Sebastian Vettel’s victory at the Malaysian GP got myself
and many other Formula 1 fans excited at the prospect of a challenger to the
dominate Mercedes team. If anyone had said to me that the opening fly away races
this season would have been won by anyone other than a Mercedes, I would have told
them to have a word with themselves. However, I am pleased to have been proven
wrong, and that the glorious Ferrari name was seen on the top step of the
podium for the first time since the 2012 Spanish GP. Over the last 6 or 7
years, the team have been in a slow decline, not a Williams style one, but a
decline nevertheless. There are two key factors in this return to form in my
eyes. Number one would be the clear out of staff going from the president down
to the team boss. Number two; the all new driver line up in place at the team
with 4 time World Champion Sebastian Vettel joining Kimi Raikkonen.
Ferrari's last World Championship came back in 2007 when
Kimi Raikkonen won the title at the final round in Brazil. Since then the team
has come close with Felipe Massa in 2008, and Fernando Alonso in 2010 and 2012.
However the emergence of Adrian Newey's dominant Red Bull cars meant titles
were going to be hard to come by. This wasn't made easier by the fact Ferrari
seemed to be living in the past, with a lot of staff that were working at the
team during their dominant spell in the early 2000s. None more so than Luca di
Montezemelo, who was at the helm of Ferrari for 23 years. He announced in
September 2014 that he would be quitting the team and I think this was the best
thing that could have happened to the team. I really admire all the work that
he did for the team, but the man's ideas were like that of a dinosaur. He didn't seem to realise F1's massive
financial issues which, if you've read some of my previous blogs, is something
I have strong feelings about. Di Montezemelo to me appeared to think that there
wasn't a global financial crisis occurring, and that money could be splashed
any time it needed to be. Obviously this isn't the case, and seems to be
something that he couldn't comprehend.
He was criticised by now Ferrari president Sergio Marchionne about the
direction the team, and Ferrari as a whole, was going; a statement I would
agree with. The F1 side of things seemed to be going backwards with an
uncompetitive car being thrown around the track by Fernando Alonso, and him outperforming
the car on several occasions. His decision to appoint Matteo Mattiacci as team
principle to replace Stefano Domenicali was also a mistake. Mattiacci was CEO
of Ferrari's North American road car division, and was a highly respected
figure at Ferrari. To make him team principle was a strange decision to me, as
he seemed to be more involved with the road division rather than the racing
side. This could be seen during race weekends, as he didn't have much to say to
the media or even to his drivers. Alonso said last season that he hadn't spoken
to Mattiacci during the first two weeks or so that he had been in charge.
Mattiacci has now left his role and been replaced by Maurizio Arrivabene.
Arrivabene has impressed me in his two race weekends this season. I've heard more interviews in this time than
I did with Mattiacci during the whole of last season. During his interviews you
can tell he is a man who wants to win, and this attitude will surely give the
whole team a confidence lift and the encouragement to kick on and win more
races this season.
With the two new bosses in place they decided to employ a
new multiple World Champion to take the team forward. Fernando Alonso's
relationship with the Scuderia was thinning by the end of their time together
and it was time for a change. Enter 4 time World Champion Sebastian Vettel.
This is exactly what Ferrari needed during this revamping period for two
reasons. Number one, Alonso fell out of love with Ferrari. When he joined the
team in 2010, I thought “Wow!! Records are going to be broken with this
partnership!” For me Alonso is the best all round driver on the grid, and his
partnership with Ferrari made me think we could see another Schumacher/Ferrari
domination spell. Somehow this dream duo couldn't muster even 1 title. Although
he should have won the title in 2010 and 2012 in my opinion, he was beaten to
it due to conservative Ferrari strategies under the old guard. You could tell
from Alonso's interviews and body language that this isn't what he signed up
for and was considering his options. This is something that you can't have in a
team sport where the interests of one man are greater than the teams. I am not
saying that Alonso thought he was bigger than the team, but during certain
interviews in 2013 and last year, you could clearly sense the frustration. The
famous "tweaking the ear" incident between di Montezemelo and Alonso
where di Montezemelo said he had to have a word with Alonso over a remark he
made about the team is a massive stand out sign showing the strained
relationship. Number two; politics. At every team Alonso has been at, he has
had to be the number one driver and have the special treatment, and this again
was not working at Ferrari any more. He had this under Domenicali where he was
famously handed a race win in Germany in 2010. The public strain between the
two parties showed that politics weren't playing in Alonso's favour any more.
The teams decision to sign up Vettel was a brilliant one. Vetted, disillusioned
by his poor season last year off the back of 4 consecutive titles, meant he
needed something new as well. The two were meant to be for this season. Vettel
seems to have brought a calm and relaxed atmosphere to the team along with
their new team boss. Ferrari seem revitalised by all of these massive changes
and look ready to try and take the challenge to Mercedes this year, although we
can't get carried away by one victory. There is still a lot of hard work ahead
of them but this victory is a fantastic start.
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