to the WDC. For a top driver that's all that matters.

 

Winning the odd race and finishing anywhere other than Champion is not enough for Alonso. So he probably doesn't care about Ferrari's improved form, if they started dominating races and heading for a title the he would.

 

Straight up, do you think Alonso could seriously challenge in this years Ferrari?

[AustinF1]

kimster89, on 12 May 2015 - 13:59, said:

Funny how this year people argue nothing has changed since ferrari isnt the outright fastest car, while in previous years people argued that Ferrari doesnt even need the fastest car but just a good enough to be close and than Fernando will do his thing.

Do you really think this car is good enough? They weren't even close yesterday and it's doubtful that Nico was going all out.

[aditya-now]

krea, on 12 May 2015 - 14:23, said:

"I'm enjoying my time at McLaren and it's nice to see that Ferrari is alive and well".

 

I guess it hurts him that he can't say that Ferrari is nothing without him after Vettel performs quite well.

 

http://www.autosport...t.php/id/117160

 

I guess he knew long before everyone else that Ferrari would be very strong in 2015. This is from December 16th, 2014, and as we know by now, Allison had told Fernando about the upcoming developments and urged him to stay. 

 

In my book he knew how risky going to McLaren-Honda was, but he wanted to follow in the footsteps of Ayrton Senna and this is the best chance history presented him. If you were to understand his code of honor a little better you would understand his decision better.

[RedBaron]

YoungGun, on 12 May 2015 - 17:01, said:

Straight up, do you think Alonso could seriously challenge in this years Ferrari?

 

 

No, Mercedes is dominant. 

 

Did you quote the wrong person? I didn't suggest he could do or at least didn't intend to suggest that.

[RealRacing]

PMM3, on 12 May 2015 - 13:51, said:

Right..First of the loosers aint good enough, So he goes off and becomes one of the last of the loosers. 

 

It is simply better to say that either he made a poor decision or had no choice if a decision was made for him. 

Quoting Murray Walker and applying to FA, "And Michael Schumacher is actually in a very good position. He is in last place."

[RealRacing]

Five or so years ago he said just driving for Ferrari is better than winning a WDC. 2010 and 2012 Ferrari was closer to RBR than this year to Merc...Guess he's looking for a 1993 Prost.

Edited by RealRacing, 12 May 2015 - 17:14.

[AustinF1]

YoungGun, on 12 May 2015 - 15:08, said:

Alonso should put his money where his mouth is and drag that McLaren into a least scoring the odd point instead of worrying what Ferrari is doing.

He had a shot at doing just that on Sunday had a tearoff not freakishly ended up in his brake duct.

 

 

Zava, on 12 May 2015 - 15:13, said:

yes, because the negation of "gap is the same, behind merc" is "ferrari is in front"  

Maybe you could quote the part where he said the gap is the same?

 

 

YoungGun, on 12 May 2015 - 15:28, said:

All Alonso needs to say is "No Comment". 

...and if he did, people here would be talking about how prickly, evasive, and standoffish he was being, and how rudely he treated the reporters...

Edited by AustinF1, 12 May 2015 - 17:20.

[Gilles4Ever]

From April

"It's a question I expected, because Ferrari winning the second race and me out of Q2 is the perfect moment to ask, but I've had five years in Ferrari and finished second [in the championship] three times and I didn't want to finish second a fourth time," Alonso explained ahead of this weeend's Chinese Grand Prix.

"So if they win the championship at the end of the year, maybe I'll have a different opinion; if they finish second or third, I think I'm happy with the decision [to leave].

http://www.autosport...t.php/id/118417

[RedBaron]

Gilles4Ever, on 12 May 2015 - 17:17, said:

From April

"It's a question I expected, because Ferrari winning the second race and me out of Q2 is the perfect moment to ask, but I've had five years in Ferrari and finished second [in the championship] three times and I didn't want to finish second a fourth time," Alonso explained ahead of this weeend's Chinese Grand Prix.

"So if they win the championship at the end of the year, maybe I'll have a different opinion; if they finish second or third, I think I'm happy with the decision [to leave].

http://www.autosport...t.php/id/118417

 

That's what I was getting at in my post. Nice find Gilles4Ever. Perfectly reasonable reply from Fernando too.

 

That doesn't make good media coverage though. So they'll keep asking him, every race just to see if one time he slips up. Then they can plaster eye catching headlines on their websites and magazines, probably based on a poorly translated quote as well.

[emmanuelrubi]

Alonso and I have the same tittles with Ferrari, but aside from the weekly trash talk on Alonso i think he is wrong i see a better and more happy team somehow and i still see him saying the same stuff about Ferrari in 2016 when McLaren doesn't improve and in 2017 when he retires and probably Vettel is on its way to the 5th.

[Ferrari2183]

Buttoneer, on 12 May 2015 - 14:51, said:

The quote again; “I am very happy with the move. I was in the Ferrari last year half a minute, a minute behind Mercedes and on Sunday they were 43 seconds behind in Barcelona. Nothing has changed – and that is one of the reasons why l moved. I saw nothing change for five years and l didn’t want a sixth or seventh.”
That's not delusional, bitter, or bad mouthing. It's a pleasantly honest answer which says far more about him, his tolerance levels and ambitions than it does about Ferrari.

He is being disingenuous in his reply. Yes, he finished half-a-minute to a minute behind last year but it has been different this year at Ferrari except for Barcelona and China.

They've won a race and damn near won another out of 5 and have been on the podium in all. They've, on merit, challenged for the win in 40% of the races thus far. Pretty good for a team where nothing has changed.

I'm not mad at Alonso because he tends to make these linear type statements but it sure as hell doesn't mean he is right.

Everybody, even my Rottweiler, can see that Ferrari are much more competitive relative to Mercedes and all these posts about Ferrari only looking good because Williams and Red Bull dropped the ball is just tripe. If we're going to entertain such statements then I can just as well say Mercedes are only looking good because Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull dropped the ball.

[DaddyCool]

Controversial Opinion™ ahead:

 

McLaren and Alonso seems to me as a marriage of interests, nothing more, and their PR reminds me of the "If I keep repeating the same thing over and over again it will come true" mantra.

 

I'll be, however, the first one to shut the f*** up on the whole matter if next year they produce a contender.

[AustinF1]

Gilles4Ever, on 12 May 2015 - 17:17, said:

From April

"It's a question I expected, because Ferrari winning the second race and me out of Q2 is the perfect moment to ask, but I've had five years in Ferrari and finished second [in the championship] three times and I didn't want to finish second a fourth time," Alonso explained ahead of this weeend's Chinese Grand Prix.

"So if they win the championship at the end of the year, maybe I'll have a different opinion; if they finish second or third, I think I'm happy with the decision [to leave].

http://www.autosport...t.php/id/118417

Yep. It's really not hard to understand ... unless you really just don't care to.

[Quickshifter]

[wj_gibson]

I think people forget that Alonso always idolised the Senna-McLaren relationship.

Given a choice of seeing out his career in the same old environment or having a second bite of the McLaren cherry he has opted for the latter. Good luck to him, I say. He even gets to spend professional time doing laps in his favourite ever car.

I think some people get over sensitive. He wasn't happy so he went to,work elsewhere just as thousands of others do every year in all walks of life. Drivers are employees and that gives them the right to move.

Edited by wj_gibson, 12 May 2015 - 18:15.

[HeadFirst]

Ferrari2183, on 12 May 2015 - 17:28, said:

He is being disingenuous in his reply. Yes, he finished half-a-minute to a minute behind last year but it has been different this year at Ferrari except for Barcelona and China.

They've won a race and damn near won another out of 5 and have been on the podium in all. They've, on merit, challenged for the win in 40% of the races thus far. Pretty good for a team where nothing has changed.

I'm not mad at Alonso because he tends to make these linear type statements but it sure as hell doesn't mean he is right.

Everybody, even my Rottweiler, can see that Ferrari are much more competitive relative to Mercedes and all these posts about Ferrari only looking good because Williams and Red Bull dropped the ball is just tripe. If we're going to entertain such statements then I can just as well say Mercedes are only looking good because Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull dropped the ball.

 

That's right! Red Bull (second best last year) have really stepped up their game this year, especially with that powerful and reliable Renault PU. Good on Ferrari for passing them.

[Buttoneer]

sopa, on 12 May 2015 - 16:20, said:

I find it amusing that McLaren's move from 17th on the grid to 13th is considered as "progress". Hell, if that is the case, Toyota and BAR made far better progress in F1.

 

I mean... improving from 17th to 13th, let's celebrate.

Yes, why not?  Lets.  He feels he can make a difference at McLaren.

 

 

sopa, on 12 May 2015 - 16:20, said:

Perspective needs to be kept...

 

Well, indeed, and yet you haven't if you fail to see the progress.

[Gorma]

BCM, on 12 May 2015 - 13:10, said:

Those results are no better than Redbull managed last year. All Ferrari have done is replace Redbull as the first losers. Alonso doesn't want to be first loser anymore. He wants to win. Will his gamble pay off? Who knows. He'd still be a loser at Ferrari this year though.

Red Bull didn't win a single race on merit last year. Infact no car beat Mercedes on merit last year. This year Ferrari has beaten Mercedes on merit already on two occasions.

[Nonesuch]

RedBaron, on 12 May 2015 - 16:58, said:

Right now Ferrari and McLaren are in exactly the same boat, which is not fast enough to beat Mercedes to the WDC. For a top driver that's all that matters.

 

That strikes me as needlessly binary view of the situation.

 

When Hamilton joined Mercedes in 2013 the German team was 'in exactly the same boat' as Caterham, which was 'not fast enough to beat Red Bull to the WDC'.

 

Yet a year later one team became world champion and the other went bankrupt.

 

There is no need for boats here; we can all look at where McLaren is at the moment, where they have been in recent times when they had the Mercedes engine, and speculate on where they might end up in a week, month or year from now.

Edited by Nonesuch, 12 May 2015 - 18:19.

[OverwatchElite]

Alonso just doesn't care for 2nd and lover places anymore. He has fair share of these from last 9 years. 1st or bust is his mentality now...

[kevinracefan]

Gorma, on 12 May 2015 - 18:06, said:

Red Bull didn't win a single race on merit last year. Infact no car beat Mercedes on merit last year. This year Ferrari has beaten Mercedes on merit already on two occasions.

uhhh... what??? I can't find ANYTHING correct here...

[Gorma]

kevinracefan, on 12 May 2015 - 18:22, said:

uhhh... what??? I can't find ANYTHING correct here...

In 2014 the only time cars finished infront of Mercedes (not counting retirements):

Canada where both cars had mechanical failures from a big lead.

Germany where Hamilton had a brake failure in qualifying 

Hungary where Hamilton's car burned during qualifying and safety car screwed Nico's race.

Belgium where the Mercedes collided with each other ruining both of their races.

 

This year Ferrari has been able to finish infront Mercedes in Malaysia and in Bahrain. There was no special circumstances. No safety cars. No nothing. Sure they had brake problems in Bahrain, but that was do to the fact they had to take a risk to keep Ferrari behind.

Edited by Gorma, 12 May 2015 - 18:34.

[AustinF1]

For those of you asking if Alonso could win the WDC in this car ... what do you think?

 

A lot of emphasis in this thread has been put on the gap from Nico to Vettel, but I think it's fair to say Nico wasn't pushing for a significant portion of the race. The Ferrari's couldn't catch him, and Lewis was stuck behind a Ferrari for 60% of the race ... so why push?

 

Look at the gap Lewis pulled on Vettel in the second half of the race yesterday.

 

- Lewis pitted on Lap 32 and came out 24s behind Vettel. Lewis was on new hard tires. Vettel on used Mediums.

- By Lap 36, Lewis had taken 8s out of Vettel's gap.

- By the time Vettel made his final stop on Lap 41, Lewis had cut the gap to about 10s iirc. 14s gained in 9 laps.

- Seb rejoined 13.5s behind Lewis. Now Vettel was on new Hard tires. Lewis on used Hard tires.

- Lewis continued to pull out after that, adding about 1s per lap until he was 23s ahead before his final stop on lap 51.

- Lewis rejoined with new Medium tires, about 3s ahead of Seb & 19.5s behind Nico.

- By lap 56, Lewis had pulled out to a 16s lead.

- By lap 61, Lewis had pulled out to about a 28s lead. In about 10 laps, with 5 laps remaining, Lewis had added 25s to his lead over Seb and had taken about 7s out of Nico. Then Bonnington told him to pack it in and consolidate P2.

 

In the last 35 laps of the race alone, Lewis outpaced Vettel by 52 seconds, and it probably could have been worse.

[AustinF1]

wj_gibson, on 12 May 2015 - 17:46, said:

I think people forget that Alonso always idolised the Senna-McLaren relationship.

Given a choice of seeing out his career in the same old environment or having a second bite of the McLaren cherry he has opted for the latter. Good luck to him, I say. He even gets to spend professional time doing laps in his favourite ever car.

I think some people get over sensitive. He wasn't happy so he went to,work elsewhere just as thousands of others do every year in all walks of life. Drivers are employees and that gives them the right to move.

Yes. Being happy where you work is one of the biggest keys to happiness in life ... no matter what your paycheck looks like.

[Logiso]

Australia 2014 gap to winner: 35s 2015: 35s
Malaysia 2014 gap to winner: 36s 2015:0s
Bahrain 2014 gap to winner: 33s(Late race SC) 2015: 3s
China 2014 gap to winner: 25s 2015(before the sc) 23s
Spain 2014 gap to winner: 84s 2015: 45s

So yeah, better but Ferrari's problem is where they end the year not where they start it usually as you can see, the gaps to the front weren't that bad at the start of last year either.

[RedBaron]

Nonesuch, on 12 May 2015 - 18:17, said:

That strikes me as needlessly binary view of the situation.

 

When Hamilton joined Mercedes in 2013 the German team was 'in exactly the same boat' as Caterham, which was 'not fast enough to beat Red Bull to the WDC'.

 

Yet a year later one team became world champion and the other went bankrupt.

 

There is no need for boats here; we can all look at where McLaren is at the moment, where they have been in recent times when they had the Mercedes engine, and speculate on where they might end up in a week, month or year from now.

 

 

We are discussing McLaren and Ferrari. So adding in other teams who also aren't in a position to beat Mercedes is irrelevant. Your Caterham point therefore is moot. 

 

There's nothing wrong with how I explained it, it wasn't too simplistic, it was as simple as it needs to be 

[Rhardrks]

Ferrari have already repeated what they have been doing for the past 5 years, putting updates on that don't work. They can't develop a car over the year to save their lives. The only save grace this year is the engine can be developed but the chasis/aero will go backwards as normal.

[Gorma]

Rhardrks, on 12 May 2015 - 19:03, said:

Ferrari have already repeated what they have been doing for the past 5 years, putting updates on that don't work. They can't develop a car over the year to save their lives. The only save grace this year is the engine can be developed but the chasis/aero will go backwards as normal.

They did work.

[Newbrray]

Gorma, on 12 May 2015 - 19:10, said:

They did work.

 

Then maybe those on the Mercedes worked better

[YoungGun]

Newbrray, on 12 May 2015 - 19:47, said:

Then maybe those on the Mercedes worked better

 

Everything worked better in Barcelona. ::tip of hat::

Edited by YoungGun, 12 May 2015 - 19:59.

[RubalSher]

You really dont expect Alonso to come out and admit that he screwed up again, as far as team choice goes. Lewis had more daggers in his back when he chose to move to Merc and I admire Lewis for not coming out with the same nonsense that neither Merc nor McLaren were gonna win the title in 2013.

[Newbrray]

YoungGun, on 12 May 2015 - 19:59, said:

Everything worked better in Barcelona. ::tip of hat::

 

not according to Kimi ::wink::wink

[YoungGun]

Newbrray, on 12 May 2015 - 20:07, said:

not according to Kimi ::wink::wink

 

Re-write:

 

Everything worked better for Mercedes in Barcelona ::tip of hat::

[Newbrray]

YoungGun, on 12 May 2015 - 20:11, said:

Re-write:

 

Everything worked better for Mercedes in Barcelona ::tip of hat::

 

ahh..ok, misunderstood your post, apologies

[Arry2k]

Gorma, on 12 May 2015 - 19:10, said:

They did work.

Trouble is that, Arrivabene is alluding to the fact that they didnt deliver what they were expected to.

 

http://www.gpupdate....ot-good-enough/

 

"The numbers tell us that the new solutions are good, the reality shows that they are not good enough."

 

"We did make a step forward, but it was supposed to be a jump. I am not blaming anyone in particular, I am taking my own responsibilities. We need to work harder."

 

On the surface that quote looks as if, hey our updates wern't enough, except he then says it was supposed to be a 'jump' and not just a 'step' and then adds 'blame' into the mix. It's sounds sadly familiar. Only time will tell if they have finally ridden themselves of the spectre of the updates that don't work or not, but like I said it sounds reminicient of the Domenicalli days.

 

Anyway, Alonso is, in some ways, correct in what he says. Ferrari fans can paint it what ever way they like, the bottom line is this. They are second to Mercedes at the moment and unless they can get ahead of them in the next handful of races, they will finish second this year. While it is progress in the relatgive sense, the result, as far as Alonso is concerned, is the same. Second. Not first, but second.