“It’s the media talking about the championship battle.” That was the message delivered by Frédéric Vasseur in recent days, as the Ferrari team principal once again criticized the press for continuing to portray the Scuderia as a genuine contender capable of challenging Mercedes in the fight for the Formula 1 world title.
The Frenchman remains committed to a race-by-race approach, refusing to get carried away by the excitement of victories such as those in Barcelona and Silverstone, while also avoiding excessive pessimism after difficult weekends like the Austrian Grand Prix, where virtually everything went wrong for Ferrari.
However, the championship standings tell an interesting story. Lewis Hamilton now sits just 32 points behind Andrea Kimi Antonelli, helped in part by the reliability problems that have repeatedly affected Mercedes this season. While the Silver Arrows have arguably produced the fastest car on the grid, that performance has often been undermined by mechanical failures that have prevented the team from fully capitalizing on its pace.
Everyone at Maranello is thinking about the championship
According to veteran Italian journalist Pino Allievi, however, the atmosphere inside Ferrari is very different from the picture painted publicly by Frédéric Vasseur. Speaking during FormulaPassion.it’s Q&A session, Allievi responded to a question about whether it is wrong to describe Ferrari as a genuine championship contender.
“I have to immediately disagree with Vasseur. At Ferrari, everyone is talking about the championship,” Allievi said. “To be honest, Ferrari are not particularly interested in winning more Grands Prix. Ferrari have gone 18 or 20 years without winning the championship, so their only objective is to win the world title.”
“They have waited far too long. They hired Frédéric Vasseur to bring Ferrari back to the championship. They are in a good position, but it is completely false to claim that Ferrari are not thinking about the title.”
Allievi went on to insist that the ambition to win the championship is shared by every member of the team.
“Everyone is thinking about it. Lewis Hamilton is thinking about it, Charles Leclerc is thinking about it, Frédéric Vasseur is thinking about it, and so is every single employee at Maranello, from the first person to the last.”
“That’s why I don’t understand why the blame is always placed on the media, accusing journalists of saying things that are supposedly untrue or implying that they are creating unnecessary pressure. It’s almost as if the message is, ‘The media are setting unrealistic targets for us and putting us under pressure.’ But that’s a poor argument.”
“Ferrari should not approach things that way. Ferrari race to win the Formula 1 World Championship, not simply to win an individual Grand Prix. Let’s make that clear first, and then we can continue the discussion.”
Leave a Reply