Formula One fans can never be sure of what information to conclude from pre-season testing.
New regulations always provide opportunities for the pecking order to be shuffled, and while the redesigning of the cars for 2015 is less drastic than what we saw last year, a new season gives teams who had a lacklustre 2014 campaign the chance for a fresh start.
Based on the four short days of testing that teams had at Jerez last week, there does appear to have been effective progress in at least one of the less competitive camps from last year – La Scuderia.
Whenever Ferrari have a bad season, all of motorsport knows about it. Their 2014 season brought home only two podiums without a victory, their first winless year since 1993.
The team’s long-term reputation doesn’t allow a lot of leeway for bad seasons. Ferrari have competed in every Formula One season – the only team to do so. Over that period they have won almost a quarter of the 888 races they’ve started, and obtained a record 16 constructors titles.
Of course 2014 was by no means the darkest period in the team’s history. Ferrari failed to win a race between September 1990 and July 1994. But fortunately for Ferrari and their loyal fans, the Tifosi, the early signs for the 2015 season are more positive. Jerez showed the world a seemingly reliable Scuderia package that, at this early stage, appears to have more speed than last year’s sluggish machine.
While as a whole Ferrari are being cautious in their optimism, driver Kimi Raikkonen has mentioned to the world media that the new SF15-T is “a good step forward”.
“This car is definitely an improvement over the 2014 one,” he said.
It’s not just an alteration in the car’s design that may bring a change in fortune. New personnel both on and off the track may have an impact on the team’s success this year. Of course, the signing of Sebastian Vettel cannot be ignored – the four-time World Champion exudes racing talent with every twitch of his steering wheel.
New team principal Maurizio Arrivabene became the team’s third leader in seven months. However, he has been involved with Ferrari in some capacity for many years, and it is his in-depth knowledge of how the company works that can allow him to act as a sustained, long-term leader.
Confident, sustainable leadership is critical to having success in any sport. Formula One has seen plenty of examples of this in the past. The partnership of Christian Horner and Adrian Newey at Red Bull, and Jean Todt at Ferrari, are two such examples of this. Both of these set-ups led to dynasties in the sport. While it may not bring a reign of Ferrari dominance in Formula One in this instance, it may bring a change in fortune.
Ferrari’s story over the past five years has been incredibly similar. While at times they have been unlucky not to win races, or at least achieve better results, it’s hard to say that for any consistent length of time the team has looked to be the class of the field.
Fernando Alonso has outperformed his machinery with class and persistence like few other drivers on the grid. But this doesn’t win championships. A team must have the fastest car on the grid. This is why change was needed at Maranello.
The gap between Ferrari and Mercedes in 2014 only emphasised how widespread the changes had to be. Ferrari were racing a bad car, and trying to make it better. But this year, they have the opportunity to make a good car.
If nothing else, the brains behind the prancing horse will be doing everything they can to be winning races in 2015, and the changes they’ve instigated gives them an increased chance of doing so. Expect them to be back near the front of the grid this year. They have a reputation to uphold.
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