Team Review: Japanese GP - Ferrari

Ferrari had some trouble to keep themselves going for the second race in succession. Though they salvaged 13 points from the race, neither Fernando Alonso nor Felipe Massa (despite good starts) never looked to challenge the two Red-Bull’s and a highly competitive Romain Grosjean in the Lotus. Massa was one of the talking points of the race as he ignored clear orders from the team to let his teammate Alonso through.

Ferrari are second in the Constructors Championship but Lotus and Mercedes would be looking to catch up with just four races left in the season

The crucial points though meant Ferrari moved further ahead of Mercedes in the Constructor’s Championship and with just four races to go, the battle for the second place in the Constructor’s is bound to get interesting.

Fernando Alonso

Fernando Alonso got stuck in traffic including his teammate and never looked challenging for a podium finish at the Japanese GP

A brilliant start from the Spaniard saw him move up from eighth on the grid to sixth by the end of the opening lap. Running on a two stop strategy, he got stuck behind his teammate Massa for quite a few lap despite Ferrari keeping him out as Massa made his first stop.

That strategy didn’t workout too well as Alonso after his first stop rejoined the race behind Massa before finally overtaking him on lap 20. Alonso then got tucked behind Nico Hulkenberg (déjà vu moment like in Korea) for a good part of the race as he pitted on lap 31 for his second and final stop. That didn’t change things for some laps but Alonso finally overtook the German for fourth place on lap 46 thanks to DRS.

But that was the best that Ferrari and Alonso could do as they hardly looked to challenge the trio at the front (Vettel, Webber and Grosjean) for a podium finish with the Ferrari lacking some serious pace and lost time getting through traffic.

Alonso later admitted the result was good for the Constructors Championship as both Ferrari’s picked up points while rivals Mercedes had struggled. Alonso is second in the drivers table behind Vettel and ahead of his future teammate to be Kimi Raikkonen.

He achieved a milestone of becoming the driver with highest number of points scored in Formula One history overtaking Michael Schumacher, even though the current points system gives the drivers an opportunity to score more in terms of points than a decade back.

Felipe Massa

Felipe Massa was one of the talking points of the Japanese GP as the Brazilian defied team orders to let his teammate pass through

While teammate Alonso took away points better than him, Massa took the limelight as he stuck to his words of driving for himself. Amid the first corner hustle and bustle, the Brazilian had a good start as he moved into fifth ahead of teammate Alonso. Despite radio orders from the pit crew to follow ‘Multifunction Strategy A’ , a coded message to let his teammate pass through, Massa drove as hard as he could, keeping his teammate behind. Though Ferrari called him for an early stop than Alonso, Massa managed to stay ahead of Alonso until lap 20.

The teammate battle was over but Massa’s race struggle began from thereon. He pitted on lap 29 (from 6^th place) but was handed a drive through penalty for speeding in the pit lane and that undid all his hard work. He barely managed to get 10^th place by the end of the race finishing a high potential points earning race with just a single point.