Ferrari CEO Benedetto Vigna came out with a scathing assessment of his team's performance in the 2022 F1 season.
"I said it at the last quarterly, I'm not satisfied with the second place because the second is the first of the losers," said Benedetto Vigna when speaking to CNBC.
Ferrari had a bit of a mixed bag in the 2022 season, showing great signs of improvement from the previous season where they finished third and 250 points behind second-placed Red Bull.
The 2022 season saw them finish in second place in the constructor standings and 205 points behind Red Bull, which is a definite improvement but disappointing for the most successful F1 team in the competition's history. The driver standings weren't very close either with Max Verstappen winning the championship quite early, unlike the previous season where it went right down to the wire and brought a whole legion of new fans to the sport.
Formula One's profile as a sports and entertainment entity has grown greatly in the USA over the last year or so. This is in no small part because of the popularity of Netflix's Drive To Survive series, which has opened up an easy entry path to those who were unfamiliar with the sport.
This rise has coincided with that of the sports betting industry in the country, which has been characterized by rapid adoption by the states. Results of this parallel rise are especially visible in the newly launched Maryland online betting scene, where Futures markets are already out for the 2023 F1 season. Verstappen is favored heavily, with short odds of -125 on BetMGM, while Ferrari's Charles Leclerc (+700) and Carlos Sainz Jr. (+2500) are the fourth- and fifth-placed drivers on the odds list - something Ferrari will be painfully aware of as they look to change up in 2023.
Ferrari had a decent start in the 2022 season
Ferrari showed a lot of promise at the start of the season by getting a 1-2 finish in Bahrain - Leclerc also started the season exceedingly well. Part of the hype surrounding Ferrari was magnified by Mercedes having porpoising issues in pre-season, and not looking like the unbeatable team from previous seasons once the races had started.
All of that early progress was undone when team strategy and car performance constantly underwhelmed as the season progressed. Things came to a head in Hungary when Team Principal Mattia Binotto and driver Leclerc pointed the finger at altogether different factors when asked to provide an assessment of the team's performance.
Things didn't seem to be in sync across the structural hierarchy, and that's added to the pressure that already comes with representing Ferrari. In Leclerc, there's a belief that Ferrari have a driver who is capable of winning a championship. His frustration was palpable across the season, and most fans have felt sympathy for the Monegasque.
Ferrari are already at the start of their rehaul
While they might have hoped to keep team principal Binotto in the team for his technical expertise, the Italian resigned from his position on November 29 after 28 years with Ferrari.
Binotto has been feeling the ire of F1 media and Ferrari fans for months now. It had been reported that Binotto wasn't going to accept a demotion, and would prefer a resignation. Frederic Vasseur of Alfa Romeo has been considered as a potential replacement.
Ferrari has a lot to figure out before the next season starts, and it looks like their CEO isn't one to mince words going by his latest statements. He did acknowledge that improvements were made, but the overwhelming feeling is that the 2022 season was a missed opportunity for Ferrari; the brand that was synonymous with this sport has now gone 14 years without a championship.
