Miami served up yet one more bitter tablet for Ferrari followers, who as soon as once more needed to abdomen a lacklustre efficiency dressed up with post-race feedback from Frederic Vasseur that hardly mirrored actuality. “The chef,” because the Ferrari devoted have dubbed him, appears decided to maintain serving poorly ready dishes whereas persevering with to current them as connoisseur delicacies. However style—not like phrases—is trustworthy, and the target fact from the monitor doesn’t lie.
Driver administration at Ferrari: the same old mess, adequate for Fred Vasseur
The Group Principal claimed the workforce’s dealing with of its drivers was “good.” But Lewis Hamilton remained caught behind Charles Leclerc for a number of laps after the pit cease, shedding round 1.5 seconds to Andrea Kimi Antonelli throughout an important part of the race when his medium tyres have been at their greatest. The swap ought to have occurred instantly—or higher but, been a part of the race technique from the beginning. The delayed name harm each drivers’ tempo and immediately affected their competitiveness within the ultimate phases.
Even Lewis Hamilton himself, each over workforce radio and later with a cooler head, identified the flawed execution. Charles Leclerc, for his half, prevented talking a lot over the radio to stop his frustration from being broadcast dwell. A lot for “all the pieces was good”—this was extra like groping at nighttime whereas the stopwatch instructed a really totally different story.
The automobile? SF-25, a damaged promise
In response to Fred Vasseur, Ferrari’s race tempo was consistent with Mercedes and Purple Bull. However actuality paints one other image: greater than 57 seconds behind the winner and over 20 seconds adrift of the highest Mercedes and Purple Bull. For about ten laps, the SF-25 appeared respectable. However the remainder of the race shortly dispelled that phantasm. You possibly can’t decide a 57-lap race primarily based on one brief stint—particularly not within the closing laps, when others are managing tyres and gas.
In the meantime, Charles Leclerc continues to state that he’s extracting all the pieces he can from the automobile, and that with out actual updates, there’s no approach ahead. “We’re getting essentially the most out of it,” he retains repeating—a sentiment in stark distinction with the phrases of Ferrari’s workforce principal, who insists on downplaying the problem and speaking about some legendary “untapped potential.”
When advertising drives the narrative
At this level, what we’re witnessing appears to be like much less like a failed technical plan and extra like a fastidiously crafted communications technique, the place picture issues greater than outcomes. Nobody dares admit that the mission has failed—sponsors should be reassured, and the subsequent spherical of merchandise should nonetheless be offered to loyal followers who all the time help the crimson automobiles.
However true Ferrari followers, who follow the workforce even in arduous instances, deserve honesty—not statements that haven’t any hyperlink to the information. The parable that Ferrari is near being the second-best workforce should finish. Persevering with to promote hopes which can be repeatedly shattered by information not solely fails to ship outcomes—it drives away supporters who have been misled by daring predictions and triumphant declarations made at first of the season, when the outcomes have been nonetheless zero.
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