Ferrari is F1. Yes, they suck, but that's not the point.
I don't think Ferrari want to run away with their tail between their legs. They will improve. They can't get much worse.
Arrivabene is not the problem, he is a man manager, with manager beneath him supposedly in charge of various areas which he is supposed to coordinate. The fact is that with no testing, developments to cars are slow, difficult to measure, and when they go wrong, it's only found out at a race itself. Give teams testing, and F1 would be competitive again, it won't be with the rules against testing regardless of personnel at Ferrari, Williams or anywhere else. It's little better than pot luck as to whether developments will have the relevant return at the moment. Ferrari need to dig deep, show faith in staff that are loyal and experienced, and totally capable of turning things around, and somehow make F1 change rules to allow testing properly or it won't be Ferrari leaving f1, it will be F1 leaving Motorsport, finished forever and replaced by some hybrid-Prius bore fest
If you're a realistic fan of Ferrari then you know that they suck at F1 far more often than they are great at it! Considering how many years that they have been in F1 (65 years), they have hardly ever truly dominated the sport: Out of 919 starts Ferrari has 208 wins (A 22.64% win rate) Out of 65 F1 Drivers Championships Ferrari have won 15 of them (A 23.07% win rate) Out of 57 Constructors Championships Ferrari have won 15 of them (A 26.31% win rate) So basically, Ferrari has an F1 success rate of less than 25%! This is in reality an over simplification of the situation, but the point I'm making is that Ferrari are not the dominating force in F1 that their reputation might have you believe - Their "poor" seasons far outweigh their "good" seasons. And this is the enigma of Ferrari that I have mentioned before: Despite their history, and despite their massive F1 budget, somehow Ferrari has more often than not been a bit of an underdog team! With everything that they have in place they should be the team to beat every single season, but they rarely are. More often than not their cars have been found to be lacking, and when the car hasn't been lacking, the drivers have! (When Michael Schumacher first drove the Alesi/Berger Ferrari 412 T2, he remarked: "How did you not win the Championships with this car? - It is so much better than My Benetton was last year!"). Yes they have had spells where they have got both the drivers and the cars working well together at the same time (especially in the Schumacher era), but these have been rare, sporadic times that rarely last longer than 3 years. It's not totally Ferrari's fault that they are not more successful - F1 is an incredibly tough sport and it is very easy to get things wrong (and it can take an age to work it out and put it right). The thing is, because Ferrari suck more often than they succeed, and because they always manage to somehow be the underdog almost every season, that's exactly what makes a Ferrari race victory so special, and a Ferrari winning Championship so legendary! Every single other team in F1 is replaceable - Even McLaren, but Ferrari is not. Even today, Ferrari is the team they all come to beat. Don't believe Me? - Toto Wolff recently stated that he is disappointed that Ferrari's challenge to Mercedes has dwindled and hopes that they can get back on the right track to matching the pace of the Mercedes because racing Ferrari is so special. He acknowledged that racing the likes of Red Bull is a great challenge, but stated that being able to race Ferrari is what it is really all about for him. F1 has served Ferrari well over the last 65 years despite them rarely dominating the sport, and Ferrari has been an absolute Godsend for F1 due to it's ability to attract teams and manufacturers to the sport to race against them. You can argue it all you like, but if they're winning or not, Ferrari is F1!
True, up to a point. Should Ferrari drop F1? Not really if they want to maintain the same degree of exposure. There is no other global motorsport series that gets the same coverage, audience, etc... Could Ferrari drop F1? Probably, and it wouldn't affect their sales, or their image. Ferrari's reputation is already made on past glory. Would Ferrari drop F1? Maybe if one day it comes into conflict with the FIA, or FOM, or disagree with new rules, etc... I am thinking about new technical regulations here, that may not be compatible with Ferrari's ethos. It's better to stick with existing teams than to drop the existing ones to seek replacement. The intake of new teams hasn't always been successful in the last 2 decades.
It's about time someone realised that last line, and made some changes to make this formula worth watching, and worth racing, in
I confess trhatb right now i would be more interested to watch ferrari race at LMP! at le mans..i find it a lot more interesting...and it would be amazing....another batle Ferrari vs Porsche (let's face it they are the 2 biggest sport brands in car world) would be awsome...i missed the last 3 raCES...AND I'M NOT INTERESTED IN WATCHING WHAT'S LEFT OF THIS YEAR CHAMPIONSHIP....my only regret if Ferrari left f.1 would be because they never did it...and because f.1 woul vanish...have no doubt , if Ferrari changed to WEC, Wec would easily surpass F.1 in terms of popularity.
That's possible. Ferrari mostly built its reputation and its fortune in sports car racing in the 50s and 60s, when F1 was less popular than endurance. Le Mans, the Mille Miglia, Sebring, the Targa Floria where places where Ferrari became a legend. Ferrari left endurance in the early 70s, when F1 came to the fore and took over endurance in terms of exposure and public interest. But Ferrari would find the WEC a very different environment from the one it left 40 years+ ago. I also don't know if Ferrari would be able to dictate/veto decisions in the WEC like it does in F1 at the moment! In endurance racing, the almighty ACO dominates the decision process and writes the rules!
I'm with you Phill, your whole post makes so much sense, I just enjoy Ferrari's continual fight in one of the toughest sports competitions you'll find. Not for the weak of heart (hello Toyota, BMW, Porsche, Jaguar, other losers) but I love the "underdog" that just will not give up. I hope Fast_Ian is helping to slant the rules Ferrari's way next year
Fernando is anticipating a stronger Scuderia for 2017. Ferrari will be stronger in 2017 says Alonso Fernando Alonso says he has no hard feelings as he looks back on his decision to quit Ferrari. Although the Spaniard has struggled with McLaren-Honda since leaving Maranello at the end of 2014, he declared at the time that he would rather build up a new project rather than keep finishing second in red. "When I was there, it was a great time," he now tells Brazil's UOL Esporte. "We were fighting for the championships -- the team was very strong and happy. "But I felt it was the right time to go because in 2015 and 2016 I would be there for the sixth, seventh years and still be behind Mercedes. And I wanted to have a great time, not a painful time, so it was my decision." Indeed, some believe that Sebastian Vettel - Alonso's successor - may already be feeling some of that frustration with a series of recent outbursts and mistakes. Pundit Marc Surer told Auto Bild: "Sebastian does not accept that Ferrari is not a winning car and that's why errors are creeping in, while Kimi just does his thing and is sometimes faster." But Alonso thinks Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen will be enjoying their time at Ferrari. "Now they (Ferrari) have Kimi and Sebastian getting along together and I'm sure they're enjoying it, albeit missing the championship. But I think next year they will be stronger," he said. However, many pundits now regard Ferrari as being in crisis, having been overtaken in the championship by Red Bull and losing technical boss James Allison. "It's never easy to speak from the outside," Alonso said. "I think this year they are better than last year, more competitive. Last year they were on the podium too but already they are 150 points behind Mercedes which is not good. "But it's hard for anyone to compete with Mercedes," he insisted. "It's not only a problem for Ferrari -- Mercedes has an advantage that is so great since the regulations changed, so maybe next year, with the rule changes, things can be mixed up again. "I'm sure that Ferrari will be strong again," Alonso said.
I think in real terms F-1 with out Ferrari, is not F-1 any longer. From the pure fan appeal, and the fans who turn in to see Ferrari either win or lose - that is where the F-1 marketing machine works and lives. so F-1 TV needs Ferrari to be there. for that reason alone they will not leave... will they threaten to .. yes, will it happen no. simply on economic reasons. For practical reasons a Ferrari WEC LP1 car would not be a huge technical stretch for Ferrari. the F-1 program would serve as a base and then the advance aero & systems would be attributable to the road car development program. But there is no money & economic incentive for Ferrari to go to WEC... I know Piero Ferrari wants to go to LeMans but he does not have control ... as for a true Ferrari pull out of F-1... the only reason I can see them doing that is if the money stops or gets cut dramatically. I think Ferrari would be better served by going to Indy Cars... or doing a one off at Indy every year - for promotional purposes... but again if they don't win its not a great image... but from a racing perspective there is nothing they need to prove. if you have been racing for over 50 years - you are going to have a lot of ups and downs... vs. all ups.
ACO has showed many times that they bend the rules to help anyone who is willing to bring money to the table. They would kiss Sergio Marchione´s feet to bring Ferrari to Le Mans. At least for some time, until VW and Toyota asked them to return the favour.
