I didn't want to be the one typing up this post, but, I guess it is time I did. I've always been a strong Ferrari supporter and will still be for the time to come. There have been times I had been put into a tough spot by my other F1 fanatic friends while talking F1 – the Rubens/Michael "let him pass" incident, a whole season of problems in the past couple of years etc. The team has always been passionate about racing through its history and I am sure they still are.
The Monza 2007 Grand Prix just finished with the McLarens on top and just Kimi's Ferrari finishing in 3rd. Ferrari had always been strong in Monza, but, I've noticed that they have been on a steady decline in performance on their home circuit! Which is kinda sad!
Does the Scuderia Ferrari team miss Michael Schumacher, Ross Brawn and N. Stephney? They still have a strong set of people in Jean Todt, Kimi Raikonnen, Felipe Massa and the rest of the gang! The car seems to be strong on some circuits and absolutely terribly horribly weak on many others standing no match to the McLarens. The tyres, well, they are common to all teams, so that doesn't matter really. The mechanical package is unreliable. You somehow feel the unstability when one of the cars is slowing down. The two drivers are very good. You can't really get a better set of drivers than Kimi and Massa. Jean Todt and the rest of the crew have looked sharp as usual, except for the Massa "Oops! Forgot the fuel" incident. So what is really going wrong? The energy looks to be missing and that passionate team of 2003-2005 looks to be missing.
Have they been really bothered by the whole Stephney Gate thingy that they are saying to themselves – "Ok, spy satellites have seen us, now, there is no use of strengthening our defences" or aren't they really not as strong as we expect them to be at the end of the season when we need strong fighting performances? Ok, they look stronger than they did in 2005 and 2006, but, it isn't enough. Every team loses it at some point of time and rebuilds the glory. McLaren is doing it most certainly! The grit and determination seems to be lost in the abyss of unreliability. When you know your car is going to break, you really are scared to race with it. I would and I am sure somewhere deep inside the drivers feel it too somewhere deep within. As someone mentioned, all this could be a result of management and team shakeup that happened at the beginning of the season. They could be right.
Next week, it is the Spa Francochamps or the Belgian Grand Prix. Ferrari has always been good there and I hope it'll be a Ferrari 1-2. If the team needs to get back into the championship game, they need to do something about the reliability of the car, which is a major concern. They need to bother more about performing in the race than off the circuit, the car needs to work in all parts of the circuit, especially it needs to be quick over the kerbs and ride them with more speed and stability and the grit and determination to win whatever comes should be in there in true Ferrari passion and style!
All this said, Kimi did well to get to 3rd. He crashed during the free practice and did well to comeback in the race. He rocks! J Massa would have been in the fight too if he hadn't retired due to the car failing on him again. Well, they have a big shot at Spa and I am sure Ferrari will be fighting!
