Disaster was averted, but the nightmare is still there and keeping us up at night. The Imola race distanced Ferrari from the specter of total collapse, and the skill of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc helped us forget, for a few hours, a situation that remains critical and inexplicable.
The drivers saved Ferrari. The same Ferrari that had driven them to paranoia just 24 hours earlier, with a qualifying performance outside the top ten on the very track named after the man who created the Maranello miracle.
Now is not the time to get excited over a fourth and sixth place, which mean very little in absolute terms. The words of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc still weigh heavily, and in their minds that cursed Saturday, when everything fell apart, will never be forgotten. However, it would be a serious mistake to act as if nothing happened, to dismiss the eve of the race as a one-off misstep, because the foundations of the crisis are still in place and remain troubling in both the short and long term.
What is happening at Ferrari? What’s holding them back? The problem lies entirely in the car and its management. Chairman John Elkann has placed in Fred Vasseur’s hands resources that no previous Head of the Ferrari F1 Racing Division ever had. And he also gave him full operational control, allowing him the freedom to hire whoever he deemed fit to lead the project of a sustained return to past glory.
So far, however, the results have fallen far short of expectations—if not downright depressing. The most decorated driver of all time was signed—and not exactly on a shoestring budget, as the late Gianni Agnelli would have said. But hearing Lewis Hamilton admit on the eve of Imola that he’s “devastated” is something that makes your arms drop in disbelief.
Charles Leclerc put his finger right on the sore spot, speaking of a car that is capped and unresponsive to changes or upgrades. In other words, mistakes were made in management, the wrong people were chosen, Adrian Newey was passed over with an inexcusable level of carelessness, and perhaps, actually, without a doubt, those in charge failed to understand the subtle dynamics one must respect when working at Maranello.
So, it is necessary to return to the technical talent market as soon as possible and hopefully make the right hires in order to escape a darkness that has enveloped everything for decades now, along with postponed promises that no one believes in anymore. The paradox is that Ferrari actually held its own in the Imola race: without the tactical mishaps caused by the Virtual Safety Car, Charles Leclerc might have challenged Oscar Piastri for third place. And regarding the incident with Alex Albon and his subsequent drop back, we’ll just say that in certain cases, when there is clearly no intent to cause harm, it might be better to let it go.
As for Lewis Hamilton, his aggressive approach did not surprise us. He had something to prove to the Italian crowd, and he did. His message was clear: when the car is right, his performance returns to the level that made him a champion already etched in history.
Then there was Max Verstappen, who made light work of the heavily favored McLaren MCL39 cars with his Red Bull. The Dutchman was exceptional, but without the progress made by Red Bull, he would not have been so effective, so ruthless in fending off attacks first from Oscar Piastri and then Lando Norris.
With this in mind, anything is possible in Monte Carlo in a few days. Even a Ferrari surprise with Charles Leclerc, who has never driven better since entering Formula 1. But despite his constant commitment at the limit of risk, he finds himself 85 points behind leader Oscar Piastri after just seven races. Numbers that need no further comment.
—- see video above —
