Ferrari, Fry: “We are constantly evolving”

On Friday, on a cloudy and humid day with no on-track activity for the Formula 1 paddock, journalists attending the press conference held by the team's Technical Director Pat Fry were given some guidance on Scuderia Ferrari's technical programme.

The first item on the agenda was the sub-optimal traction levels of the F2012 and how these could influence the performance of the single-seater on the roads of the Principality. “The issues are a little different in this case,” began the Englishman. “Our traction is not at the level we would like, but here there are no real lateral loads in terms of traction as the track is characterized by classic “point and squirt” corners. However, it is an area where we are still working to improve."

Summing up recent progress on the development front, Fry was satisfied that work is progressing in the right direction. “We have made a reasonable step forward compared to Barcelona, ​​closing the gap a little compared to those ahead of us, in terms of performance, but we are still not the fastest and, until we are, we cannot be satisfied,” he has declared. “We've brought some small updates here and will have some more for Canada, but our level also depends on what others are doing. In a way, it was easier for us to recover in Spain, because we started from a disadvantaged position. But we have managed to improve our performance and we must continue with this pace of development. We have to work hard and fit new solutions on the car. At the beginning of the year, we had clearly made some mistakes, but since then most of the updates we have introduced have worked as we wanted, while some still do not match our expectations. In Monaco, you can't really try to modify parts of the car, as at this circuit it's all about keeping the car the same and letting the drivers get used to the track."

According to Fernando Alonso, the current trend, which has seen the victory of five different cars in five races, will soon end, as the so-called top teams re-establish the hierarchies. Fry isn't so sure. “There are three or four teams that have the capacity to develop their car during the year, and we have never had such a close season before: so far, some teams are only updating their cars every four races, while others, like us, McLaren and Red Bull are bringing updates every time we come up with a better solution in terms of better performance. We are in a state of constant evolution. I'm sure now most teams will adopt this strategy as we are all so close. It's good for the sport that five drivers from five different teams have won races so far. The distance between everyone is so small that in Q2 in Spain, for example, there were only 50 thousandths of a second separating fifth from eleventh place."

When asked for a prediction for tomorrow's qualifying, Fry did not want to make any rash statements. “We always try to fight for pole position and here it will be a result within our reach again, even if on this track the efficiency of the car counts less and more the skill of the driver. I expect Lotus to be very strong tomorrow, and McLaren too. There are many other strong teams." With all the talk of recovery since the start of the season, it seems hard to believe that a Ferrari driver is co-leader of the Drivers' Championship at this time. “It's a positive position considering where we were after winter testing and in the first races,” admitted Fry. “Everyone has worked hard, everyone in every department of the company has put in a lot of effort to get to where we are, including the drivers, especially Fernando, who drove some excellent races. But there is also an element of luck if we find ourselves in this position. Looking back, I can say I'm satisfied with how we recovered given how far we were at the beginning. I think by the end of the year we will be much stronger.”