Ferrari: immune to criticism? Behind-the-scenes story of tire blanket mystery
09/25/2024 05:39 AM
The Singapore Grand Prix weekend seemed promising for the SF24, but Saturday’s qualifying changed everything. During Q3, a problem with Charles Leclerc’s tire blanket compromised his performance, relegating him to start from ninth place in Sunday’s race. The Monegasque driver realized there was an issue when, after leaving the pits, he noticed the steering wheel showed 10 degrees less than expected. In a post-qualifying interview with Sky, Charles Leclerc mentioned the cold tire issue, an unexpected difficulty until that point.
It’s important to add that after the qualifying session, several images were published confirming the Monegasque driver’s statements. However, on Sunday morning, many newspapers contradicted the Ferrari driver’s version. Moreover, Charles Leclerc himself apologized, admitting he had made a mistake. On top of that, Frederic Vasseur’s statement denied any team error, seemingly putting the entire blame on the driver.
At this point, a natural question arises: why does Ferrari always use the same approach?
Surely the underlying principle of this behavior is to protect the brand and the legacy that Ferrari represents; otherwise, anyone could, as already happens, attack and criticize the actions of the Maranello team. However, malfunctions often occur, something beyond the human error of a team member. Despite this, it’s not enough, and they tend to blame or make the driver take responsibility, assigning fault that isn’t theirs.
Franco Nugnes, director of Motorsport.com, spoke precisely about this topic, stating the following:
“This downward trend is what Ferrari represents today, with these sudden ups and downs, errors that make them furious when you point them out, as if they were being called incompetent, but no one is saying that.”
Franco Nugnes’ statements continue the discussion we were having: Ferrari cannot be criticized in any way because the brand takes priority. However, this cannot be the right attitude for a team that aspires to win or at least tries to be the team that others want to imitate or surpass. Mistakes, whether major or minor, are part of the growth process, and denying them only highlights how Ferrari no longer accepts not being what it was during the times of Enzo Ferrari or the golden era with Jean Todt.
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