Two former Ferrari drivers have questioned the team's supposed resurgence, with the Italian squad so far winless in 2016.
After surpassing their own expectations with three wins in 2015, many expected Ferrari to challenge for the title this season. While they have been front runners in terms of pace, the team has so far failed to reach the top step of the podium.
Speaking to German newspaper Bild am Sonntag, former driver Gerhard Berger said he could see the situation that Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel currently finds himself in.
"It may happen quickly, or it may not happen at all," he said. "What I do know is that I worked at Ferrari for many years and I was in exactly the same situation as Vettel is now - sometimes I won, but mostly I did not."
"There is always a lot of pressure from above," The Austrian added. "Jean Todt managed to lead a team with Michael Schumacher and Rory Byrne and Ross Brawn that shielded this pressure from top to bottom and so it was a very successful time. But it seems to me as it Ferrari is back where it was with me: Italian confusion."
Alain Prost, who replaced Berger at Ferrari in 1990 echoed the Austrian's sentiments, saying that the team needs stability to move forward.
"I can sum it up in one sentence: real stability at Ferrari is very difficult," The Frenchman told Minute-Auto.fr. "We see that when there is this nervousness, this is not a team that manages it in the best way,"
"This is a team that needs confidence to move forward and become again the steamroller that it was in the time of Todt, Brawn and Schumacher," he added.
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Replies (3)
Login to replymclarenfan1968
Posts: 1,027
Can't argue with that. Some will be quick to state Alain would say that anyway as he has an axe to grid with Ferrari but really Ferrari are their own worst nightmare. The pressure is not really from top management, top management is reacting to pressure from the gutter press. It's that simple.
Ferrari have made up those BS mythology kind of culture back at Italy to such an extent that they have their disciples in the press dissenting or showing some sort of privileged attitude to command or direct their misplaced sense of entitlement as to what Ferrari can or cannot do. The amount of power the press has been afforded by Ferrari is repulsive. This joke of a team is being held ransom by cronies and morons in the press and they have only themselves to blame. Of course the pressure is high because they made their own grandiose pedestal and made a fictitious myth that they cant even realistically maintain. For a long while now their little creation has gotten out of hand and is seeking to play polemics at Ferrari's expense.
It's time to stick a blunt knife into the groins of those parasites in the press, show them no interest and never invite them to events like vaaaroom or whatever the nonsense that they do each year. If they really must then make it a fan only event, no press allowed. Then you will begin to see results. No more pressure and no more pestering from the gutter press as they will have gotten bored from the total lack of attention from Ferrari and will have moved on to something else where they sorry existence get noticed.
Ferrari will not win anything consistently ever until they change their ways on how they deal with these a-holes. The knee jerk reactionary attitude will not get them anywhere. Anything they do win is just a result of a fluke and/or some extraordinary brilliance by the drivers. Only a total goof ball would hand 3 races in a season to a rival on a stupid strategy call. This isn't the prancing horse it's prancing donkey.
nicovanos
Posts: 61
'Ross Brawn that shielded this pressure from top to bottom and so it was a very successful time' that says it all.
khasmir
Posts: 893
That actually makes a lot of sense. Considering all the wild claims and expectations from Marchionne... He needs to back off and stick to the background, if he's not part of the solution then he is part of the problem.