The summary of the disastrous and anonymous weekend for Ferrari in Hungary at the Hungaroring can be linked to a simple realization. They came to deliver metaphorical blows (“this circuit is truly suited to our car!”), but they received them from almost everyone. Incomprehensible things for an old Ferrari fan, in no particular order, on Hungarian soil:
Outperformed by a customer team in qualifying. A car out of the top 10. The only among the top teams (if it can still be called a top team) that, with half-full fuel tanks and a rubbered track, changed the Hard tires on both their drivers. The only one to make a tire change mistake throughout the Hungarian Grand Prix.
At Maranello, as we know well, when they hit rock bottom, they are capable of continuing to dig. Ultimately, it’s sad to say but this Ferrari doesn’t deserve the fans it has. They should at least apologize. But you know, in the GES (Gestione Sportiva Ferrari), apologizing is a dirty word. It’s always someone or something else’s fault. The weather, the locusts, the hail, the humidity, the plagues of Egypt. We feel like we see John Belushi in the legendary scene from the Blues Brothers, trying to appease Carrie Fisher and improvising a deadly monologue. Always someone else’s fault.
In the meantime, we read an interesting analysis by Alberto Antonini for the Formula Passion website and we also include a part that we believe to be crucial:
“Then I hear that in terms of race management, tasks are still divided in a somewhat cumbersome way, with Iñaki Rueda still controlling part of the strategies from home. Nothing against the person, but is this the best system? The real positive thing about this season (the only one, perhaps) is that little by little, the ghosts in the closet are coming out, the relics of the past left there for too long, the ‘we’ve always done it this way’ that is the main cause of immobility. McLaren is proving that change is possible. If not for this year, then for the next. After all, the fans are used to it by now, unfortunately.”
The real dilemma, for the anguished Ferrari fan, is not so much starting from a blank sheet (which is obvious) but who will be the one to design the 2024 car on that blank sheet.
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Always the same ones, or rather, even fewer. We have hardly ever seen the same men/women do different things from what they normally do or achieve different results from what they normally achieve.
It takes an unimaginable mental effort. Talent. And a lot of humility. We believe that all these things are currently lacking in Ferrari. Too entrenched in positions, internal struggles, without authoritative guidance and without a clear, agile, pragmatic way of working. While others keep on winning.
We believe the fans would accept a purgatory for a few more years if they only perceived an attempt to do something different. And why not, if they also saw other technicians engage in the design of a Ferrari car. But the same ones… no more! With the premises mentioned above, 2024 looks like an “annus horribilis.” Another one.
We sincerely hope to be wrong. But nothing, in the current state of things, suggests otherwise. In conclusion, those who support Ferrari have an not-so-subtle masochistic streak. They love to suffer. Perhaps.
Soon, we will banish the term “potential” from our vocabulary. Enough is enough. Let’s make one thing clear. The updated SF-23 has no potential. It’s simply a slow car. So, someone is telling Fred Vasseur fairy tales. Probably to keep their job. It’s not surprising, but the problem is that he’s believing it.
