A step back, or rather two. Monte Carlo, May 26: dominating the Monaco GP, a perfect Ferrari takes home its second victory in eight races, disintegrates Charles Leclerc’s now pathological fast on home roads, underlines a technical concreteness displayed since the beginning of the season and moves to 24 points from the former steamroller Red Bull, which still holds the lead among the Constructors, but in the faded shadow of the arrogance with which, exactly one year earlier, it had more than monopolized the 2023 F1 World Championship.
Spielberg, June 30: Sainz’s third place in the Austrian GP brings smiles and pats on the back in red shirts at the foot of the podium. It doesn’t matter that we had to thank the bumper cars Verstappen-Norris, who were playing for the victory and ended up breaking their horns both.
It doesn’t matter that when hostilities resumed on the track, once the various wreckage lost by the two duelists had been cleared away, there were just four seconds between Russell in first place with the Mercedes and Carlos’ Ferrari, with Piastri exactly in the middle of this gap. There were still a handful of laps to run: the dream of a move by the Spaniard, at least against the McLaren in front of him, sparked at least one dream in the red hearts. But no: positions maintained, and with ridiculous ease both by the driver who would go on to win and by the Australian.
And this Austrian Ferrari was visibly light years away from the dominating one in Monte Carlo, after the trio of successive GPs (Canada, Spain and Austria) had highlighted problems of all kinds: from the inability to quickly get the tyres up to temperature to a new unstoppable bouncing of the single-seater. So what was there to laugh about under the podium in Styria?
Let’s say it right away: here we will express (yet another) motion of confidence towards Fred Vasseur. His pragmatism, his welcoming with forced smiles – usually – everything that is not a victory, but above all the path of objective reinforcement of this Ferrari that he inherited just 18 months ago, can only be respected. But. But…
That the Reds of Barcelona and Spielberg were the fourth force in the World Championship is not very debatable. McLaren and Mercedes seem to have climbed on a missile, and today appear out of reach. And on Sunday here is Silverstone, a circuit that for too many years (except for Carlos’s incredible success in 2022) has not smiled on Ferrari, when twelve months ago Spielberg had been one of the best theaters for the Reds who instead limped there in recent days. So, again: was Sunday evening in Austria really something to laugh about?
The Scuderia today appears to be prey to tension and discontent. Sainz is visibly (and understandably) scorned at having been sidelined in favor of Hamilton for 2025. The team is reeling under the weight of new acquisitions that will draw new hierarchies from the fall: Jerome D’Ambrosio announced as vice team principal generates a lot of dissatisfaction among long-time Ferrari fans who see themselves pushed back in the leadership ranks and found out from a press release; Loic Serra, a mega-valued aerodynamicist, enters the house without the move and choice having been previously shared with anyone on the technical team.
And above all hovers the spirit of Adrian Newey, whose value no one obviously dreams of questioning, but who if he arrives will have a leading role in the future technical balance. Among the results of these earthquakes is the technical director Enrico Cardile who is much talked about as a future departure with direction Aston Martin, even if we understand that to date the offer has certainly been there but the Tuscan technician has more than one doubt. But Radio Scuderia also talks about other possible internal adjustments that could also affect the engine sector for which a very well-known name in England was courted months ago.
Beyond the current results, not exactly brilliant, this is not the Ferrari of ‘consistency’ that Vasseur has always flaunted since his first interview in red. A certain tension in the pits is felt, even if the no-comment regime is in force. But even without official admissions, neither driver was at his level in these last two Grands Prix. Leclerc in Austria even appeared whiny, as he does when he loses his grip on the objective.
Here, we ask Vasseur at least this: maximum confidence in his ability to react, and patience if some colleague has compared this Ferrari of June to Spalletti’s flaccid National team at the ongoing European Football Championship. It’s a bad moment, it will pass. But let him at least give us back a Leclerc at the Leclerc level, not just any Scamacca.
