F1, Ferrari 2024: media caution doesn't change objective of excellence

The media bombshell of Lewis Hamilton joining Ferrari last week has not yet exhausted its “shockwave.” And for many reasons, it won’t dissipate quickly, as one can imagine. A piece of news of this magnitude has literally shaken the world of F1, motorsport, and sports in general. Meanwhile, the days of car presentations (we got a glimpse with Haas) and the first preseason tests followed by the inaugural race in Saudi Arabia are approaching.

Recently, Ferrari CEO Benedetto Vigna commented on current hot topics, including Lewis’s arrival. His words: “In F1, we have struggled a lot, even though the last season was difficult and often unsatisfactory. However, we have strengthened the technical team and expanded the production area, which is already operational. We know we have to continue working tirelessly to return to the level that our fans rightfully expect from us. We can’t wait.”

In conclusion: “The continuous willingness to progress and strive for excellence in the racing world, and everything we do, accurately testifies to our great commitment and our willingness to constantly push the boundaries of technology and innovation, boldly.”

Benedetto Vigna, the scientist (given his curriculum, we can safely call him that) who stepped away from his patents in the world of computing to become Ferrari’s CEO, must have been stung by the fiasco that presumably happened last year when, at the SF-23 presentation, he uttered the hyperbolic phrase about the car having unprecedented absolute speed.

Ferrari: Benedetto Vigna sets the target at 360°: excellence!
The fifty-four-year-old from Pietrapertosa, presumably about a year ago, was reassured by Ferrari technicians about the potential of the new car, only to discover the reality as “he thought it was love, but it was a trap” (quoting for movie enthusiasts). It is also reasonable to think that Mr. Vigna (with good reason given the worldwide embarrassment) tied the knot, initiating a slow and probably inevitable purge.

Mattia Binotto now indefinitely in the vineyard, farewell to the father of the “fish tank” (Sanchez), Laurent Mekies doing who knows what in Red Bull’s branch, Gnazzino Ruota staying but no longer dealing with F1. In short, jokingly, we could say that revenge is a dish best served cold…

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On the other hand, the strategy of the well-groomed Fred Vasseur, guiltily underestimated even by the undersigned, is not short-term but wide-ranging. The bang came with Lewis Hamilton, and Loic Serra was already taken. It is evident that negotiations to bring Lewis to Maranello started many months ago, perhaps even a few years ago (see the “courtship” by Ferrari President John Elkann), given the seemingly unbreakable bond between Hamilton and Mercedes.

But it doesn’t seem that the news, obviously related to 2025, stops here. Because it is plausible that other technicians from the three-pointed star might be tempted to switch to the Prancing Horse. The Black King is not just any driver, it’s worth remembering, and anyone who takes him gets a real “enterprise,” so to speak.

Certainly, his appeal can be used to convince other hesitant gray/black-clad technicians. In short, from the chaos that GES seemed to have plunged into, something begins to emerge from Maranello. Making the appropriate similarities and differences, it seems like we catch a glimpse of a dynamic approaching what happened when Michael Schumacher moved to Ferrari in 1996.

John Elkann, Fred Vasseur