Ferrari Is Just Not Fast Enough
By Dale Calkins
July 11 2005
Ferrari once again suffered defeat today at the hands of McLaren and Renault, with Schumacher 6th and Barrichello 7th. Of course Michael was held up by Jarno Trulli, but it was clear that the pace was not there.
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Ferrari Is Just Not Fast Enough |
Dale Calkins |
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Michael
Schumacher Race: 6th + 1'15.322 Schumacher said earlier in the weekend that he was not going to make any predictions about the British Grand Prix, and it was a good thing he didn't. If Michael had said that Ferrari would do well, he certainly would have dissapointed with his 6th place finish. It seemed that Schumacher was fast at the beginning, but he could not accomplish anything because he was being held up by Jarno Trulli. Schumacher couldn't complete a pass, nor get close to the Italian because of the absurd aero regulations that are designed to increase passing but in fact do the opposite. The same was true for Kimi Raikkonen, who was stuck behind Michael and couldn't get close enough to complete a pass. Schumacher then faded down the field, and wasn't really a factor in the race. Here is what the 7-Time World Champion had to say about his race at Silverstone: “Of course, I cannot be happy to have finished sixth, especially looking at my lap times in the race. Clearly, we are simply not fast enough at the moment. If I had not been delayed by Trulli, I might have been able to fight with Button, but I am not keen on using the word “if” as an excuse. If you compare our performance from the two North American races to these last two, we appear to be going backwards instead of forwards. We are not up to the level of our competitors. I am still looking forward to my home race in Hockenheim, but I wish I could promise the fans there a bit more than this.” Rubens Barrichello Race: 7th + 1'16.567 Rubens Barrichello did not have a very good day today either, as he toddled home in 7th. Rubens started well, and it seemed like he could fight for the podium. This unfortunately did not happen, and like team mate Michael Schumacher, Rubens simply faded away. This certainly does not contribute well to his hopes of staying at Ferrari, as it appears that Jenson Button may replace him. Here is what the Brazilian had to say about his depressing drive: “This was quite a difficult race. Basically, we did not have the pace which we thought we might have. I made a good start and I knew I had to pass Trulli at this point if my race was going to go to plan. It was all going pretty smoothly apart from the fact I was held up by Button which cost me time. This meant that the three stop strategy I had adopted did not work out the way it should have done. I had some brake problems, as at Magny-Cours. But seeing how the race evolved, I don’t think I could have done much better.” Ross Brawn Technical Director Ferrari's Technical Director Ross Brawn, was certainly not pleased about Ferrari's result today, and admits that Ferrari simply isn't fast enough. Here is what Ross had to say about the British Grand Prix: “Obviously this was a disappointing race. We went through practice and qualifying hoping that it would all come together in the race, but once again today, it was difficult. Our drivers were reasonably happy with their cars, it’s just that they simply lacked overall pace. There were no particular problems, although there were a couple of stages when we got held up, including the early part when Michael got delayed by Trulli, but I am not sure that we could have done better.” |
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July 10, 2005 |
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