Scuderia Ferrari has been focusing on the F1 2024 project for some time now, just like the rest of the teams. It’s not a secret. Although Frederic Vasseur recently mentioned it, the work plan for next year was already agreed upon a while ago. Toto Wolff also emphasized this, stating that their goal, of course, is to become world champions.
The target set by the Austrian is shared by two other teams: Ferrari and Red Bull. The latter enjoys a significant performance advantage that will be difficult to bridge. Not impossible, but truly challenging, considering the current margin over the competition and the expertise of the people working in Milton Keynes, as explained by F1 expert Alessandro Arcari for FUnoanalisitecnica.
So, is everything lost? Are Toto Wolff’s words just empty talk? The same goes for Fred Vasseur‘s proclamations? Logically speaking, no. However, considering Mercedes’ ability to react, if we were to bet the famous coffee, it would be the Brackley team that is more likely to be credited with closing the gap on the reigning champions.
This is not a lack of confidence in the Prancing Horse. Absolutely not. Despite that, when considering the work of the Maranello team in recent years, combined with the organizational difficulties that have led to several key departures within the team, the effort required within Ferrari Racing Division to return to the top takes on gigantic proportions.
F1: The proven inefficiency of the budget cap
According to information gathered by the editorial team of FUnoanalisitecnica, Ferrari no longer provides meals for its drivers. This is to save funds in the era of cost caps. The two “Carlos” are therefore forced to order lunch and dinner on Just Eat, at their own expense. In Mercedes, they have even fired the entire catering staff and replaced them with a vending machine for high-calorie peanuts.
Jokes aside, considering that mocking those who try to do so with us by claiming that saving on food and drinks allows for greater development during the year, the FIA’s measure to level the playing field in the category through a budget cap is a true failure. But we already know this well. We could also add that some teams, much smarter than others, find ways to circumvent the regulations and benefit from it.
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Returning to the central theme of the article, reassuring readers that drivers, technicians, mechanics, and professionals are well-nourished and in good health, the only reason why several complaints are on the table of the discontented is one: the RB19, the hyper-efficient F1 car that has effectively annihilated the competition since the “sober” pre-season tests held in Bahrain.
All of this leads us to an even bigger failure than before. Yes, because in the current state of affairs, starting off on the wrong foot technically and creating an insufficient car means losing until the end of the championship for a team. There is no way to stage a recovery. In addition to the lack of on-track testing, an absurd gap masked by the so-called green responsibility, the lack of funds to spend kills the championship right from the start.
As a result, teams throw in the towel even before the halfway point, as anxiety levels increase regarding future projects. This scenario tremendously bores the spectator who already knows the name of the winner. Television ratings decline, and the only ones enjoying themselves are the fans of the dominant team. In fact, it’s very likely that even they get bored. On the other hand, winning is great, but doing it while battling at least one opponent would be even better.
F1: A change of direction is not impossible, it would just require the will to do so
The argument from the previous paragraph is quite evident. Even the most distracted supporters realize it. Those who show little interest in this thorny issue are precisely the ones who could solve it. This automatically suggests that Formula 1 has no interest in doing so. But that’s probably not the case. Actually, it’s not at all. The reason seems simple: changing the game after 18 months would mean admitting a big mistake.
So, how can the issue be resolved? Not by hoping for a divine intervention, that’s for sure. It remains to be seen how F1’s governance will handle this hot potato. In the meantime, to avoid losing audience and keep viewers glued to the screen, questionable shortcuts are devised, such as the Sprint Race, which has been bolstered this year with the shootout format.
Not to mention the highly misleading use of cameras through the plastic show Drive to Survive. A deceitful TV series. A cut-and-paste “gossip-like” production that invents non-existent scenarios by changing the context of events. There are also social networks, tasked with endlessly hyping the lack of on-track action. Dozens of useless graphics, uninteresting data, VIPs attending the Grand Prix who don’t even know where they are. In short, a little bit of everything.
We don’t think all of this is just the perspective of a “boomer.” This is because even the very young do not appreciate this kind of Formula 1. So wouldn’t it be wiser to take a step back and acknowledge the regulatory inefficiency? There’s no need to apologize. It would simply be enough to change things in order to say, as happens in these cases, that “all’s well that ends well.”
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