Ferrari’s collective psychodrama unfolds after a lackluster race at the 5.451-kilometre Shanghai International Circuit in China. First, the images emerge of the FIA delegate staying inside the Maranello team’s garage. Then come the official statements and the disqualifications. Meanwhile, the Prancing Horse’s social media was broadcasting the drivers’ statements, taking the fifth and sixth places for granted. Given the faces inside the garage, it might have been better to wait, but even this seemingly minor detail, yet revealing, was part of the disaster in China.
When Ferrari performs poorly, it always causes a seismic shock, with Maranello as the epicenter, reverberating throughout the motorsport world. After all, the team founded by Enzo Ferrari, has the largest fanbase in Formula 1. And by the way, one wonders what he would say about this race. The minutes following the race were nerve-wracking, in stark contrast to a rather dull Chinese Grand Prix.
The news spread rapidly across smartphones, unfolding like a slow-drip thriller. Reality, as often happens, ended up surpassing fiction. And so came the official confirmation regarding the double disqualification, due to different technical reasons. It appears this is a first in Formula 1 history. Certainly, not something to be proud of. But something that will be remembered.
Starting with the Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur who perhaps should smile less and act more, assuming those at the top haven’t already grown tired of him. Then again, maybe those at the top should take a long, hard look in the mirror. But how can a president-owner dismiss himself? Technically, he could… but would he want to?
The president already has the Juventus debacle to deal with, and now a Formula 1 season shaping up to be disastrous. And he certainly doesn’t like public humiliation. In both cases, his choice of personnel has not been the best, and perhaps it is time to patch things up. Could it be that John Elkann delegated too much in both situations and is only now realizing the mess? Plausible.
But back to Ferrari’s double disqualification, the first in the long history of the Maranello team in Formula 1 due to technical reasons, specifically for violating the technical regulations. There was another incident in the 1999 Malaysian Grand Prix at the Sepang International Circuit, but as the record books and those of us with a few gray hairs recall, that disqualification was overturned by Ferrari on appeal. So what happened yesterday in China, practically unappealable, as Ferrari itself quickly confirmed the infringements, is a record.
And, as we mentioned earlier, an even more unreachable record considering the disqualification happened for two separate reasons. Charles Leclerc was disqualified because his car weighed one kilogram less than the regulation minimum, namely 800 kilograms, while Lewis Hamilton was penalized for excessive wear on the skid block located in the flat center section of the car’s floor. So, history was made, with a capital “H.” The problem is, it is an ugly history, a disgraceful one.
An epic blunder, something you would not even see in lower categories of motorsport, amplified by the global spotlight on Formula 1. Lewis Hamilton salvaged some pride in the Sprint race, which means little. And already, memes are circulating with John Elkann saying: “but we won the Sprint race!” Beyond that, many questions remain. The first and most important: what exactly is this SF-25? How unfinished is it? What potential does it have? The nightmare is that there could be a major, irreparable flaw.
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