Following two championships without at least one race victory, Sir Jackie Stewart believes it was “good for motorsport” to have Scuderia Ferrari return to fighting for race wins and taking four victories in 2022.
However, just like many Ferrari fans and most part if the media, Sir Jackie Stewart points out the Maranello team didn’t do as well as “perhaps it should have”.
Due to the FIA agreement regarding the power unit controversy from three years ago, Scuderia Ferrari had to race with a poor engine in the 2020 Formula One season and partially improved last season, when the Italian side finished third, behind Mercedes and Red Bull. Ferrari focused on the new rules and regulations for the 2022 championship and it seemed the approach would pay off, as the F1-75 started the season as the fastest car on the grid, with Ferrari taking two race wins after the first three rounds.
Unfortunately the solid start did not turn into an overall positive F1 campaign, as the Maranello side finished second in the Constructors’ standings, but without being able to challenge Red Bull for the titles, due to a series of power unit failures and some strategy issues which cost Charles Leclerc at least three race wins, in Monaco, at Silverstone and in Hungary.
While the Maranello team lost important points on more than one occasion, Red Bull and Max Verstappen took advantage to easily go on and win both titles. It was the first season in the last decade when Red Bull secured the double, and the first in which Mercedes was not able to win either the Drivers’ or Constructors’ title.
“There’s always somebody who’s a leader,” Sir Jackie Stewart – “And it changes from time to time. Whether it was a great [Juan Manuel] Fangio all those years ago or [Alberto] Ascari, whether it was Jim Clark, whether it was Ayrton Senna or Alain Prost, whether it was somebody called Jackie Stewart for a while, there’s always somebody out there who leads the pack, and has it for a period of time. But I think Lewis Hamilton has done extremely well over a great number of years. Mercedes-Benz gave him the very best kit, but he still had to drive it. Now Red Bull, who have been competitive for very many years with a lot of different drivers, so they’ve done a good job. Ferrari, I think it’s good for motorsport to see Ferrari back the front end, but so far, they haven’t been able to win as much as perhaps they should have.” – he explained.
After winning his maiden Formula One world championship in 2021 thanks to ten victories and a last lap overtaking move on Lewis Hamilton in the final round of the campaign, in 2022 Max Verstappen was far more dominating, taking 15 wins on his way to a second Formula 1 World championship.
Despite the fact that Ferrari did not manage to give Red Bull a run for their money, it seemed to many that the Dutchman had stepped up a gear in 2022 even as compared to the previous season:
Show your support for Scuderia Ferrari with official merchandise collection! Click here to enter the F1 online Store and shop securely! And also get your F1 tickets for every race with VIP hospitality and unparalleled insider access. Click here for the best offers to support Charles and Carlos from the track!
Asked if a driver changes after winning a first title, Sir Jackie Stewart replied: “No, I don’t think so. When you win you don’t wait to lose and I drove cars that allowed me to win.”
The 83-year-old continued, saying he also had the mechanics – just three of them – who ensured he would be as safe as possible in an era where crashes cost lives.
“I had very few mechanical failures,” he added. “I had three mechanics, that’s all, now there are 100 mechanics for a driver. But I’m here today because of those mechanics. Most of my friends died driving racing cars during my period but my three mechanics, the wheels didn’t fall off. I didn’t have mechanical failures. And, you know, as I said, to finish first first you must finish and I was able to do that. So I had a very good career. I loved it enormously. I still loved the sport enormously. But you know, my racing days I’ll never be over I don’t think.” – the British former Formula One racing driver from Scotland concluded.
Leave a Reply