A new year zero for Ferrari

Binotto’s departure opens up new scenarios at Ferrari, but what is missing for the Scuderia to become truly competitive again?

Like all stories, even the good ones come to an end. The one between Ferrari and Mattia Binotto has been a beautiful and complicated marriage, studded with victories but also disappointments. If on the one hand there are those who celebrate after four years characterised by not a few problems, on the other hand the shadow of worry falls over Maranello.

Too many rumors

From Jonathan Giacobazzi to Frederic Vasseur, many names of candidates filled in the news in recent days. Currently working for Alfa Romeo, the French engineer would be the main suspect to take the place of the outgoing team principal. Many ask themselves if he is the right figure to win back a World Championship that has been missing since 2007. Perhaps even President John Elkann, who is apparently still evaluating various profiles. But what does the red Scuderia really need to get back to being truly competitive for the title? Binotto’s farewell is a sign of change, but will it be enough?

Bad strategies

It is normal to wonder what will be Laurent Mekies’ and Iñaki Rueda’s future. The two figures have been called into question several times due to often incomprehensible decisions. In fact, strategy errors were an important piece of the puzzle of mistakes that helped to roll out the red carpet to Max Verstappen’s confirmation as World Champion. The sporting director and chief strategist are destined to remain at the pit wall even in 2023, but a change is a must to avoid another Silverstone or another Hungary. They represent just two of too many Grands Prix in which Ferrari has failed to bring home the desired result.

Looking for reliability

Every fan has still in mind the images of Leclerc forced to stop his single-seater at Baku, or the car number 55 on fire at Spielberg, signalling that reliability has certainly not been a strong point of the F1-75. Right at the end of the Austrian Grand Prix Mattia Binotto had not hidden his concern for the following races. He left however a glimmer of confidence for the future, which is now uncertain.

On the one hand, no longer being able to count on an experienced figure like the Italo-Swiss engineer is a cause for concern, but on the other, the hope is that the work on the 2023 single-seater will bear fruit. Above all, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz hope so. The two drivers are definetely called upon to do better than last season. For the Monegasque this would mean winning the coveted World Championship that he has dreamed of winning with the red car since childhood.

We need a hierarchy

However, if RedBull managed to win the Championship counting on the invaluable help of Sergio Perez shielding team-mate Max Verstappen, the same cannot be said of Ferrari. A lack of driver hierarchy was perhaps the biggest object of criticism towards the Scuderia. Fans have often clamoured to banish the words ‘our drivers are free to race’ from the Ferrari vocabulary. Leclerc, who this year never stopped believing in the title until mathematics condemned him, deserves to finally fight until the last race against his long-time rival. Even F1 lovers would certainly not mind reliving the recent emotions of the duel between Lewis Hamilton and the future World Champion.

The recipe for a successful Ferrari

Reliability, effective strategies, and a driver hierarchy should therefore be the main ingredients for a Ferrari that can really get back to where it deserves to be. The most successful team in history must no longer be content with second place, because after all, as Enzo Ferrari used to say, second is the first of losers.