The disappointing outcome of the 2017 British Grand Prix was followed by strong reactions from the Italian media, who emphasize the negative aspects which have marked Scuderia Ferrari’s last races, as the Maranello team has not managed to win since the Monaco Grand Prix, which took place back in May. Italy’s partisan media is now worried the tide may have decisively turned against Ferrari in its championship battle with rivals Mercedes, despite the fact that the Scuderia had a positive start of the 2017 Formula One season and looked able to challenge Mercedes for the F1 championship.
As Lewis Hamilton utterly dominated the British Grand Prix, Mercedes scored a one-two and Ferrari’s drivers struggled to the finish with disintegrating Pirelli tyres, the Italian press departed Silverstone concerned about the implications and the way the second part of the season may look: “Ferrari’s defeat was the worst this season.” said the authoritative La Gazzetta dello Sport on Monday – “Ferrari returns home with concern the British Grand Prix was perhaps the turning point in favour of Mercedes. The last three races were difficult but now the worries are bigger.”
Italian national sports newspaper based in Rome Corriere dello Sport added: “Ferrari is not going through a good phase. Mercedes has overcome its troubles while Ferrari’s performance has gradually weakened. Maranello has to start from scratch again.”
Mercedes team chairman Niki Lauda also thinks Scuderia Ferrari dropped the ball strategically at Silverstone, gambling too heavily on Pirelli tyres that ultimately failed: “They paid for deciding to go to the end with those tyres” – he is quoted by Ilta Sanomat – “It could have been foreseen that it would not work.” Sebastian Vettel warns against panic, but his biggest concern is the performance gap Mercedes is now able to pull out in qualifying: “They can find three to six tenths to us on the straight, and we cannot do that” – the German drived recently admitted.
Italian daily newspaper published in Milan Corriere della Sera thinks the “oil in fuel” controversy has hurt Scuderia Ferrari’s performance in recent weeks, as has a more recent FIA ruling against the red car’s flexible floor. And the German press also adds that Sebastian Vettel is rattled, having refused to give interviews to many television networks after his disappointing result in Britain.
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