They made some very costly mistakes last season, all of the team. But someone has to take blame and what better a man than the boss?
Or they could have learnt from those mistakes and built on them to mount a better challenge this year.
Maybe but sometimes you need to shake it up a bit and give the whole team a new focus. I think Hamilton, good as he is, won the last season because of Ferrari’s multiple cock ups. It might be and probably is obvious that the higher management had no confidence that the team wouldn’t make silly errors again.
They made some very costly mistakes last season, all of the team. But someone has to take blame and what better a man than the boss?
Or they could have learnt from those mistakes and built on them to mount a better challenge this year.
Maybe but sometimes you need to shake it up a bit and give the whole team a new focus. I think Hamilton, good as he is, won the last season because of Ferrari’s multiple cock ups. It might be and probably is obvious that the higher management had no confidence that the team wouldn’t make silly errors again.
Ferrari seem to shake it up too often. In my opinion it was the many errors by Vettel that could have made the difference not necessarily those by the team/Arrivabene.
I can’t wait to see how Leclerc will perform this season. I’m never been a huge fan of Vettel but was surprised the gap between him and Kimi was so big at times.
I can’t wait to see how Leclerc will perform this season. I’m never been a huge fan of Vettel but was surprised the gap between him and Kimi was so big at times.
Going to be very interesting, as Leclerc has looked very good. Vettel won't want a repeat of his performance against Daniel Ricciardo when they were at Red Bull. I'm sure that Vettel would have preferred Kimi to have stayed, as he knew that he could beat him. It could well increase the pressure on Vettel and bring about more errors from him, as he does not appear to respond well to pressure.
I'm not surprised that Maurizio has gone , with all the off track politics at Ferrari following the death of Marchionne it was going to be kind of likely.
Really excited about seeing how Charles Leclerc does against Vettel definitely won't be an easy ride for Seb anymore.
It is amazing that a team the size of Ferrari, with the financial advantages that it has over its rivals, hasn't won either championship for over a decade.
They made some very costly mistakes last season, all of the team. But someone has to take blame and what better a man than the boss?
Or they could have learnt from those mistakes and built on them to mount a better challenge this year.
Maybe but sometimes you need to shake it up a bit and give the whole team a new focus. I think Hamilton, good as he is, won the last season because of Ferrari’s multiple cock ups. It might be and probably is obvious that the higher management had no confidence that the team wouldn’t make silly errors again.
Even though Mercedes didn‘t have the fastest car on the grid in the first half of the season, Hamilton was virtually unbeatable in the second half.
Vettel‘s, sometimes almost immature, errors together with Ferrari‘s tactical errors did the rest.
With problems already being reported between Red Bull and Honda I expect this year‘s championship to be a Vettel/Hamilton showdown!
Over the course of the season, Ferrari had the best car in most races. I suppose Arrivabene can take credit for that. When Hamilton was beaten at Silverstone it looked done and dusted. We then had a series of races that Hamilton picked up wins in when Ferrari was the stronger package. Races that jump out are the German GP when Vettel crashed out due to driver error when leading and then in Italy when Hamilton won despite a Ferrari front row shut out.
Despite all of this, everybody was expecting Ferrari to get its act together and as long as it was mathematically possible, a case could be made for them. However, they suddenly slipped behind Mercedes and in all honesty Hamilton ended up coasting to the title. Mercedes are a big team and they were having issues were the car was strong on some tracks and weak in others, for their part, they worked out the issues to a large extent.
I suspect Ferrari, having to chase the title, took risks which didn't always pay off. Those risks were with strategy and probably development add ons. When you are in front you can afford to be conservative and make sure changes to the car work, whereas when you are chasing you might bolt them on and hope.
What is hard on Arrivabene in my opinion is that if he had Hamilton as his main driver, Ferrari would have easily won the title. Is that his fault? I don't think so. Vettel is a good driver, one of the best, but he has shown that when things are against him, he is not in Hamilton's league. But very few are. The only driver that can possibly match Hamilton at the moment is Verstappen, but he makes errors.
It is amazing that a team the size of Ferrari, with the financial advantages that it has over its rivals, hasn't won either championship for over a decade.
Ferrari are very much at the mercy of the strength of their engine. Last season is the only season in that period where it was up there with the Mercedes - some would argue marginally better than the Mercedes. The interesting question given this relative parity is which team can squeeze more out of/improve their engines.
What may have damaged Arrivabene was the Itlian GP where they allowed Raikonnen to get a slipstream from Vettel and take pole. It should have been the other way round and had it been, things may have turned out differently as Vettel got into a scuffle from second on the grid and it became damage limitation with a damaged car.
It is amazing that a team the size of Ferrari, with the financial advantages that it has over its rivals, hasn't won either championship for over a decade.
Ferrari are very much at the mercy of the strength of their engine. Last season is the only season in that period where it was up there with the Mercedes - some would argue marginally better than the Mercedes. The interesting question given this relative parity is which team can squeeze more out of/improve their engines.
What may have damaged Arrivabene was the Itlian GP where they allowed Raikonnen to get a slipstream from Vettel and take pole. It should have been the other way round and had it been, things may have turned out differently as Vettel got into a scuffle from second on the grid and it became damage limitation with a damaged car.
Ferrari have under performed in not only the hybrid era but prior to that. Ferrari definitely had the strongest overall package last season, you only have to look at the performances of the other cars with their engines, but they did not have Hamilton and they did not always make the right calls, as in Italy. I would still lay the majority of the fault though with Vettel. Far too many errors from someone wanting to beat Hamilton.
Agreed. It was not glorius from Vettel. He is undoubtably very quick, but as a racer he is not in Hamilton's class. It will be interesting how he matches up with LeClerc. My view is Vettel will have the upper hand but a lot of people who know more than me are suggesting otherwise. I think it is best if you have one driver who is better than the other driver in your team. When they are equal they nick points off each other.
I can’t wait to see how Leclerc will perform this season. I’m never been a huge fan of Vettel but was surprised the gap between him and Kimi was so big at times.
Comments
I think Hamilton, good as he is, won the last season because of Ferrari’s multiple cock ups. It might be and probably is obvious that the higher management had no confidence that the team wouldn’t make silly errors again.
Whilst Vettel made a few costly errors, I just think he’s up against an opponent who is just clearly better.
Swap Hamilton and Vettel last season and Ferrari would have won the championship.
Vettel won't want a repeat of his performance against Daniel Ricciardo when they were at Red Bull. I'm sure that Vettel would have preferred Kimi to have stayed, as he knew that he could beat him. It could well increase the pressure on Vettel and bring about more errors from him, as he does not appear to respond well to pressure.
Really excited about seeing how Charles Leclerc does against Vettel definitely won't be an easy ride for Seb anymore.
Vettel‘s, sometimes almost immature, errors together with Ferrari‘s tactical errors did the rest.
With problems already being reported between Red Bull and Honda I expect this year‘s championship to be a Vettel/Hamilton showdown!
Despite all of this, everybody was expecting Ferrari to get its act together and as long as it was mathematically possible, a case could be made for them. However, they suddenly slipped behind Mercedes and in all honesty Hamilton ended up coasting to the title. Mercedes are a big team and they were having issues were the car was strong on some tracks and weak in others, for their part, they worked out the issues to a large extent.
I suspect Ferrari, having to chase the title, took risks which didn't always pay off. Those risks were with strategy and probably development add ons. When you are in front you can afford to be conservative and make sure changes to the car work, whereas when you are chasing you might bolt them on and hope.
What is hard on Arrivabene in my opinion is that if he had Hamilton as his main driver, Ferrari would have easily won the title. Is that his fault? I don't think so. Vettel is a good driver, one of the best, but he has shown that when things are against him, he is not in Hamilton's league. But very few are. The only driver that can possibly match Hamilton at the moment is Verstappen, but he makes errors.
What may have damaged Arrivabene was the Itlian GP where they allowed Raikonnen to get a slipstream from Vettel and take pole. It should have been the other way round and had it been, things may have turned out differently as Vettel got into a scuffle from second on the grid and it became damage limitation with a damaged car.
Ferrari definitely had the strongest overall package last season, you only have to look at the performances of the other cars with their engines, but they did not have Hamilton and they did not always make the right calls, as in Italy.
I would still lay the majority of the fault though with Vettel. Far too many errors from someone wanting to beat Hamilton.
Welcome back !