Proper coordination between the chassis and engine departments of Ferrari’s Formula 1 team will be key to the Scuderia rediscovering frontrunning form, according to technical director James Allison.
Allison joined the Italian team from Lotus in the latter stages of last season and has been tasked with ensuring the chassis and engine departments work together more closely.
This is seen as a key strength of the Mercedes team, which has dominated the first 11 races under F1’s new hybrid engine regulations.
“My role is to try to make sure that the engine and the chassis worlds are coordinated nicely so their programmes match together well, and that our objectives are common,” Allison explained.
“And that we both are taking the same sort of approach to the deadlines we are setting and the objectives that we have.
“It is a bit dull when it is spoken like that but it is very important to keep those two things well coordinated, and especially important in a company where all the stuff is under one roof and the opportunity for having that well coordinated is substantial.”
NEW BOSS HAS STIMULATED CHANGE
Allison said new team principal Marco Mattiacci had “galvanised” change within Ferrari, as the Scuderia seeks to recover from a difficult first part of the season with the F14 T.
“Any team in F1, good or bad, are all pretty impressive organisations – and it is much, much easier to make them worse than it is to make them better,” Allison added.
“You need to make big changes and small changes at the same time.
“The changes that need to be made are in an absolute sense quite small, but there are lots of them and they have been happening for some months.
“Marco’s arrival has helped galvanise more of them, and I think that across the board in Ferrari there are changes that are extremely helpful to moving us in the right direction.”
Ferrari has not won a race for well over a year, and its best result of this campaign have been two podiums for Fernando Alonso.
Allison described the weaknesses of Ferrari’s current car as “fairly clear”.
“We don’t have as much downforce as the people who are quicker than us, we don’t have as much power as the people that are quicker than us, and our car is too tricky to drive,” he said.
“It has too loose a rear end and as a consequence, even with two drivers who are extremely sensitive and very gentle on tyres, it tends to chew its tyres a bit quickly.”
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