New year, old difficulties
The start of 2023, at least in Formula 1, was anything but easy for Ferrari. The Prancing Horse team, despite the high expectations during the winter, proved to be far behind rivals Red Bull in the first three races of the season, with the Austrian side comfortably winning the rounds in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Australia. Not only that: the new SF-23 looks difficult for Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz to drive and suffers from the reliability problems that have affected Ferrari in recent years. All together, these elements are destroying the performance of the Maranello team, which is currently only fourth in the Constructors’ standings, also preceded by Mercedes and above all by the big surprise Aston Martin.
John Elkann’s message to shareholders
Despite this period of crisis that is characterizing the beginning of the Frederic Vasseur era, as the French manager was appointed new team principal after the departure of Mattia Binotto, the top management seem convinced of the team’s potential and is confident in the future. John Elkann, president of Ferrari, in opening the shareholders’ meeting of the Maranello company, shared his thoughts on the F1 team, emphasizing how Ferrari is not in the world of Grands Prix just to participate, but to win: “The last Formula 1 World Championship saw an improvement in our competitiveness. However, our goal is – and always will be – to win the Championship and Fred and the entire Scuderia team are fully focused on achieving this goal“, said the Ferrari president.
The challenge of endurance
However, the last year, at a sporting level, has been fundamental for Ferrari also in the world of endurance, a category in which positive results are not lacking: “In 2022 we concluded the WEC season by winning both the Drivers’ and Constructors’ titles and we presented the 296 GT3 – underlined John Elkann – the V6 which will replace the outgoing 488 GT3, a car that has achieved over 500 victories and which goes down in history as the most successful racing Ferrari to date. In October we presented the 499 P, our Le Mans Hypercar“. – he added.
The goal: to excel in several categories
“Last March – continued John Elkann – the 1000 miles of Sebring marked the return of Ferrari – after 50 years – to the premier class of the FIA World Endurance Championship. We all look forward to our return to Le Mans next June,” he added. In the plans of the Ferrari ownership, the ambition is to be able to win consistently in all categories, thus achieving an objective that was also described by the chief executive officer Benedetto Vigna: “Competing at the highest level in different championships”.
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