Originally Posted by
ramesh
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Ctrl-Alt-Delete. How Ferrari must wish it could activate such a command. Formula 1's longest-serving team is in freefall and showing no signs of being able to stop itself imploding.
The end of 2015 was rosy. Ferrari finished the year with three wins to its name, having established itself as the clear second-best outfit while memories of its winless campaign the previous season were consigned to history.
Technical director James Allison was building for the future and had even signed a contract extension to keep him at Maranello until the end of 2018. It seemed he was applying his touch to an organisation that had too many rough edges. The simple things were starting to be done right, a solid foundation built.
But for the man at the top, things were not happening fast enough. Ferrari president Sergio Marchionne wanted success. He wanted a first championship since 2008's constructors' crown. And he wanted it now. That heaped the pressure on the team to deliver.
So when Ferrari cocked up its strategy to throw away a possible win in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, things began to unravel. This did not go down well with the Italian press, which started to stick the boot in. This in turn frustrated those inside Ferrari, who seem to be so concerned about what they write, and made the whole situation worse.
Strategy has been a weak point all season and was again evident in Germany when Sebastian Vettel questioned the wisdom of trying to jump a driver eight seconds up the road with an early pitstop.
Marchionne, an automotive man, has got involved, trying to apply his methodology in a bid to achieve success. But he is not a racer. The methods used in the corporate world will not necessarily work in sport. He should also be more open to the lead times required to achieve success, considering his work in the road car division.
It's not a case of being slow-moving but rather strategising and making good decisions before allowing time for those plans to play out over a few years. Sometimes, things don't need to change. A lot of the success that came in 2015 was a result of the changes made by those who were ousted by Marchionne.
On the evidence of its current form, Marchionne should have let things play out for a bit. Part of the reason why Ferrari had so much success between 2000-04 was that then team boss Jean Todt shielded the race operation of Maranello from Luca di Montezemolo, allowing then technical director Ross Brawn to get on with his job. Allison was afforded no such luxury.
There is also doubt about whether Maurizio Arrivabene is the man to lead Ferrari. He does not appear to inspire his workforce or have an idea of what to do to get his team out of this mess. He is the latest in a long line of team principals who have struggled to get things under control.
Since Todt was promoted out of his role at the end of 2007, we've had Stefano Domenicali, Marco Mattiacci and Arrivabene over the next nine years. Domenicali was forced into resigning after a poor start in 2014, while Mattiacci only got eight months before he was shown the door.
When Brawn left at the end of Schumacher's final Ferrari season in 2006, Aldo Costa took over but during 2010, Pat Fry was brought in as his assistant before also taking on Chris Dyer's as head of track engineering. Di Montezemolo needed a scapegoat after the strategy blunder that cost Fernando Alonso the 2010 championship. Dyer was that man.
Costa then got the axe in early 2011 when Ferrari's start to the season was deemed not good enough. Costa is now at Mercedes, playing a key role in its dominance.
Fry took over as director of chassis, but he was then moved into an engineering director role when Allison joined in 2013. Fry was then ousted in December 2014, to be replaced by Jock Clear once he could be released from his Mercedes contract.
Chief designer Nikolas Tombazis and Hirohide Hamashima - a former Bridgestone F1 tyre chief brought on to aid with tyre understanding - were also dumped as part of a reshuffle at the end of 2014 as Marchionne, who had taken over from Di Montezemolo, rung the changes. The door to Maranello has been a revolving one.
Ferrari is simply too impatient. It makes bad decisions. It does not learn from its mistakes. Allison's departure is just another example of that. Allison is arguably the second-best technical director in the paddock behind Adrian Newey. So if he is suggesting to find a way forward, it is likely to have merit.
Marchionne didn't fancy hanging around waiting to find out. The relationship broke down and Allison left the company, with a period of gardening leave expected to be followed by a return to a rival team.
Drafting in Mattia Binotto, known to be a supporter of Marchionne's philosophy, is not a solution but rather a stop-gap. He has done a tremendous job with the engine department, which is arguably the strongest area inside Maranello at the moment. But to get him to oversee the overall car concept at a time when F1 is undergoing a huge aerodynamic rule change is a big ask.
This latest upheaval will require time for Ferrari to settle again, while as Clear has said, everyone will have to rally round to "cover the gaps" in the wake of Allison's departure.
A squad of Ferrari's quality should not be covering gaps, but instead pushing on.
It should have a plan, one that it commits to following through, that sets it up for the long term. It shouldn't flit from one thing to another, getting rid of someone to placate the Italian media. It cares too much about what they think. It seems to be part of Ferrari culture to seek quick fixes and lay easy blame.
That in turn leads to staff getting worried about getting the sack and deflecting responsibility rather than knuckling down and working on a fix. How can a technical weakness be solved if nobody will admit to it because they fear for their job? It's a ridiculous situation. There is believed to have been a similar culture at Brackley during the Honda days before an overhaul when it became Brawn GP for 2009 and then the works Mercedes outfit.
Red Bull had a decent season in 2014, winning three races, but was nowhere last year as its Renault power unit let it down. Did it respond by sacking Adrian Newey, overhauling its design team and trying something new? Of course not. It retained its faith in the people that have the experience and have delivered success in the past.
It was fortunate in that Renault continued to supply it, even after the way it was treated by Red Bull, and got on top of its problems to produce an improved engine. That combined with the class-leading chassis has allowed Red Bull to recover and it is now positioning itself as Mercedes' closest challenger.
"Let us work in peace," begged Arrivabene in Hungary as the pressure mounted on the outfit. It was a strange thing to say given Ferrari has always had huge pressure from the media and its loyal fanbase. It hints at a lack of understanding for the job in hand. There is little chance of Ferrari being left alone. What the team principal has to do is shield his staff from that and just get on with it.
Ferrari has the ability to get things right. Its run of titles during the 2000-04 era is proof of that. It has also shown that it can get on top of things technically, with the steps it has made in the engine department of late the proof.
But when it comes to aero, it doesn't appear to have a clue. You have to go back to 2008 to find the last season when it had the best car. Since then, only in 2010 has it truly had a chassis capable of challenging for the title. There is no consistency. But given the number of changes Ferrari has undergone behind the scenes that is unsurprising.
What must Sebastian Vettel be thinking? When he signed for Ferrari, Di Montezemolo was president, Mattiaci team boss and Allison in charge of the chassis. They've since all gone and Ferrari appears to be in disarray.
Meanwhile, his old team Red Bull is getting its act together and looks well-placed to be in title contention next year. McLaren-Honda is making progress, which although slow is at least encouraging. Mercedes looks like it'll be at the front for a while.
Ferrari, though, needs to enter 'safe mode' to reevaluate, but looks closer to hitting self-destruct button.
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Forza Ferrari !
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