Former McLaren mechanic believes "people are not free to make decisions" at Ferrari

The repeated mistakes made by Ferrari in strategic choices continue to be discussed, as also happened at the Hungaroring circuit, in the Hungarian Grand Prix last weekend. In a season in which the Maranello team has nevertheless put on track a car with solid levels of competitiveness such as the F1-75, the direct challenge with Red Bull is definitely smiling on the latter: between reliability problems and mistakes, made by both Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz in some situations, to worsen the situation of Ferrari there was also the controversial management of the pit wall in strategies, both in Hungary and in other famous cases, above all that of Monte Carlo.

However, the episodes that took place at the Hungaroring materialized ahead of the summer break, which takes place in August, as the battles will resume at the end of the month in Belgium.

During the break, Ferrari will therefore hope to be able to reorganize and evaluate what happened during the championship, in order to face the second part of the 2022 Formula 1 season with greater confidence and decision-making. A philosophy that is not shared by many, starting with Marc Priestley, a former McLaren mechanic. The British former pit crew member spoke on the BBC podcast ‘Checkered Flag’ and admitted that what needs to be changed in Ferrari is mainly the basic culture, even more so as regards to strategic decisions.

Marc Priestley, who has had the opportunity to speak in person with friends that have worked for Scuderia Ferrari, explained his thoughts as follows: “I’ll be honest: I don’t think the break will be useful at this moment of the season – he commented – in Hungary, Ferrari had a car that proved to be faster than Red Bull for most of the weekend. The different temperatures may have affected performance a bit, but it was all a matter of strategy. The drivers did their best with the tires they had available; Ferrari chose to use the hard tire in the second half of the race, and it was a disastrous decision. They put an end to any hope of Charles Leclerc winning, and these decisions follow one another race after race.” – he said.

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“For me, a total reset is needed, and there is no doubt that some heads will have to fall. I don’t know who will take responsibility: Mattia Binotto as team principal will be called upon to give answers, but this seems like a cultural problem that runs deep within Ferrari. I have many friends who have worked there in the past and they all say the same thing: people can’t make decisions, they’re not free to make decisions, they don’t have the confidence to make decisions when it matters. When you are a Formula 1 team, it’s about making decisions on the spot. Red Bull did well, Ferrari made the choice completely wrong” – Marc Priestley concluded.