What does the F in F1 stand for? Does it stand for Formula or maybe Ferrari? In the minds of the fans it could be either way. Ferrari is the most successful team in Formula 1 and is also the only team to have raced in every championship since the beginning . The prominent red coloured car is the symbol of dreams for the young kids around the world picturing themselves racing and winning. Success is what Ferrari stands for since it is the brand of supercars that only deeply wealthy and successful people can afford.
Success is what Ferrari strives for in every F1 season. Winning races and competing for the championship is the least that her fans expect from her. The pressure is immense for the team to deliver every year. That is also a result of the fact that Ferrari have won championships in so many decades (1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 2000s). A lot of teams have managed to emerge as the favorite for a certain amount of years but very few teams have managed to prevail in more F1 eras and from those teams Ferrari is the only to have done it in so many eras. So, if you think a team of the past can return to glory , you would put your money on Ferrari to do it.
Even in times that the team cannot win the championship it is there to fight for it. We all remember the 2017 and 2018 Sebastian Vettel campaigns and of course the years leading to the Schumacher dominance when Ferrari came close but did not win (1996-1999). It is very difficult for a team to be there almost every year and Ferrari has tried to put that characteristic into the Teams DNA. Probably that is the reason that the disappointment about the current streak of years without a championship is so big. The harsh reality is that Ferrari has not won a drivers championship for 14 years and a constructors championship for 13 years. They have tried again and again recruiting some of the best drivers on the grid but Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel came short both times that they could fight for the championship (2010, 2012- 2017,2018 respectively). Ferrari won a lot of races, they got an abundance of podiums but never a championship and along came the talks, the discussions the fault finding, the pressure from journalists, fans and the management of the team.
During the 2022 campaign a lot of talk has emerged about Ferrari’s bad strategy calls that lead to a lot of point being taken away mostly from the driver seemingly fighting for the championship, Charles Leclerc. What was most commentated though was the fact that the Team Principal Mattia Binotto always defended the team’s decisions and strategies. Moreover he tries to remain confident on the team, the car and his drivers. It is very difficult to assess the situation but if credit is due where credit is due, we have to acknowledge the fact that Ferrari built a very fast, if not the fastest car on the grid in 2022 and that happened after a couple of really difficult years. Those years saw Ferrari finish 6th and 3rd and not winning a single race were years that keeping the balance and calmness within the team in order to concentrate on coming back and building a fast car again was the main goal. Even Leclerc stated at the beginning of the 2022 year that it would be a success for the team to even win 5 races . At this point , they have already won 4. The expectations were enlarged though and not for the wrong reason. The 2022 Ferrari is a really balanced car with a lot of downforce and huge levels of grip, a real four wheel missile. However , Ferrari lost a lot of races that they should have won and they did not a maximize their points haul in other races. Everybody is trying to understand what is wrong with the team.
What happened to the team that won 5 consecutive drivers championships for the first and only time in history? Well, the answer is that they left. The great Ferrari of the Schumacher dominance era consisted of a lot of great motorsport personalities that created an environment of trust, excellence. They recruited people that were results oriented. All that was magnified by the presence of one of the greatest F1 drivers ever. Hard work, exceptional engineering, inspired management and a passion for speed were the qualities that lead the team. Ross Brawn, Jean Todt, Nikolaos Tombazis and Michael Schumacher were a winning machine.
Ross Brawn and Jean Todt were the brains of the team. The management duo that was responsible for securing that the team was operating at all levels with the same efficiency and that all departments were staffed with the appropriate people. They were responsible for everything and everyone and were also in charge of the talks that needed be made with sponsors and also the Ferrari high level management. As all great managers do they forged a shield that protected the team’s work from external problems and not only that but they made sure the team had all the necessary tools to work towards excellence and success. That also meant that they could ask for anything in the team. Ross brawn took the radio to request from Michael Schumacher 19 qualifying laps during the 1998 Hungarian Grand prix. He just said “Michael [Schumacher], you have 19 laps to pull out 25 seconds. We need 19 qualifying laps from you.” To which the German responded with a ‘thank you. He won for a margin of 9 seconds. That is a really demanding radio message but Brawn knew he could say that firstly because he and Todt had done anything to build that great team and secondly because they had Michael in the car. Truly inspiring story.
Nikolas Tombazis was the head aerodynamicist of the team. A bright mind with deep knowledge and understanding of the F1 aerodynamics and most importantly a team player .Year after year the team would come up with a great design that they managed to optimize it during the course of the season. He was surrounded by great engineering personalities such as James Allison ,Aldo Costa and many others, all together making for an unbeatable combination.
Michael Schumacher was a machine , working hard at every aspect, being always determined for the best possible outcome. He could always deliver, he understood the differences of every race, every lap, every situation and could use everything to his advantage. His pace was metronomic, his approach was relentless, his driving was impeccable and his passion was overflowing. No one could stop him. There is no one like him.
That team has now left. Michael retired from F1 in 2006 and again in 2012. Ross Brawn bought Honda and made his own team Brawn GP that later was bought by Mercedes and he now is managing director, Motor Sports and technical director for the Formula One Group.
Jean Todt became president of the FIA in 2009 and retired from the role in 2021, while Nikolas Tombazis has become a technical consultant of FIA and is mainly responsible for the design of the rules for new generation of F1 cars (2021-)
A lot of engineers have remained with Ferrari but the management team has changed. So, what does that has to teach us about the current struggles of Ferrari?
The most suspicious behavior is that of the team principal. People thing he is at fault for not recognizing the mistakes of the team. On the other hand we could say that he is doing everything to protect his team and the team’s great work. He is defending the drivers, the engineers, the mechanics , the strategists. That is exactly a manager’s job though. He seems to be in a very difficult position trying to protect everything that has been made right (the driver line up, the car design, the new powerful engine) and also trying to let no one question the Team. It is obvious that he knows something we do not know. There are a lot of shareholders in teams like Ferrari and as it happens in a lot of big organizations a lot of people with the most influence do not know how to deal with situations and often they make strange , unproductive decisions. They protect people who make mistakes, they demand thorough changes in departments where no change is needed and usually act in a sentimental way creating more problems than solutions. We live in an era of performance and it is extremely difficult for most people to understand how performance is worked upon and unlocked. Most of the time it has nothing to do with sentiment and has a lot to do with stringent, thorough analysis. A task not only difficult but also unfamiliar for a lot of people who have learned that their biggest strength is their passion and their dynamic approach of life.
Ferrari seems to be trapped right now and they cannot win championships. That will not change if internal changes do not happen or at least if someone in the management of the team does not build the appropriate structures that will allow every department to work at 100%. F1 require no less than that and when there are people that let the organization work with a mentality that it can do with less, they will not see success. Mattia Binotto knows that, Sebastian Vettel knows that, Maurizio Arrivabenne knows that. They are not to be blamed, they are not the ones who do not let the team work right.
However, Ferrari is a great team filled with passionate people and excellent engineers. That is also one necessary part of F1 success. So, maybe for now they cannot work it out, but they still has what it takes to keep competing at the highest level and making their opponents nervous every year. They truly have a racing spirit. If they keep that and resolve their management issues, they will win championships in the future .
