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Renault's incredible pace has been absolutely stunning to me.  I'm sure it's been even more of a blow to Ferrari.  I am a huge Ferrari fan and I had my fingers crossed that with the early introduction of their 2005 car at Bahrain last week, Ferrari would give Renault a fight, and maybe even win.  Unfortunately that was not to be, far from it.  Although not a lot can be assumed from only 3 races, right now things are looking pretty dark for Ferrari fans.  Why is the Ferrari showing such poor form?  I know it's not because of the drivers. Barichello's run to 2nd in Australia and Schumi's 2nd place in qualifying last week show they have the capability.  But even with great performances from the driver's, the Renaults are comfortably ahead.  Alonso's pole position time was half a second faster than Schumi's 2nd place time. So it must be the cars.  And specifically, it looks like it's the Bridgestone tires.  Ferrari's "exclusive" relationship with Bridgestone seems to be hurting them instead of helping them now.  With the new rule requirement of tires having to last thru an entire race weekend, Bridgestone does not seem to have the know-how or testing resources that Michelin have.  I wonder if Ferrari are going to be able to bounce back in time to stop the Renault steam roller.  

They definitely seem to have a few problems right now for sure. It will make for a much more exciting season than last year, but I expect Ferrari to have it all sorted by mid season.

I think Imola will be a very strong sign of what direction tehy are going. new reports say they are taking full advantage of the extra week.

http://www.formula1.com/news/2842.html


 

IMHO, I believe there are two possible reasons for the lack of points in the ferrari bag.
1st. There has been an obvious change in direction, or should I say director, in the form of Jean Todt leaving. Could it be possible that JT had incredible leadership skills and knack for moving in the right direction, not of course forgetting that he was the CEO for the entire Ferrari operation and not just the F1 team. The introduction of Luca di Montezemolo could well have caused confusion as well change in direction. This must include the likes of tyre testing etc.  
2nd. When a team dominates a sport in the way that ferrari have done for the last 5 years the community is just waiting for its demise. Sadly, in the same way as McLaren in 2001, Ferrari has hit a brick wall.
Just remember ferrari are still there with performances like Imola (WOW) it is just that some of the other teams have caught up and are now bringing the fight to them.

PS. If the reliability problems continue no I do not think that Schumacher can win in 2005.  

Yeah I agree, it's looking bad for Ferrari this year as far as winning the championship.  I think Bridgestone is the main let down overall.  

I think that Ferrari and Schumi still have a strong word to say.