“We have to understand.” Frederic Vasseur, Ferrari team principal, at the end of the 2023 Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix analyzed the second round of the 2023 Formula 1 championship, in a similar way to how his predecessor Mattia Binotto was describing the race weekends when things did not go as planned.
The Maranello team is faced with a clearly unexpected situation. Red Bull is in another category as Charles Leclerc has pointed out since Bahrain, but on a track that in theory was favorable to the SF-23 car, Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc were not able to finish higher than sixth and seventh place in a Grand Prix that was also compromised by te fact that the Monegasque, instead of starting from the front row and therefore having a better change to finish at least fourth, had to start from twelfth position due to the introduction of the third control unit after the technical issues encountered in Sakhir.
Below are some extracts from today’s Italian newspapers in a press review that can only be negative towards the Maranello team.
A Ferrari team that hurts the fans
“For Ferrari things look really bad. During the Jeddah night, the terrifying limits of the SF23 were dramatically highlighted. And imagining a way out is really difficult – Italian journalist Leo Turrini wrote in today’s edition of Il Resto del Carlino – Ferrari was the fourth force on a completely different track from that of Sakhir which had also shown the weaknesses of the SF -23. Ferrari is hurting the heart of those who love it. The frustration of the fans also extends to the drivers. Fred Vasseur has to tell us the truth: he has to tell us if what we are seeing is the best this car can perform. With performances like this, an emotion that belongs to the entire Italy is oppressed.” – Leo Turrini added.
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Ferrari at the back
“Ferrari is losing ground, from second it becomes fourth force in the world championship. In two races it has not collected even a podium – writes Stefano Mancini for Italian daily newspaper La Stampa – the SF-23 is a mysterious object: sometimes it is fast (never like the Red Bull, of course), sometimes embarrassing. The day of the launch in Maranello led to enthusiastic words and excessive optimism. For everyone, it was the Ferrari car that would bring home the world title, the fastest Ferrari ever. It was enough to put it on the track and run it in the first few laps to understand that some calculations were wrong and there were some big problems” – La Stampa added.
Worse than expected
“Mars here, back to you earth. The Red Bull cars race on their own planet, they have no rivals but themselves. A two-player game” – the start of a report in La Repubblica by Alessandra Retico – “It is their business, this championship. They give everyone more than a second a lap. Only Aston Martin is a little ahead of the rest, while there were some encouraging flashes from Mercedes. Ferrari? Worse than expected: fourth force on the grid. Fred Vasseur tries to cheer up the team spirits. He needs it: Ferrari below expectations on a track that should have rewarded as compared to Bahrain. Instead: things were worse than at Sakhir. From 3rd to 4th force. Beaten not only by Aston Martin like two weeks ago. But also by the twisted and opaque Mercedes that plan to completely change their concept. Maranello was the fourth team in terms of race pace in Jeddah.” – Italian journalist Alessandra Retico concluded.
