The Ferrari F2012 may retake some crash tests

Present at the Geneva Motor Show for the first official outing of the brand new and powerful Ferrari F12 Berlinetta, with a V12 engine, Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo commented on the difficulties faced by the brand’s F1 team and the pessimistic predictions made by Pat Fry, the Scuderia’s technical director, as well as by Fernando Alonso: “I hope it’s not true that we will suffer at the beginning, even if Alonso always speaks objectively. I would like to understand why and especially how, in the short term, we can change things,” the Italian stated.

Unconvincing during private tests, the F2012, although touted as the car for the comeback after a disappointing 2011 season, seems to perform well over a single lap but struggles on long stints, massively degrading its tires while the mechanics and engineers in Maranello still need to familiarize themselves with a vehicle based on an entirely new design philosophy. Given the urgency of the situation, Scuderia Ferrari has already surprised everyone by calling Mika Salo for a two-day test session in the 2010 F10 at the Suzuka circuit next week.

While Pat Fry and his team have reportedly identified the weaknesses of the F2012, the *Gazzetta dello Sport* reports in today’s edition that the competition department of the Prancing Horse has allegedly sent a request to the FIA to resubmit its car for side crash tests, thus announcing a deep revision of the chassis. The issue lies in the design of the sides of the F2012, which supposedly do not allow enough air to flow to the rear of the single-seater and thereby generate downforce, which the F2012 seems to lack. However, redesigning the sidepods requires rethinking the design of the deformable structures themselves, making it necessary to retake the crash tests.

The FIA had previously banned the passage of new crash tests during the season to limit costs, thus forcing teams to work around the same chassis throughout the year without the possibility of changing it significantly, except by exemption. However, in response to protests and pressure from the teams, the FIA was forced to reverse its decision and, according to *Omnicorse.it*, no less than three other teams are considering resubmitting their cars to crash tests during the season in order to validate major developments of their single-seaters.

If the “F2012B” could make its debut at the Bahrain Grand Prix in April, Luca Di Montezemolo did not miss the opportunity to find excuses for Ferrari, in a way that the Commendatore himself would not have denied, blaming regulations that now give too much importance to aerodynamics: “I don’t like this Formula One. Aerodynamics account for 90% and only the KERS finds possible developments in production cars,” the Italian regrets in the *Gazetta dello Sport*.

Despite the difficulties encountered by Ferrari, many voices are urging not to quickly write off the Maranello firm, including that of Bernie Ecclestone: “I am convinced that they will soon bounce back and that one can only draw the first conclusions after two or three races,” the Briton states on the Sky broadcast.