Ferrari: The Killer of Dreams

17/05/2020
FEATURE BY GUEST AUTHORS

Scuderia Ferrari - on the one hand, is still the most successful and famous team in Formula One. It's the team that every (or most) young hopeful dreams of driving for. Those that win at Ferrari become legends of the sport.

But for every story of success, there are many more of failures. This is a team that burns through driving talent like few others, with precious little to show for it. The news that Sebastian Vettel will be leaving the team after this season (if and when it is ever able to start) means he is the latest victim to return from a spell in red empty handed.

Yes, that may seem presumptuous when there's not actually been any proper racing so far in 2020, but based on the evidence of pre-season testing, combined with Vettel's recent form, and there seems little chance he will be ending his swansong year at Ferrari as champion - not now.

How did we get to this? Only a few years ago everything seemed so harmonious. But, as well as an absence of championship success, that's a common theme for Ferrari in the recent past. They've now had three top tier drivers go there, and fail in the post-Schumacher years.

Of course, you're probably saying that Kimi Raikkonen didn't fail. Signed as Michael Schumacher's replacement for 2007, Raikkonen won on his debut with Ferrari and snatched the title in improbable circumstances as McLaren imploded late in the year. After coming close on a couple of occasions with McLaren, the '07 title should have signalled the start of the Kimi/Ferrari era in earnest. He was, after all, one of the highest earning athletes in the world at that point.

But it didn't take long for the relationship to deteriorate - it began as soon as the very next year, when it felt like Ferrari was already starting to look elsewhere for its next hero. A lacklustre season for Raikkonen, combined with Felipe Massa becoming the team's best hope of the championship - which he won for all of about 30 seconds - cast doubts on how long the Kimi and Ferrari union would last. The fact that the team won the Constructors' championship that year, which is still their most recent success, is now but a footnote in history.

It probably didn't help that Fernando Alonso had become unexpectedly available, following his tumultuous exit from McLaren at the end of 2007. Ferrari probably couldn't believe their luck that they were able to sign the double champion as soon as 2010. Back then, Alonso was considered by many to be the best driver on the grid, and it was surely only a matter of time before he returned the Scuderia to championship success.

But before that came the dismal 2009 season in which the team only narrowly avoided going winless, suffered the unwanted distraction of seeing Massa seriously injured in a horrifying accident, and had the pleasure of paying Raikkonen an exorbitant amount of money to not drive for them for the next season. Yes, Kimi had won the championship for them, but being ditched early in favour of another driver cannot mean his first stint at Ferrari can be considered a total success. Much more had been expected when he'd been announced for the 2007 season, particularly considering the success of the man he was replacing.

Still, the Alonso era started promisingly - he won on his debut (noticing a trend yet?) and was in championship contention all year. There were issues, of course - there always are at Ferrari. This time it was the rather ruthless way in which Alonso established himself as team leader, immortalised in the iconic phrase "Fernando is faster than you" at that year's German race. But this was still the honeymoon period which seemed destined to end in success, only for Ferrari to make a not uncommon strategic blunder in the final race of the year. The championship was handed on a plate to one Sebastian Vettel, and that was that. It was a disappointing way for the year to end - but there was always next season, right?

2011 turned into a near repeat of 2009. Ferrari was left behind in the development race of exhaust blown diffusers, and only secured one win all season as Vettel comfortably romped home for a second straight title. Nevertheless, Alonso continued to operate at a very high level, his determination undimmed.

The 2012 season has already become folklore in the sport's history. It started poorly for Ferrari, which had produced a car that was significantly off the pace of the leading contenders. But the indomitable Alonso dragged the team kicking and screaming to a position it really shouldn't have been in - championship contention.

If not for first corner retirements at Spa and Suzuka, Alonso would have surely been rewarded with a third championship, and a first at Ferrari. Yet as it was he missed out to Vettel yet again by the narrowest of margins in a season finale showdown. Perhaps more than 2010, this was a devastating loss - and probably the start of any doubts Alonso had as to whether he'd ever win a championship at Ferrari.

A fractious 2013 would follow, where Alonso and Ferrari were once again distant runner ups. As Vettel charged to nine straight race victories and a fourth successive title, it seemed as if it was becoming inevitable that Alonso would soon depart the team. Ferrari was so concerned by the prospect, they brought in the rejuvenated Raikkonen to the second car for 2014. Alonso remained for one more year, and Ferrari suddenly appeared to have one of the strongest driver pairings on the grid.

Few would expect that this would coincide with the start of the Mercedes era, and fewer still would expect 2014 to be quite such a disaster - easily Ferrari's worst season in modern history. Raikkonen would prove no match for Alonso, the team would slump to fourth in the competitive order and suffer a winless season. Alonso, who had become increasingly frustrated, would finally depart at the end of the year. How had this combination, which seemed a match made in heaven, failed to win even one championship? It seemed barely conceivable.

Some blamed Alonso - the Spaniard had long held an unfortunate reputation of being a disruptive force and difficult man to work with in challenging times. Others pointed the finger at a lack of leadership at the top. The relatively unheard of Marco Mattiacci, who had little experience within the sport, had been thrust into the unenviable position of principal at F1's biggest pressure cooker.

Change was desperately needed.

Sebastian Vettel entered as the next man to try and turn things around, together with new team boss Maurizio Arrivabene. Vettel, who had made no secret of his desire to emulate his idol Schumacher's success at Ferrari, was also in need of a change of scene after a disappointing 2014 campaign at the previously dominant Red Bull. Once more, things started positively.

Never mind that Mercedes was once again mostly untouchable. Vettel didn't win on his debut, but did take a surprise win in only his second start with the team, in which he proclaimed that "Ferrari's back" in jubilant post-race scenes. Hopes were further raised that Seb would be the one to return the team to greatness with additional consistently strong performances - including an extra two victories - throughout the rest of the season.

Vettel looked reinvigorated, and had re-invented himself as a fan favourite after several years of being the pantomime villain. Ferrari too appeared on the upward curve, emerging as closest (but still distant) challenger to the all-conquering Mercedes.

All this raised expectations for 2016. Yet the season would be summed up in a microcosm at the very first race of the year in Australia. It was a race that Ferrari should, and likely would, have won if not for another tactical blunder during a red flag period. From there followed mechanical problems, collisions, an increasingly irate Vettel, and ultimately a second winless season for Ferrari in three years. Was the dream over already?

Not yet - a change in regulations for 2017, and an improved Vettel, took the fight to Mercedes admirably at the start of the year. He became the first non-Mercedes driver to lead the championship since the end of 2013, and would continue leading until the summer break.

But then the first flashpoint in the Vettel/Ferrari era occurred at a damp Singapore. Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton were on the ascendance and had been eating into Vettel's advantage. Yet at Singapore, with Hamilton off the pace and Vettel on pole, it was the perfect opportunity to reclaim the momentum.

Any hope of that happening was extinguished within seconds of the lights going out. Vettel, after suffering a sluggish getaway, moved across the track aggressively and collided with the fast starting Max Verstappen and his even faster Ferrari teammate, Kimi Raikkonen. The latter two were out at the first corner, with Vettel retiring before he'd even completed a lap. Lewis Hamilton avoided the chaos and won.

It was a crushing blow, and one that took the wind out of Ferrari's sails. Mechanical issues plagued the team for the remainder of the season, which always felt like it was in terminal nose-dive after Singapore. The final points tally didn't accurately show just how close Vettel had come to returning Ferrari to championship glory, but most agreed he had to shoulder some degree of responsibility going into the winter.

2018 should have been the year when the mistakes from the previous year were ironed out. Indeed, once more, things started strongly, with Vettel winning the opening two races and Ferrari appearing even more of a match for Mercedes and Hamilton. Points were needlessly thrown away in several incidents though, but heading into Germany the picture looked positive. No more so than after qualifying when Hamilton had suffered mechanical problems, consigning him to fourteenth on the grid, and Vettel had taken pole.

Then came the second flashpoint. In a race he really should have won, Vettel inexplicably dumped his car in the gravel during a rain shower. Just as in Singapore the previous year, the mistake was entirely his - and Hamilton was the beneficiary once again, taking a dramatic victory.

From then on, Vettel didn't seem the same driver. Yes, there would be another win at Spa, but it was combined with driving errors at Monza, Suzuka and COTA, all of which resulted in Hamilton taking a relatively easy fifth title.

Ferrari began to question whether Vettel was the driver to take them back to championship success. The year ended with another change, Kimi Raikkonen, a close mate of Vettel's, and rarely able to challenge him in previous years, was ditched in favour of hot-shot Charles Leclerc for 2019. Arrivabene was gone as well, with the softly-spoken Mattia Binotto brought in to replace him. Despite all this, it was still expected that Vettel would be team leader, with Leclerc serving as dutiful understudy.

It only took till the second race of the season to prove that this wouldn't be the case. Leclerc took his first pole position, bested Vettel in a wheel-to-wheel fight, and would almost certainly have taken his first victory if not for engine problems. It didn't help that this race featured a full-on Ferrari meltdown, with Vettel suffering yet another driver error and finishing off the podium.

2019 was a year where Ferrari was generally not at the races. It took till the second half of the year for them to finally win a race, but it still became clearer and clearer that Leclerc was Ferrari's best hope. He beat his illustrious team mate for pole positions, race wins, and finished ahead in the championship standings.

This season was one of Vettel's poorest for several years. There were more mistakes - including one in which resulted in a highly controversial penalty at Montreal. Then came Monza. On a day on which Leclerc imperviously held off repeated Mercedes attacks to take Ferrari's first home win since 2010, Vettel spun, was penalised for a collision with Lance Stroll, and finished a lapped thirteenth. As Leclerc stood atop the podium, never was the changing of the guard at Ferrari more evident.

Yes, Vettel would win at the very next race in Singapore, partly through a Ferrari tactical blunder on Leclerc's side, but there were signs of increasing tension within the team. By the time the two collided in Brazil, Vettel's position as undisputed team leader was but a distant memory.

It seemed inevitable that his time at Ferrari was coming to an end, but not as soon as this. Perhaps if this year's season had started on time, a contract renewal would have been a mere formality. Many drivers prefer to get contract renewals sorted quickly, to avoid needless distractions from the racing.

But now, should there even be a season, Vettel is in the strange position of knowing he'll be leaving the team in the very near future. It goes without saying that Ferrari will be keen to further prioritise Leclerc, and further tension seems unavoidable. Just as it did with Alonso, Vettel's time at Ferrari may well be ending in acrimonious fashion.

In many ways, it is remarkable that Ferrari has now failed to win either championship in over a decade. This is a team that wants for nothing - certainly not resources or driving talent, and yet they've now had three successive failures with Raikkonen, Alonso and Vettel.

With every year that passes, and every uncompetitive car and tactical mistake, it becomes clearer that this team is becoming more and more removed from the one it was in those glorious years of the early 2000s. Such were the circumstances, perhaps that era can itself be considered an anomaly. It is the only period of consistent success for Ferrari. Prior to Schumacher, pretty much every single driver's time at Ferrari ended in failure, dating back to 1979. This was a team that had the likes of Jean Alesi, Nigel Mansell, Alain Prost and others driving for them, all resulting in the same level of success as the past decade. That is to say, not much.

Of course, it's easy to overlook the years of struggle and missed opportunity in the early days of the Schumacher era, too. Before Michael won his first title at Ferrari in 2000, his time at the team was balancing precariously on the tightrope between success and failure. Some of the missed titles, such as 1997, were through entirely self-inflicted reasons. The others, including 1996, when the team scored just 15 finishes from 31 starts, '98 and '99, were lost more through a combination of typical Ferrari mistakes and mismanagement, and pure misfortune.

But Ferrari's history is littered with "what ifs" - what if Ayrton Senna had ended up driving for Ferrari, for instance? What if Lewis Hamilton had been at Ferrari instead of Vettel in recent years?

Drivers go to Ferrari, thinking that with its resources, money and history, winning titles is relatively easy. But what they soon find out is that the team is not too different to how Michael found it in his first year in 1996: a mess that takes time to understand, and fix. Regulation changes have meant that the latter often takes so long that most drivers' spirits and patience wear out long before they can reap the rewards that they've dreamed of.

With the current discussion being what F1's budget cap should be set at for future seasons, it becomes evident that any advantage Ferrari once held is being increasingly eroded. Financial might is not merely enough to win championships anymore.

Yet despite this, Ferrari's position will mean there's always a sense of "next man up". There will always be someone wowed by the aura, and prepared to take their chance. Charles Leclerc is now the chosen one, and you can only hope that his prime years won't be wasted like so many others have.

Whether Carlos Sainz can cope with being Leclerc's teammate and the ever-mounting pressure that exists within the team remains to be seen. But based on both recent and ancient history, it would not be a huge surprise to anyone should it take several more departures before we ever see a Ferrari champion again.

Sebastian Vettel is not the first driver to leave Ferrari without winning a title despite coming close, and he almost certainly won't be the last.

James Singleton

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Published: 17/05/2020
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