Passion is never objective. It's not based on irrefutable facts. It's rooted on emotional inclination, and can vary from one individual, or one group of individuals, to the other.
One only needs to look at the Monza podium to see the passion for the team. There’s nothing else like it in racing, as far as I know. Regarding Hamilton to Ferrari. I’ve seen so many “Hamilton to Ferrari” headlines over the years and am always amused by the assumption that he is such a hot commodity who is desired by the team, when the reality is that Ferrari believes drivers are expendable and that none are bigger than itself. To be frank, I’ve never cared for that mentality, because the drivers are the faces of the team and good morale yields better results.
You are talking about seniority here, which is not a measure of quality. If I want to nitpick here, I could say that Ferrari has been through several owners to. In the 50s and early 60s, Ferrari was mostly owned by the banks, then FIAT bought a majority stake to become owner; that was passed on to Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, and finally split from Stellantis to come under Exxor, listed in the Netherlands. So, although it's still in Maranello, it's a completely different company with different owners. The 70 years continuation you are talking about is fiction.
I have been to Monza once, and saw what you are talking about. It doesn't mean that I understand the mentality.
I figured you’d play the ownership card but it doesn’t really wash, does it? And yes, it is nitpicking. And the continuation is not fiction. It’s a fact. But you see it however you wish. I suppose it’s influenced by the lack of any garagist team having anything like that kind of longevity. No need to be spikey about it old boy.
It's not really much different that any other fanatical fanbase. The American equivalent in baseball would be the New York Yankees. I suppose you can make the case that it all boils down to brutish tribalism, but I like to think it's a little more cerebral with Ferrari and Italy. The Ferrari fans' fellow countrymen and countrywomen design and build cars that compete in races, thus they are actually producing something, which I perceive to be far more romantic than watching overpaid grown men play a children's game by throwing a ball, hitting it with a stick, and catching it.
I don't care for Russell's politicking, but I absolutely rank him up there with Verstappen, Leclerc, and Norris. They are undoubtedly the top four of this generation and Ferrari MUST have at least one of them in a seat moving forward.
Most of the garagist teams didn't survive the passing of their creator, but they have contributed immensely to F1, far more than Ferrari which has often ended up copying them. Teams like Vanwall, Cooper, or Lotus, brought aeros, rear engine layout, monocoque chassis, ground effect, and other innovations that Ferrari resisted for years. For me, the adulation of Ferrari is mostly based on a myth created by its founder and perpetuated since. In modern times it's a top team OK, but having difficulties to stay at the front. Some other garagist teams were never started with the intention of lasting forever either, because they were born from the whim of their owners: Wolf, Theodore, and Hesketh only lasted a couple of seasons, but lived almost without any sponsorship. Tyrrell is living through Mercedes these days, Stewart became Red Bull, in the end and Toleman is Alpine's ancestor !! I could go on ...
Yes, I didn't like that atmosphere because it's so alien to my conception of sport. I attended GPs in Europe for many years (UK, Belgium, Germany mostly), and never encoutered such a fanatical crowd. To be honest, I totally abhor fanaticism.
Yeah, I think most of the politicking is him trying to please Merc etc., he'll change as he matures. Lots of potential.
Ferrari’s racing team survived those changes in ownership intact. If it had been sold off in whole as a separate entity then I think your premise would be valid. As for quality vs longevity I think a certain degree of quality, if not in results then in other strengths, is an important component in longevity. Those British teams you mentioned were indeed innovative and Ferrari was not especially so, but remember they were busy designing and building their own drivetrains, obviously a distraction and drain on resources that the garagists did not endure. I don't consider BRM garagists. You make my point about those successive ownerships. To me that doesn’t show any durability at all. Just as the obvious example, Red Bull came about due to the failure of its predecessors. To an extent the same is true of Mercedes AMG. Ferrari’s successes and failures are all its own.
I was on the hype train with most people in the first few years of Russell's career, but by the end of 2021 and especially 2022, I've come to my opinion that George Russell is overrated. He can be very fast, but "Mr Saturday" could never deliver a result in the race. This was in his time with Williams that is. Then Albon replaces George and destroys Latifi just as badly or worse than Russell did. Not to start a debate about Lewis, but there continues to be more and more examples that Hamilton is overrated as well. So if Albon was arguably more impressive than George in the Williams, so George could be closer to Albon's level than near the top. We know Albon got smoked by Verstappen, so he clearly isn't a top 3 current driver. Hamilton with #1 status had the occasional challenge from Bottas, who is getting beat more and more regularly from Zhou. So if Hamilton isn't quite the top 3 all time driver like many believe, and yet is still better than Russell, and we know Albon is far from a top 3 driver, I just can't rank George Russell very high. I don't think he is on the same level as Charles or Max. I think those two are the fastest drivers in F1 currently, but I still think Max is a good step above Leclerc as an overall driver. Just my opinion of course.
Passion is a human feeling. When thousands of people around the world shares this same feeling then we can deduce something is going on. This is not by chance and has deep connection with European civilization. To my modest opinion this emotion is related to a sort of Italian genius built during centuries since the Roman Empire. Beauty and technological heritage are the two pillars of this story.
Schumacher displayed immense loyalty. He put his own career on the line in order to prevent Todt getting fired by LdM.
All are flawed the drivers. Some more than others. They are all over rated and none are perfect. None are worth “worship” as well.They are not heroes. They are interesting to watch in race situations. They are just human beings employing a skill in sport. The greater intrigue of the sport always “over shadows” them.
I have come to the same conclusion, and it's very disappointing. I had great hopes about George Russell for the days he would obtain a seat in a top team. Even taking into account that his Mercedes isn't the best car, I expected some "demon drives" from him. But I see that he races in a very conservative manner.
That's why I think loyalty is misplaced in F1; Schumacher is a prime example. Even after 5 titles, Ferrari spat him out when it suited them.
Display of emotion is part of the latin character, that many Northern Europe do not share. You tend to see the same in latin countries, like South American and Mediteranean countries. I was raised in an Anglo-Saxon atmosphere where showing emotion was considered a sign of weakness. We were taught not to make a show of exhuberance in case of success, and to keep a stiff upper lip in the face of sadness. Even when victorious, British teams never raised the cult following and mass exhaltation Ferrari provokes.
No. An individual person known as LdM allowed his own ego to intervene in the process. That's quite a different dynamic to being "spat out". Schumacher's loyalty to Todt was resolute, which extended Todt's employment at Ferrari for a while. Would someone like Ham put his own career at risk for a team member ? Almost certainly not.
It was reported at the time, that Schumacher was leaving Ferrari against his wishes. Was that wrong then ? In any case, this had the hallmark of a severance.
LdM's ego required a lot of esteem from others. This blocked the path for him to make rational decisions. We see this quite frequently with the Premiership Football leaders that we help. Our fees are expensive and the tangible and measurable boost that we deliver to these sporting giants is significant and fulfills their needs to reach the next level. Schumacher gave his reasons for departing publicly. Believe whatever you wish.
