Giancarlo Minardi reflects on Ferrari’s technical reshuffle. Minardi on Ferrari's 2020 season.

This was supposed to be the year they genuinely threatened Mercedes for the world title. Instread, Scuderia Ferrari admitted from the first days of the winter tests that the SF1000 cars was behind the competition and during the first three Grands Prix it became painfully clear that the Maranello team would be involved in a fight with the midfield opponents. Meanwhile Ferrari announced they have “restructured” their technical department, as had been previously hinted by Binotto on the Monday after the Hungarian Grand Prix, a move which should contribute to a better performing team at the factory. There were also rumours that Mattia Binotto had to clear the field, but that doesn’t solve anything according to former Formula One Managing Director Giancarlo Minardi.

Giancarlo Minardi knows better than anyone what it’s like to run a Formula 1 team and in conversation with Corriere dello Sport he dives deeper into the situation at Ferrari. “It’s not a catastrophe, but it is what it is. It is a matter of the machine. Finding the perpetrator and firing him is wrong. Everyone has to put their mistakes on the table, because firing people means losing a year.” – he explained, as reported by the Italian media.

In other words: Throughout the company there are things that didn’t go well and that has an effect on how the car performs. Replacing the man at the top with someone else has little effect in that sense, because the system or the ‘machine’ needs attention. That’s where changes have to take place.

“This is a special year with a triple header without going home and remote meetings. That counts too. It’s different than a year that has been aggravated by a few mistakes,” says Minardi.

However, the solution is simple: “In these special circumstances, you have to react, continue and trust the people who work for you. Take a step back with humility and if you have made a mistake, say so.” – he concluded.

Ferrari has fallen, now it’s a matter of getting up, look at what went wrong and deal with it, so that they can come back stronger later.