Scuderia Ferrari 2023

Saying that Binotto and Rueda screwd up is not speculation, itt's a fact.
Charles has got all the talent he needs to beat anyone, Max included.
Now it's true that to get things going at Ferrari you need another special set of atributes , Aledi admited that one big diference between him and Shumacher was that Michael spoke and everyone would listen and would work in the direction he wanted, and that he could nog do the dame at Ferrari, even someone like Prost failed there. Max does not have to cope with that, because his team is do well organized and competent.....but put him in a Ferrari and he will do no better than Charles.
Last year, For a third of the championship Charles had the car (but not the team), and he showed he had more than enough to win, so i have confidence he will achieve that, providing Fred can do a good job.

 

Well, everybody is talking about how mature Verstappen is now, how much he´s learnt, etc... But I always think that it´s easy to keep a cool head when you´re in the best car. In 2021 he won without a superior car, true, but in the last races, when the Mercedes was flying, he did some bizarre (if not dirty) things. Hamilton also went from being the GOAT to being erratic and got beaten by a "nobody" like Russell.

Meanwhile Leclerc has always been in a fight in the middle of the pack. So... time will tell.

 

Being in the best car helps a lot, of course. Mario Andretti, who, at the time, was not exactly a beginner, said that in 1978 when he got the Lotus 79...
But great drivers usually get the great cars...

Rgds

 

Agreed; it is not a matter of talent, it is having what you need to get the Championship at the wheel of a Ferrari. I'm not sure he has that, that's all.
Vasseur seems to have adopted the "quite guy "attitude, I don't question that, as they need serenity. It might work. I'm not so sure about Ferrari's commitment itself.
Of course, I would be more than happy to be proven wrong: after all it's already 16 years since 2007, but somehow, I don't feel them very focused and collected.
This is why I'm pretty sure they need a leading driver with a strong will, now, considering the shape they are in. Had they the best car on the grid, things could be different. But they don't have the best car on the grid, so someone has to show them focus and direction. Otherwise, I fear they will just continue as they have been doing for a number of years: "next year will be ours, etc..."

Rgds.

 

That sums up the situation.

 

Perfectly summed up, Schumacher demanded more and drove the team + the car to be built around him and him alone. Thats why you cannot have the luxury of two No 1 drivers with equal status......push and pull.

Admittedly he had unlimited testing which handicaps the teams today in catching up, which makes a mockery of the "racing" theme.

Tony

 

I wonder if Schumacher was perceived differently at Ferrari because he won his first two championships at 25 and 26 before going there.

Leclerc joined the team at 21 years-old and was part of their driver academy. I wonder if they still think of him as a kid and don't take him seriously.

 

I started work as an apprentice for a company from 16 years old and worked my way up to Contracts manager, they never took me seriously so I left and started on my company until retirement 40 years later.

I guess the same ethos applies.

As for Fred saying they will have 8 tenths by 2024, he forgets the others will have well in excess of that. He needs to aim much higher. More like 2 seconds.

 

That's 8 tenths loss compared to the competition

 

It could well be, it is probably more difficult for him to be demanding or stamp some authority. Kind of family member.
I remember that many observers underlined it when he joined: that it has been historically very rare for Ferrari not to look for an experienced driver.
It makes probably more difficult for him to decide parting ways, should a valid option appears. He certainly will have a difficult choice to make, a career-defining one. Has been there for five seasons already. Either he decides to move next year (provided there is a good opportunity elsewhere) or he stays, but then it will be forever and he'd become "part of the furniture", as we say in French ("il fait partie des meubles").
It also depends on his hopes. Maybe he is not "that much interested" in a title, and perfectly happy to win the odd Grand Prix here and there, cash the money and live the good life?

Rgds

 

"and next year will be our year"...

Fred's integration is progressing well; he is know fully in the spirit of things.

Rgds

 

8 tenths sounds like low ball. Fred said they'll gain 2 tenths in September, 2 tenths in October and 4 tenths during winter break

Only 4 tenths between season end and new season start sounds actually really small gain

 

problem is everyone else around them is making the same gains.

2nd problem is making any such statements to begin with.

Under promise and over deliver. Not the other way round. That doesn't just apply to F1 but anywhere.

 

I didnt have a lot of faith in FV from the beginning and the more he opens his mouth the worse it gets.....I get he his trying to placate the hungry and vicious italian media but with the personnel hired so far he should be more upbeat.

Aim high - by setting a lower target he is basically setting a lower standard for everyone else in the team.

To gain 8/10ths will mean he is still behind RBR now!

Tony

 

Seems to me he’s just stating facts based on planned upgrades—not saying they’ll be better than the rest or that they’ll win, so no harm in that.

Ultimately they are where they are because of the miscalculations of the previous “leadership” and so having to deal with a compromised car this year. Hopefully he’s underplaying the gains for next year.

In any case, looks like they’ll get a couple tenths boost at Monza from livery celebrating LeMans victory

https://x.com/decalspotters/status/1690310273981095936?s=46&t=RJY8rq6TkNRY5rN71eTA2g

 

All great things come to an end. Boxers, football dynasties, Polaroid, Kodak, General Electric, Hollywood careers and studios, race car drivers...and race car teams. In two days, the old man will have been dead for 35 years. The Ferrari F1 team has been dead 16 years since its last championship. Those are facts. We can argue when F1 died...or how much/little time it has left. The truth is that Williams and McLaren and Alpine are just names on shadows. It is reasonable to consider that Ferrari is joining them if it hasn't already.

 

I was missing you optimistic view on things....fortunately i hear that for a long, long time, right after Sheckter won in 79!!!

 

Judging by your photo, you were probably not born yet in 79 !!

 

I humble disagree. Max is yet to demonstrate proper maturity.

 

I humbly disagree with you as well.

Inside the car he's proven time and time again how much of a cool head he shows. Times his overtakes, knows he doesn't need to rush (desoto does have a point, easy to look more mature when you're at the front). Even when he's been hot headed in spur of the moment, he apologized on his own behalf before he's even gotten out of the car.

Outside the car, he's been in a stable relationship for what, 3 years? Acts as a (2nd) father figure to his girlfriends daughter, lives his own life how he likes it, retains close relationships with his friends and lets them use his boats/jetskis etc. For a 25 year old that's had access to godlike amounts of money for the past 7 years, has had his ass licked by an entire country and millions more people on a daily basis...he's pretty damn mature.

 

He was also always really clean when he had competition on the track last season.