[Captain Ahab Jr]

Originally Posted by javadog

What's your take on things?
JR

Thanks for asking, my take on F1 things in general is based on previous experience, current knowledge and knowing of a few of the characters involved.

F1 is a super political game played at many levels by ruthlessly competitive people. It's a games played at the top of the sport all the way down to individual departments within a team.

I've worked for a number of teams and still work for a team, coming up to nearly 20 yrs. I've always tried not to be a player or one of the pawns within the political games that go on within a team. I have no time for it as from my experience all it achieves is instability and loss of focus on the extremely difficult almost impossible task of trying to win.

For me, Mattiacci went due to political reasons within the company and within the sport of F1. I guess the new-Mattiacci must be considered to be a stronger player, the results over time will be the judge of him being the right man.

As for Alonso I'm guessing he left because of repeated promises of a championship winning car that never happened and buckets full of cash from Honda would have helped too.

I can sympathise as faced the similar dilemma a number of times, not the buckets of cash but promises of change for the better, it doesn't you get tired of waiting and see no reason for it happening. So you either sit tight and wait for something that may never happen or take charge and make the changes happen by moving. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.

I would agree Alonso can drive the wheels of anything better than any other F1 driver but his Ferrari cars took him to championship winning position in 2 final races of the season. Not winning cars but far from a being dogs.

I agree with the team letting Alonso go, there is no point chaining someone to a team when they don't want to be there, it serves no purpose other than lowering moral of the other people in the team.

I understand the Ferrari F1 team makes money and doesn't suck money from Fiat or Ferrari.

By the nature of F1 boundaries are pushed to the limit, often there are disagreements of how, when and which boundaries are pushed. This applies to rules, engine reliability, aerodynamic stability, structures strength, design and manufacturing time, etc, etc the list is endless.

While pushing these boundaries most people involved are also working as fast, hard and for as long is humanly possible.

Mistakes happen, wrong choices made, the right people are not heard or listened to, the right people are in the wrong job, unforeseen events conspire against you, its the nature of the game etc, etc.

When the inevitable happens and the results are not what are expected there are two ways a team can react. The people above you pick you up, dust you off, give you extra support to find a solution for fixing it or learning from the failure. In short what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

Or the other reaction is someone is taken outside and shot in front of the rest of the team as an example of what happens to people that make a mistake or to save face for someone who failed to take responsibility for not listening to the right person when they voiced their concerns. F1 is very inbred so some shooting victims go onto be very successful in other teams but occasionally the right target is dealt with and removed from the team.

One reaction makes the team stronger so it can put more effort into finding new performance boundaries to push, improved ways of working both on solutions and as a team. This over time creates a higher chance of producing a winning car but is in no way guaranteed

One reaction creates a culture of fear, people don't want to be targets so naturally back away from boundaries, voicing their concerns if in disagreement, distancing themselves from the few brave people that still push boundaries to the maximum in case they associated with them and get caught up in crossfire. The team gradually slows down from running flat out but to a slower pace and over time the car becomes less competitive.

The other factor to consider is a F1 team is made up largely of specialists but it needs a few master blender generalist. These master blenders are usually referred to as chief designers and technical directors. As an F1 car is so complicated there are very few master blenders that know what the right blend is, how to blend the different parts, in what order of priority for blending, what quantity of each part to blend, when to stop blending the different parts before mixing, how long to mix the different parts and how late to leave the pouring. People like Ross Brawin, Adrian Newey, Rory Byrne, Gordon Murray can do it, for every special person can do there are at least another few dozen that think they can do it but in reality can't.

There are also things like investing in the right areas for the the now, short term future and long term future, playing the long strategy game with the rules to put the team in the best place to make use of its advantages, finding the right people and getting all of them to run in the right direction at the same time. An F1 team is a huge complex thing to get right and there is no hiding from the results as its put out there for everyone to see.

Sorry I could go on but hope this helps

Originally Posted by strupgolf

Wow Captain, aren't you the freaking expert on all things Ferrari.

I've been doing I what I do long enough to be considered an expert but certainly not all things Ferrari.

Originally Posted by Tilikum Turbo

Not always, but sometimes you can't see the Forrest from the tree's...

Very true

Originally Posted by Typ616

That's rough... Factually the OP was 100% correct on Ferrari.
If you have some insider information, please share !
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If the OP is still reading his thread then I hope he will accept my apology for being a bit harsh but fair, no offence was intended.

I never disputed the facts but challenged his knowledge of the content which he type so convincingly about.

Sorry I have no insider information to share!