I'm really liking the hakkinen idea. Also Todt for a few years with Vasseur as his sidekick. Perhaps Todt as a consultant. +1 Though I'd say not just great rival, but respected rival. I really do like Seb but I honestly don't know if his personal politics would be a great addition to the team...not by which I mean that he could pick favourites (this wouldn't actually be a bad thing), but more that he spends the majority of his time organising tree planting events and the meetings are held recycling trash...Damn hard worker though.
With regards to the flying Finn. I wish Ferrari were capable of such 'outside the box' thinking ! I have my doubts
Um yes. clearly Sainz is getting the "favored" treatment, and ( I don't mean any disrespect to Italians ) but its the innate Latin temperament coming to to the fore... "I'm the boss you are the driver you don't tell me " kind of thing.... "we all race for the glory of Ferrari".... This is something that Mr. Ferrari NEVER did... he manipulated the drivers - yes, but he did it behind the scenes... never in front. He "backed" the best driver who could win - consistently because he knew they win I win. today its the whole we win for the glory of the team - the team first .... you can't harness a racehorse like that... they have to give Leclerc the support to do what he can do naturally - or else we are seeing what we get... A demotivated driver, who is doubting his choices, and slowly coming apart. This is what I mean about Ferrari grinding you down... very sad. Todt and Montezemolo were the only ones who were able to shield drivers from this happening... and it almost got Todt in 99.
If you guys remenber, right after the british Gp i talked about this issue, but many believed i was just lloking at theory conspiracys, unfortunately it was not, because Sainz was Binotto's choice, unlike Charles. Things just wen down the hill after that. When mattia is out in Vasseur in, i suspect the diference in speed between Charles and Carlos will only grow bigger....
My fear is that Ferrari has just wasted a successful car when they had the jump on the rest of the field. now they are back to where they were in 2020 and before. the car is good, but not great. so with leadership changes, it's going to be even harder in 23. Mercedes has it now figured out and getting better... RB way ahead... meanwhile Ferrari is fighting its self.
Enzo Ferrari used to set his drivers against each other, hoping that would spur them to drive faster (courage was a great part of racing in those days). He thrived on the animosity his between team mates, mostly among Italian drivers. That was the atmosphere at the Scuderia. It's no secret that Enzo Ferrari was quite machiavelian and heartless in his management of drivers. In 1957, when he received a phone call telling him Eugenio Castelotti had just died during testing at Modena, he was heard asking: "And what about the car ?"
Enzo was mischievous yes, however he was not malicious. He didn’t want to get close to drivers because he cared for them and didn’t want to be hurt if they got killed because the mortality rate of drivers was so high back then. Gilles is an example of him breaking his own rules and getting close to a driver and look what happened.
[ I would rather trust the testimonies of people who were around him than the PR put out by the media.
Don't exagerate. I only repeat what some people who knew him intimately later said: Fiamma Breschi (Musso's girlfriend who became Ferrari's mistress), Brenda Vernor who was his secretary for 10 years, or Nello Ugolini team manager for 3 years in the 50s. Caroll Shelby who drove for Maserati and lived in Modena for a while, where he was a friend of Ferrari's son Dino, had rather harsh words to say about Enzo Ferrari's aloofness with his drivers, having watched him close. I rather trust them than seeing the man through rose-tinted glasses.
I'm 100% Sure if you ask Ms. Vernor she will tell you how difficult the old man could be. and She only got to know him in his later years, from the late 60's on. Castelotti was during the 50's when Enzo was extremely & directly engaged in the day-to-day running of the racing team. It's a fact that he was callous about drives lives - but from his standpoint, racing meant you could die at any moment - it was expected. That is why even he himself noted that he did not continue on Driving and pulled out of the French GP - his only really official Grand Prix race for Alfa. No Enzo did not want his drivers to die.... but if they did, he was also not surprised. the chamber of Horrors at Maranello shows that he cared - not to make the same mistake twice ( if it was a mechanical failure ). even with Villeneuve he was pragmatic. The episode with Lauda shows exactly how he thought about Drivers - Lauda is burned may or may not survive? " can we get Fittipaldi to replace him?" Ask Emmo your self about that. ( I did - and he just was appalled at the timing. )
The not speaking thing is not entirely true, since it's well-documented they met for dinner in Monaco on the night of July 5, which was after Silverstone. That said, Leclerc, their number one driver, is like a victim of spousal abuse, and Binotto needs to go. He's been given too many chances and has proven he is completely unable of righting the ship. I've had enough of him and his dumbass pit wall.
I've seen Brenda talk a lot of times about Enzo, and she always spoke of him with the utmost respect, even fondness i might add. She looks like avery straightforward person, one can se she adored Gilles, Jody, René, Piero Ferrari...and one can see she detested Piccinini (monsignore) as they called him.
Piccinini, is not one who has come out of Ferrari history well liked. many cite him favoring a French driver to be champion Pironi - over Villeneuve, and then all the machinations with Arnoux, Tambay and Alboreato. ... however he delivered 2 constructor WDC's in a row ( 82 & 83 )... so he was not all that bad.
According to information from F1-Insider.com, a decision was made at Maranello. Frédéric Vasseur is set to become the new team boss at Ferrari. An official announcement is expected later this year. https://f1-insider.com/formel-1-vasseur-ferrari-teamchef-favorit-51960/
I don't know how to treat that news. Called at Ferrari less than 3 months before the 1st test session, inheriting an existing situation and a car that was designed before his arrival, Vasseur has a mountain to climb, IMO. I wouldn't expect any miracle at Ferrari in the short term.
