On Tuesday morning, Scuderia Ferrari officially presented the eagerly awaited SF-23 challenger at the Fiorano circuit (Maranello), the car it will entrust to Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz for the 2023 Formula 1 championship. The ceremony, which was broadcasted live via the official Ferrari social media channels, saw the participation of many fans in the stands specially installed at the Italian circuit. There was of course skyrocketing enthusiasm for the two drivers, for the Maranello team and for the new team principal Frederic Vasseur. But there are some things that many did not like…
The Corriere dello Sport hits out at Ferrari
The Italian daily newspaper Corriere dello Sport, for example, after underlining the beauty of the SF-23 car, appreciating the great idea of the presentation on the track (and not in a studio), while also praising the team’s courage in launching a car that is authentic in terms of evolution, wanted to lash out at Ferrari for two reasons.
First of all, for the constant use – considered “almost obsessive” – of the term “win”. In this regard, in the well-known newspaper it is possible to read “a risky outing never heard before in Formula 1, not even with Mercedes which has won eight World Championships in a row. The Germans were hiding, they were running slower than they could have, put their hands forward talking about a Ferrari that could be favorite in the new year… Red Bull itself says it today. But Ferrari wanted to get the message across: Mattia Binotto was afraid of winning, we are not. Will this be enough to turn hopes into things accomplished?” – the newspaper wrote.
Furthermore, Corriere dello Sport is even more critical in reference to the double absence of two men at the top of the management: John Elkann and Benedetto Vigna, respectively president and chief executive officer of the Italian company:
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“We didn’t like the absence of president John Elkann who was in the United States, but he knew the date of the presentation since November. Enzo Ferrari, Luca di Montezemolo or Sergio Marchionne would never have given up on attending the launch of a Formula 1 red. John Elkann is also absent from any official photo, just like CEO Benedetto Vigna, the team’s new supervisor. While he remained armored between supermanagers, sponsors and customers at the presentation, he told them: “This Ferrari will set unprecedented benchmarks in terms of speed”.
“A cryptic sentence. So the president is elsewhere, the CEO does not want to expose himself and Ferrari appears to be in a crisis of leadership”, the newspaper believes.
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