Ferrari's downward spiral and the media storm
The 2023 season is not going well for Ferrari and the Italian media have been piling on the pressure.
At Sunday’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Ferrari were expected to flex their muscles for the first time this year.
They were supposed to prove they really were F1’s second-quickest team behind Red Bull, as they had shown in qualifying.
But when the chequered flag fell after 50 laps in Jeddah, Ferrari were simply nowhere.
They finished 6th and 7th - behind both Red Bulls, Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin and most surprisingly, both Mercedes.
“We can’t be satisfied,” team boss Fred Vasseur said afterwards. “We did not have the pace we were expecting.”
The result capped off a month-long downward spiral for Ferrari’s hopes of a better year in 2023.
In mid-February, we were talking about the general aura of confidence surrounding them. Their new car was supposedly faster and free of reliability gremlins.
In reality, Ferrari’s pace during the first two races was abysmal and reliability still appears to be a concern as Charles Leclerc was forced to retire in Bahrain.
It feels like we’re heading for a re-run of the dismal 2022 season - so much promise with so little success.
If you’re a Ferrari fan, I’m sure you’re not impressed.
Interestingly, as all this is going on, the Italian media are claiming there’s an unhappy atmosphere within Ferrari.
The speculation kicked off about 10 days ago when several outlets reported that one of the team’s most senior technical figures, David Sanchez, had quit.
According to Motorsport.com, this led to rumours that senior figure Laurent Mekies was looking to leave and that former technical chief Simone Resta would be rehired.
There were also rumours of a rift between team boss Vasseur and Ferrari CEO Benedetto Vigna.
All of that doesn’t paint a happy picture, but it’s also difficult to say whether it’s all true.
Charles Leclerc said 90% of the rumours were false, according to The Race, while Carlos Sainz said the atmosphere was “a lot better than what the news make it sound like”.
“I actually am very surprised how some people back at home have been trying to destabilise [us],” he said.
Unfortunately for Ferrari, the most effective way to quell speculation like this is to perform well out on track.
They now have to wait until the Australian Grand Prix in two weeks’ time to get that chance again.
And it’s a good bet that a strong Ferrari performance rests on coming up with a clear solution to the race pace problem. (They’re already second quickest in qualifying, it’s Sunday’s race where they can’t get it together).
Carlos Sainz remains bullish about Ferrari’s prospects.
“We have work to do and we know the car is not where we want it to be,” he said post-race in Saudi Arabia.
“However… I am fully confident we can improve the situation.”