twentieth edition of the Ferrari Challenge Europe

Stratta and Basov win in the Coppa Shell
This was a big weekend for racing at the Monza circuit, with no less than 31,000 spectators in attendance to see an interesting package featuring the Ferrari Challenge, the Superstars Series and GT Sprint races. The crowd enjoyed the busy programme that featured plenty of spectacular overtaking and closely contested races that were seen on television in over 60 countries.

Monza, 1 April – Both Trofeo Pirelli races were won by Bjiorn Grossmann (Ferrari Moscow.) The German started Race 1 from second on the grid after he duelled in spectacular fashion with pole man Niki Cadei and then with Andrea Belluzzi (Rossocorsa) who had adeptly broken away as the other two fought among themselves.

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World record classic car prices

The sword of Damocles has never been a more apt parable than it is when describing today’s economic environment. Stock markets are a bigger risk than spending the day at the casino and real estate has lost its Gibraltar-like air of certainty when it comes to having a secure place to put your money. So, with all of the uncertainty and the prospect of the skies actually falling in the next year or two, why is it that some commodities continue to soar in price and desirability?

Exactly what commodities, you may ask? High-end collectibles, which range from rare Art Deco glass figurines and Tiffany lamps to rare antique and classic cars. Now, I know I have mentioned this on more than one occasion, but the continuing strength of the high-end collector car market continues to puzzle classic car collectors and enthusiasts and genuinely confuse investment gurus, who preach the placing of big money in more “sensible” investments.

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A small party to celebrate the win with an old friend

Maranello, 28 March –There was a short pause in the working day to celebrate a win that was as hard fought as it was wanted, and to do so with an old friend. The setting was the Logistics pavilion, the players were all the men and women of the Scuderia Ferrari, along with their boss Stefano Domenicali and President Luca di Montezemolo, while the surprise guest was Gerhard Berger, who happening to be in Maranello, wanted to great so many old friends and team colleagues.

There was a great atmosphere, thanks to the satisfaction of taking such an exciting and yet unexpected win, mixed with the will to get on with the job as quickly as possible of improving a car that is not yet matching the expectations of those who work at Maranello, nor of the millions of Prancing Horse fans.

In a brief greeting, President Montezemolo asked for four rounds of applause: for Fernando Alonso to thank him for his amazing performance last Sunday, for Felipe Massa to stress the fact the team has all its faith in him at this difficult time, for the engineers and designers for the work, “they will know how to do to make the F2012 quicker” and for Stefano Domencali, “the boss of all of you.”

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Domenicali: “We have to continue to play a counter-attacking game”

Maranello, 27 March – There has not been much time to savour the taste of victory in Maranello. By the early afternoon, the return from Sepang was completed when the group of mechanics arrived in Maranello, while the morning had seen take place the usual engineer’s meeting that follows every race weekend. Victory in Malaysia and Alonso’s name at the top of the Drivers’ classification has had no effect on the order of priorities established a week ago, when Stefano Domenicali and Pat Fry made a lightning visit to the factory immediately after the Melbourne race. The number one goal is to try and find as soon as possible the few tenths that separate the F2012 from the group of fastest cars. This gap is for the moment, preventing Felipe and Fernando from fighting their main rivals on equal terms. “I asked all my people to push to the maximum to try and bring forward as much as possible the developments planned for the next few races,” said Stefano Domenicali, talking to www.ferrarif1.com.

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Montezemolo meets Alonso in Maranello

Maranello, 26 March - Ferrari Chairmain Luca di Montezemolo met Fernando Alonso today for a long meeting in Maranello. After he had spoken with Montezemolo the Spanish driver met the Team's technicians and mechanics, who didn't go to Malaysia. Later on he went to the gym for some exercise after he had taken part in the usual presentation of the flag with the Prancing Horse, which is run up at the entrance to the Scuderia department after every victory.

Info By : Ferrari.com

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Malaysian GP – Alonso triumphs for Ferrari at Sepang

Sepang, 25 March – Victory in the Malaysian Grand Prix, the second round of the Formula 1 World Championship went to Fernando Alonso and Ferrari at the Sepang circuit this afternoon. A few laps in, the race had to be stopped because of a heavy storm and later restarted behind the Safety Car. The Spaniard took the win ahead of the Sauber of Sergio Perez with Lewis Hamilton third for McLaren. In the other F2012, Felipe Massa was less fortunate, finishing fifteenth. It was a precious win for Scuderia Ferrari before the team heads home to Italy. There is now a two week break before the series resumes at the Shanghai Circuit over the weekend of 15 April.

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Malaysian GP - Alonso triumphs in Sepang

Scuderia Ferrari won the Malaysian Grand Prix thanks to yet another extraordinary performance from Fernando Alonso. This is win number 217 from 833 Grands Prix contested in the Scuderia’s history. It thus brings the number of consecutive years in which the team has managed to win at least one Grand Prix to nineteen. This is the sixth win at Sepang and number 28 for Fernando Alonso who had already finished first here on two previous occasions.

Thanks to the 25 points he takes away today, Fernando returns to Europe, leading the Drivers’ Championship, while Felipe, who finished fifteenth has yet to score a point. The Scuderia is third in the Constructors’ classification.

Stefano Domenicali : “An incredible win, absolutely unexpected, but that does not make it any less wonderful and emotional! Once again, Fernando was amazing, driving with a cool head and determination, managing to get the very best out of this car and of the very changeable weather conditions. Today’s victory does not change a jot in terms of our situation: we know that, at the moment, we do not have a car competitive enough to fight for the win under normal conditions and that we have a lot of work to do to catch up. Clearly this win gives us even more motivation, because it shows that this championship is not at all clear cut and anything can happen.

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FDA - Stroll conquers new trophy in Lonato

Maranello, 26 March – On the last weekend the 23rd Andrea Margutti Trophy, a prestigious international event for emerging drivers, was held in Lonato del Garda, Italy. One of the drivers who won here in the past was, amongst other famous names, Giancarlo Fisichella, in the years 1990 to 1994.

The 2012 race, organised in homage to Andrea Margutti, who died in 1989 with a great karting career ahead, had 225 drivers from 33 countries at the start. In the KF3 category Lance Stroll conquered victory in the last race on Sunday with a great overall win. The young Canadian driver from the Ferrari Driver Academy started from pole position lost some positions at the start due to a light collision with Kodric from Croatia, but took over the lead in the race for crossing the line second.

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Malaysian GP - Montezemolo: “This win is a shot in the arm”

Maranello, 25 March – “I am very happy about this victory: today it rained in Sepang, but in the end the sun came out for us!” Luca di Montezemolo is obviously happy about the fact that Fernando Alonso won the Malaysian Grand Prix. “Once again, Fernando drove an exceptional race, confirming his status as an extraordinary driver, from every point of view,” the President said when talking to www.ferrarif1.com. “I am also very pleased for Stefano Domenicali and all his people who got a nice reward for doing a perfect job on track, from the strategy to the pit stops to the car preparation.

There is still a lot of work to do, but this win is a further shot in the arm that was much needed at a time like this.”

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Malaysian GP - Alonso Magico!

Sepang, 25 March – “Magico” was the word displayed on Fernando Alonso’s pit board as he crossed the line to take a brilliant victory in the Malaysian Grand Prix. Incredibly, after all the talk of crisis within the Prancing Horse camp, the Spaniard now leads the Drivers’ World Championship after two rounds, while Scuderia Ferrari is in third place behind leaders McLaren and Red Bull. “If it’s a crazy race, maybe with rain, then maybe we can finish in front,” said Fernando on Thursday in the FIA Press Conference and it seems that, apart from a talent for driving, perhaps he also has the talent to predict the future!

Having had a mainly dry weekend since Thursday, somehow the rain chose the moments leading up to the start to arrive over the Sepang circuit. It was light enough for everyone to fit the Pirelli intermediate tyres, but heavy enough to cause plenty of spray off the open-wheeled cars. As the lights went out, Hamilton and Button maintained their first and second grid positions, followed by Webber, Grosjean briefly, Vettel with Fernando up one to seventh.

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Malaysian GP – Uphill struggle awaits in qualifying

Sepang, 24 March – The third free practice session for the Malaysian Grand Prix was declared wet at the start, but the track soon dried thanks to the high temperatures, with the air currently at 30º and the track at 38º. Fastest was Nico Rosberg (1.36.877) in the Mercedes, followed by the Red Bull duo of Sebastian Vettel (1.37.320) and Mark Webber (1.37.338.) It seems that Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa will face an uphill struggle in qualifying this afternoon, after they set the 13th and 18th times respectively, in 1.38.246 and 1.39.209.

 Both Ferrari men did three runs – two on the Hard tyres and one on the Medium as well as carrying out some practice starts from the end of pit lane.

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Malaysian GP - Fourth and sixth rows for Fernando and Felipe in the Sepang inferno

Sepang, 24 March – The front row for tomorrow’s fourteenth running of the Malaysian Grand Prix is an all-McLaren affair with Lewis Hamilton again on pole in 1.36.219 with Jenson Button (1.36.368) alongside him. Third is Michael Schumacher (1.36.391) in the Mercedes. Fernando Alonso will start from the fourth row, having set the ninth fastest time in 1.37.566, although he is promoted to eighth because fifth placed Kimi Raikkonen (1.36.461) gets a penalty in the Lotus. In the other Ferrari, Felipe Massa went out at the end of Q2 and will start from 12th place, with a time of 1.37.731.

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Malaysian GP - A step in the right direction in Sepang. Fourth and sixth row for the two F2012

One driver, Fernando Alonso in ninth place and the other, Felipe Massa, in twelfth: that was the outcome of qualifying for Scuderia Ferrari at the Malaysian Grand Prix, the second round of this season’s Formula 1 World Championship. In the first two parts of the session, both drivers followed the same programme in terms of use of the Pirelli tyres: one set of Hard and one of Medium in Q1, then a used and a new Medium in Q2. Fernando then used the last set of Mediums available in his one run in Q3.

Stefano Domenicali: “We should regard this result as a glass half full. We know that we are in difficulty in this early part of the season, therefore we have to look at limiting the damage on track, while working to make the F2012 more competitive in as short a time as possible. All of us and our fans would like to see our drivers always in the fight for pole position, but if we do not have the potential to do so, then we have to do the best we can. Once again today, Fernando did a great job and it’s a shame that he had a KERS problem, the first in a long time, which prevented him from doing a much better time on a track where this system delivers a significant benefit. Felipe has made a step in the right direction: finally the car he had in qualifying was reasonably balanced and that could also be seen on the clock. Now we must concentrate on the race and try to bring home as many points as we can. We saw in Melbourne that over a long distance the difference between the front runners is less marked than in qualifying. Let’s see how tomorrow goes in a race that looks like being very tough on the cars, drivers and teams, who have to operate here in rather unique conditions.”

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Malaysian GP - A physical and mental chess game

Sepang, 24 March – The temperature and tension are both rising at the Sepang circuit outside Kuala Lumpur, as the second round of the world championship is now only one day away. Today’s qualifying session had plenty of excitement and more importantly for Scuderia Ferrari, demonstrated a slight improvement in the performance of the F2012. When one is competing against equally resourceful teams, also striving to move forward then, for that improvement to be visible proves it is a true step in he right direction. All things are relative and a slightly better F2012 translates into ninth and twelfth on the time sheet as opposed to twelfth and sixteenth in Albert Park last Saturday. Once again it was Fernando Alonso who was quickest of the Prancing Horse drivers, but timewise, Felipe Massa is now closer to his Spanish team-mate.

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Malaysian GP - Aerodynamic testing as Sepang gets underway

Sepang, 23 March – Just a few days after the opening round of the Formula 1 World Championship in Melbourne, the cars were back in action at Sepang for the first free practice session of the fourteenth running of the Malaysian Grand Prix. Quickest was Lewis Hamilton (1.38.021) in the McLaren, followed by Sebastian Vettel (1.38.535) in the Red Bull and the Mercedes of Nico Rosberg (1.38.813.) The F2012s of Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso were 13th and 15th respectively with times of 1.39.896 and 1.39.980.

They ran different programmes on the demaning Malaysian track, trying various aero configurations while both of them ran just one set each of the Hard tyres, and fitted in some pit stop and start practice.

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Malaysian GP - Dry practice

 Sepang, 23 March – Lewis Hamilton was quickest on the first day of free practice for the Malaysian Grand Prix. After setting the fastest time in the morning session, the British driver’s McLaren also went top in the second session that recently finished at the Sepang circuit with a time of 1.38.172, ahead of the Mercedes of Michael Schumacher (1.38.533) and the other McLaren of Jenson Button (1.38.535). The F2012 of Fernando Alonso set the sixth fastest time (1.38.891), while the other Ferrari of Felipe Massa was 16th with 1.40.271.

Scuderia Ferrari completed its usual Friday programme. In the afternoon this was concentrated on the comparison between the two tyre compounds made available by Pirelli for the Malaysian track – Hard and Medium. The two cars lapped on heavy fuel loads in the second part of the session, which all took place on a dry track.

For the protagonists of this second round of the Formula 1 World Championship, the action will get back under way tomorrow at 1300 with the final session of free practice.

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Malaysian GP - Plenty going on in Sepang

It was a very busy day for Scuderia Ferrari, with Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso getting through a lot of work, to be as well prepared as possible for qualifying and for the fourteenth edition of the Malaysian Grand Prix. Between them, the two F2012s covered 94 laps, 50 for Fernando and 44 down to Felipe. There were plenty of ingredients to work with, as Team Principal Stefano Domenicali made clear during this afternoon’s FIA press conference: now it’s down to the engineers to prepare all the ingredients as well as possible so that they make up the right dish for tomorrow afternoon.

Fernando Alonso: “As usual here in Malaysia, one of the main tasks on Friday is to get used to the extreme conditions as quickly as possible. Especially in the garage, you suffer from the heat when you are inside the cockpit, while at least out on track, you get a bit of air, although you can hardly call it cool! This morning we did a lot of work on comparing different aerodynamic configurations, which was a bit like putting together a puzzle, trying to find the best combination. In the afternoon, we then moved on to the usual Friday job with the tyres, running with various different fuel levels on board. I would say that on this front, both the Mediums and the Hards seem to behave reasonably well, both in terms of performance on the first lap and when it comes to degradation on a long run. We gathered a lot of useful information which will allow us to be ready for the rest of the weekend. It did not rain today, but we know that here a storm can arrive without a moment’s notice and so we need to be ready for every eventuality.”

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Malaysian GP - Hot, humid and hectic

Sepang, 23 March – Last Sunday we were racing in Australia and today, free practice has got underway for the Malaysian Grand Prix, the second round of the world championship. It’s a format the Formula 1 circus will get used to in 2012 as, this year, there are no less than seven sets of “back-to-back” races. It’s a punishing schedule, but this particular trip to what is the other side of the world for all the teams is perhaps the toughest: there is always a rush to get ready for the opening round of the season, the working day tends to be longer when the cars are new and after Melbourne, the teams then had to start work almost immediately in the physically draining heat and humidity of Sepang. Races one week apart also mean the Scuderia’s F2012 is largely unchanged since the opening act in Albert Park. However, in a bid to wipe out all causes of Felipe Massa’s inability to get a coherent performance out of a car that appeared to suit him perfectly in winter tests, the Brazilian had a new chassis and some other parts were also changed.

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“Sic, always with us”

Sepang, 22 March – A gesture, a thought. Fernando Alonso had already hinted at it on Twitter yesterday: racing at Sepang is now more difficult for everyone. Marco Simoncelli passed away last 23rd October, here at Turn 11 of the Sepang circuit. Today, they went to visit the spot - Fernando, Felipe and their physios, Matteo Orsi and Edoardo Bendinelli, along with Massimo Rivola, Massimo Balocchi and Roberta Vallorosi, representing the entire Scuderia, including those who like Stefano Domenicali, currently flying to Sepang, would have wanted to be here in person to demonstrate the affection they had for Marco, a rider who was a great talent, but above all was an amazing guy. Felipe and Fernando brought a pit board with them with a message for the rider from Cattolica: “Sic, always with us” it read. “From now on, coming here will never be the same again as it will always make one think of Marco,” said Fernando. “I think the Ferrari family and all Italians who love sport and motorcycling will remember him always. His death was something one could never have expected. We will remember him always and he will always be a hero to us.” “We wanted to go to Turn 11 to pay a tribute to Marco’s memory,” added Felipe. “I think it was the least we could do for him, for his family and for all his fans. I think that all weekend long, we will drive here with thoughts of Marco.”

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Malaysian GP - Massa: “Start again from zero”

Sepang, 22 March – The F1 media are often keen to jump to conclusions: after Qualifying at Albert Park, the top three drivers were asked in the FIA press conference if that session was a reflection of what to expect for the whole season. After Sunday’s race, Lewis Hamilton was asked if he felt his title hopes were over. So perhaps it’s not surprising that, after just one race, the first of the season, the press, particularly the Italians have been claiming that Felipe Massa is to be replaced! The Brazilian Ferrari man is well used to these stories and so he was good natured when he had to dismiss them when he met the media in the hot and sticky Sepang paddock this afternoon. “We need to turn the page after Australia and start again from zero and that is what we are planning for this race, which I hope will get off to a good start,” he began. “This is not the first time that I have had a difficult race, there have been many. But one always has to look to the next one and this weekend will be only the second of the championship, so there is still time.

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