In 1988, weeks after team founder Enzo Ferrari's death, the Gods looked down on the Italian outfit, and with a little help from Jean-Louis Schlesser, served up the perfect pick-me-up for the Maranello squad and the tifosi, gifting drivers Gerhard Berger and Michele Alboreto a home 1-2. It was the only race that season that McLaren failed to win.

Sadly, to mark the occasion of Ferrari's 1,000th Formula One World Championship race, there were no such gifts from above, indeed, to add to their misery team members were forced to sit through an abysmal celebratory event the night before.

For this most historic of events, the Scuderia could only manage 8th and 10th, and were it not for the retirements of Verstappen, Sainz and Stroll it is entirely possible that neither of the burgundy cars would have finished in the points.

No wonder then that Ferrari CEO, Louis Camilleri is unable to give the team or its fans any cheer.

"Realistically, it's going to be tough," he admitted, as he pondered not only this season, but next year also as the rules remain virtually unchanged.

"In Formula 1 we're always fighting time, on track and in development," he continued. "There's no magic bullet. It will take time.

"I'm hoping with a bit more flexibility in the regulations next year we can at least step it up from where we are," he added.

"Mercedes, hats off to them, they've done an incredible job, we'll see in 2022 with the new regulations whether it creates a reset.

"We are in a hole now," he admitted, "we know we are in a hole. It's a confluence of factors, but anything I say will come across as excuses. And we're not into excuses.

"What matters is to focus on the issues we have, to work hard with determination to get to what we consider to be our rightful place."

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by Wokingchap, 19/09/2020 10:48

"If you cheat or lie, it always comes back at you.
Serves them right."

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2. Posted by Great_white_shark, 15/09/2020 21:46

"@gcdugas if aero wasn't a problem they would at least be faster than their customer teams and they would not struggle so much between Saturday and Sunday. They can't get the right balance for the car and they admitted they had aero issues so it is not really a matter of opinion. They are struggling at every level. Be it engine, aero or strategy. Nothing is working for them at the moment but it is made more apparent by their massive lack of straight line speed which gave them a huge advantage last year. "

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3. Posted by Rock Doc, 15/09/2020 21:15

"They are obviously not making any effort with this years car. Hopefully they can make some headway by getting a really early start on next years car."

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4. Posted by @R1Racing71, 15/09/2020 21:03

"Yup, they are in a massive hole and it could have been oh so much more worse.
I’m not sure Ferrari are comfortable in this brave new world, with the likes of Mercedes and red bull demanding the FIA keep them honest (as much as they can)
Not so long ago they would have got away with it, and I suspect at least another championship would have been added to the trophy cabinet.
See, not all bad in the new world after all is it?"

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5. Posted by Barslug, 15/09/2020 17:43

"In other news: water is wet.
I really wish they would release the findings of the investigation! Just how bad were they cheating?????"

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6. Posted by gcdugas, 15/09/2020 17:35

"They need more power. Whatever that engine fine was about last year, it must have been a big no-no because it seems that all the Ferrari engined cars lost about 50-60bhp. Haas is at the rear of the grid, Alfa Romeo are right there with them. This is an engine problem, not a chassis or aero problem."

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"We are in a hole," admits Ferrari's CEO

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