It’s the big year that has thus far failed to deliver.
In a sport that measures differences to the thousandth of a second, an imperfect session can rapidly unravel a whole weekend, and a bad weekend can spoil an entire season.
This is the prospect with which Ferrari, Formula One’s most successful team, is now grappling as it sees Mercedes gallop away to a robust points lead as its red cars trip over themselves.
Unreliability? Check. Intra-team on-track collisions? Check. Poor strategy calls? Check. Throw in some mistakes made from the cockpit, just to add spice, and you begin to understand why Maranello is simmering.
There is no doubt that the Mercedes is still the fastest car on the grid – two years as the undisputed number one and a prototype that is an evolution of its all-conquering predecessors assures this – but Ferrari knows it is within touching distance.
The crushing tactical defeat in Melbourne robbing the Italians of what should have been a win and Kimi Räikkönen’s heart-breaking mistake in the final sector in China when pole was within his grasp point to the potential – it could have so easily been two races apiece rather than the Rosberg silverwash the season has proven after four rounds.
But Scuderia Ferrari being disappointed with its own efforts is only the beginning of what could become a devastatingly long saga for the prancing horse in 2016, and chairman and newly minted CEO Sergio Marchionne has now issued his unequivocal ultimatum.
“I am confident,” he told the press at an Alfa Romeo event this week. “I expect us to win shortly, starting with Spain.”
Directions rarely come more clearly. No pressure.
Of course Marchionne is feeling the strain of leading a (relatively) unsuccessful Ferrari as much as his charges in the garage and on the pit wall are, but increasing that burden in search of improved performance is a risky game.
This column suggested as much last month after Marchionne’s presence at the Chinese Grand Prix coincided with an uncharacteristically nervy Sebastian Vettel, who almost threw away a podium finish when he and Räikkönen collided at the first turn. After spending so much of the weekend talking up his team, it almost seemed inevitable that it should wilt before Marchionne’s eyes.
With Formula One on the cusp of its European season Marchionne is back at the centre of the frame, and rumours from Italy suggest his words might spring from more than mere confidence for his red cars this weekend.
Renowned Formula One journalist Joe Saward reported as much this week, writing that – though they may amount to nothing, such is the hyperactivity of the Formula One rumour mill – Marchionne might be considering axing team principal Maurizio Arrivabene little more than a season into his tenure.
It would certainly seem a strange move considering the rejuvenation of gestione sportiva on Arrivabene’s watch, with three unexpected victories in 2015 after a winless and 2014 and more victories seemingly destined this season. However such a decision might be made with a view of emphasising the work of James Allison, Ferrari’s technical director and mastermind of its on-track comeback.
It furthermore stands to reason that, enabled with a far more hands-on approach to his management of Ferrari, Marchionne no longer needs a second-in-command capable of representing the Scuderia’s political interests when he may as well just do it himself, in doing so depriving Arrivabene of the chief purpose of his appointment.
It would be a brutal move void of sentiment – but then Marchionne is a successful CEO whose illustrious career has presumably been based on removing emotion from decisions – and it goes some way to illustrate how little is safe at Ferrari if the boss perceives any facet of the team to be lacking.
Of course this culminates conveniently after Max Verstappen was locked into a Red Bull Racing contract and taken off the market – that is, after Ferrari was used as a bargaining chip, incidentally or otherwise, to secure an early promotion from Toro Rosso at the expense of the out-of-favour Daniil Kvyat.
But the Verstappen deal also suggested that Red Bull’s watertight contracts that supposedly bind all its drivers are perhaps not impervious after all, which brings back into play the similarly disruptive poaching of Daniel Ricciardo by the Scuderia.
Would such a move potentially make Vettel unhappy? Sure – but if Ferrari is now a team prepared to give its team principal his marching orders after a vaguely shaky four rounds, no option can truly be ruled out in what is shaping up as the return of Formula One power politics dominated to within an inch of its life by that most famous team from Italy.
This might all stem from rumour, but all rumours start somewhere…
Follow @MichaelLamonato on Twitter for the #SpanishGP weekend
Assuming that women are only interested in appearance is insulting; as though they can only appreciate the looks and not actually understand the sport.
For many fans of motorsport, especially Aussies, the Doohan name brings back memories of the legendary multiple time motorcycle world champion Mick Doohan. He…
An already enthralling Formula One silly season in 2024 has taken another twist, with the announcement that Esteban Ocon and Alpine would be parting…
After one of the wildest runnings of the Indianapolis 500 in recent memory, the IndyCar Series kept on rolling to the next stop on…
For so long it seemed as though Charles Leclerc was permanently cursed around the streets of his home circuit, and a breakthrough win would never come.
The Red Bull wasn’t the fastest car for most of the weekend. If anything it was third best, struggling to match the pace of the McLaren’s and Ferrari’s in most of the sessions.
