Ferrari, the most successful and popular team in F1 history, doesn’t need a special introduction for its credentials. The Maranello-based team has the most records of any other team in F1 history, and it’s also the most successful one in terms of wins and championships. The team was founded by Enzo Ferrari in 1929, who himself was a racing driver. The legacy that Ferrari has in F1 is unquestionable and remarkable. In this article, we will get to know about their turbo hybrid Ferrari f1 car.
They’ve built some of the most successful cars in F1 and have had some of the most famous and talented drivers drive for them. The championship-winning cars driven by Michael Schumacher from 2000-to 2004, the legendary 1989 Ferrari 640 with it’s semi-automatic paddle shift gearbox, the Ferrari 312T driven by Niki Lauda, and so on and so forth.
But, every team has it’s ups and downs, and so did Ferrari. Although Ferrari is by far the most successful Motorsport team in the world, they’ve had quite a few failures as well. And, 2014 was one of those failures.
The Car
2014 was a new era for F1, with the new turbo hybrid engine regulations coming into play.
The new power unit introduced was the 1.6L turbo hybrid V6 that produced around 1000 HP. Ferrari opted for a flatter-looking design which was one of the better takes of the regulations change. The design team for the F14T included James Allison, Pat Fry, and Nicholas Tombasis. Although the design team included of some of the most talented people, the car wasn’t off to a great start. The biggest problem of the F14T, by far, was that it used to understeer during the entry to a corner, and oversteer while exiting it.
This made it very challenging for the drivers to drive these cars, and the drivers were no fools. With Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen behind the wheel, there were huge expectations. The PU that Ferrari had developed in 2014 was lacking, and this was due to a number of reasons. Ferrari’s turbo was smaller than the other teams, and there was an issue where the engine was situated. It’s hybrid system was weak and it caused setbacks for the team during the whole of the season.
Ferrari’s aero package was quite aggressive, and it wasn’t too bad as compared to it’s rivals. Because of this, beyond the fuel flow limit, during testing, the car was just 300 hundredths of a second behind Mercedes, which had set the benchmark for the 2014 season. But with the fuel flow limit, it was a different story, as they were almost a second behind Mercedes.
“If I Push, I Don’t Know Which Way The Car Is Gonna Go” – Kimi Raikkonen
With two skilled veterans behind the wheel, the optimism remained. But as it is in Formula 1, that wasn’t enough, and the results speak for themselves. From the get-go in Melbourne, it was obvious that Ferrari fans were in for a long season. It was all happening in the background that caused Ferrari to have more setbacks and a lot of instability, while the Mercedes had set the benchmark on how to succeed in the new turbo hybrid era of Formula 1. While Mercedes came home with a 1-2 in Bahrain, Ferrari finished 9th and 10th, which was a very poor result for a team like Ferrari.
And, off track, Ferrari were facing some internal changes, with Stefano Domenicali resigning as Team Principal, the hope was slowly diminishing. After Stefano’s resignment, Ferrari appointed Marco Mattiaci as TP, which was, to say the least, a surprise to everyone, because Marco wasn’t exactly experienced enough to be handed over the role of Ferrari TP.
Fernando’s Frustration
Although Fernando had managed to score a couple of podium finishes during the season, his frustration at Ferrari wss getting obvipus to everyone. Fernando had the burning desire to win races, and as a result, win championship(s), and Fernando had made his feelings clear to everyone within the team. He was critical of Marco, saying that he had not made any changes, and nor did he expect him to.
Alonso blamed Marco’s lack of experience and he said that Marco was still learning things within Formula 1 and Ferrari. With Fernando’s frustrations mounting and his desire to win not being able to become a reality, things had the potential to become ugly within the team.
Future Hope
In October of 2014, it was announced that Sebastian Vettel would leave RedBull and join Ferrari for the 2015 season. This followed a difficult year, as Sebastian struggled to beat his younger teammate, Daniel Ricciardo.
RedBull didn’t really hide anything, and straightaway told everyone that Sebastian would be going to Ferrari for the 2015 season.
Meanwhile, Fernando was in the middle of contract negotiations, and he eventually decided that it was time for a change, and decided to join Mclaren in 2015. Ferrari signed Vettel on a three year deal, partnering Kimi Raikkonen. Although the 2014 season was one of the worst in Ferrari history, they’d secured one of the best drivers in the world, and they had high hopes for the future. And with that, Sebastian’s time at Ferrari started.
