With the Italian Grand Prix at Monza approaching, one question continues to divide Ferrari fans: how should the Scuderia’s 2026 season really be judged? Are the victories already achieved enough to consider it a positive campaign, or is Ferrari still too far from its most important objective – winning the Formula 1 World Championship?
In an exclusive interview with NewsF1, former Ferrari engineer Rodi Basso gave a clear assessment. Ferrari is improving and the direction appears encouraging, but in his view the team still has to complete an important process before it can return to the top of Formula 1.
Rodi Basso says Ferrari must be judged in two different ways
Rodi Basso believes simplistic verdicts on Ferrari should be avoided. Instead, he sees two different ways of assessing where the Scuderia currently stands.
The first is to compare today’s team with Ferrari during the Michael Schumacher era, when the Scuderia was capable of winning championships one after another and established one of the most dominant periods in Formula 1 history. Judged against that extraordinary standard, Rodi Basso believes Ferrari has not yet returned to the required level.
“If I look at the Ferrari brand and the history we experienced 20 years ago, obviously we’re not there yet.”
The second comparison is with Ferrari’s more recent past. From that perspective, his assessment is considerably more positive.
“There has been an improvement. The trend is the right one.”
For Rodi Basso, Ferrari’s recent progress should therefore be recognised without losing sight of the historic standards against which the team is inevitably measured. The current Formula 1 championship standings provide one measure of the Scuderia’s progress, but his assessment extends well beyond points and results.
The Ferrari car is not the real issue
According to the former Ferrari engineer, the central question is not simply whether the car itself is competitive enough. The decisive difference comes from the people inside an organisation and the way a team develops around them.
“It starts with people. That’s what Todt did in the past and what Red Bull did.”
Rodi Basso believes a championship-winning Formula 1 team is created by building a strong organisation whose members work towards the same objective. Leadership, management and working methods come first; the competitive car is ultimately the consequence of that foundation.
The reference to Jean Todt is particularly significant. Ferrari’s dominant era was not created by one individual or one exceptional car, but through the construction of an organisation in which management, engineering, race operations and drivers progressively became part of the same winning structure.
Ferrari has started down the right path
Rodi Basso nevertheless sees encouraging signs in the current Ferrari project. During the interview, he described a team that is bringing greater order to its internal structure and can rely on highly demanding drivers capable of contributing to the development of both the car and the wider organisation.
“The drivers can contribute to the development of the team and the car.”
That role becomes especially important with Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc inside the same garage. Both bring extensive experience and high expectations, while Ferrari has also had to define how two leading drivers contribute to the team’s direction. Charles Leclerc has previously discussed the leadership dynamic between himself and Lewis Hamilton as the Scuderia continues its attempt to become a championship-winning operation.
For Rodi Basso, having drivers capable of pushing the organisation forward is a fundamental part of Ferrari’s development.
The biggest question is how long Ferrari will need
There is, however, one decisive issue in Rodi Basso’s assessment. Ferrari may be travelling in the right direction, but a team with the history, expectations and resources of the Scuderia cannot be satisfied with progressing indefinitely without ultimately reaching its objective.
“What matters is how long it takes you to reach glory.”
That sentence encapsulates his view of Ferrari’s current situation. The direction may be correct, but the return to World Championship success must come within a timeframe appropriate for a team carrying Ferrari’s history and expectations.
Ferrari faces pressure unlike any other Formula 1 team
Anyone who has worked at Maranello understands the particular weight that comes with representing Ferrari. Rodi Basso recalled that members of the Scuderia have to deal every day with intense scrutiny from supporters and the wider public.
“Anyone who works at Ferrari is under enormous pressure from public opinion and the fans.”
For that reason, he believes Ferrari personnel inevitably have to operate to a different standard from those at any other Formula 1 team. Success is expected rather than simply celebrated, while periods without a championship inevitably bring greater scrutiny.
Monza becomes a major test of Ferrari’s progress
For Rodi Basso, the Italian Grand Prix represents far more than another race on the calendar. Monza is where Ferrari returns to compete directly in front of the Tifosi and where the progress made over recent months will face one of its most visible tests.
The pressure will be particularly intense because execution will matter as much as performance. Ferrari heads into its home weekend knowing that Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc will need near-perfect execution at Monza if the Scuderia is to maximise the potential available to it.
Rodi Basso’s final assessment is unequivocal.
“The trend is right, but there is still a long way to go.”
Ferrari is improving, but for Rodi Basso that progress must soon evolve into something more significant: a Scuderia capable of fighting consistently for the Formula 1 World Championship. The car remains an essential part of that challenge, but his experience at Ferrari and Red Bull has convinced him that lasting success begins with the people, leadership and organisation behind it.
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