There is no question that Ferrari had a bad weekend at Australia but from reading some of the Italian newspapers you’d think Ferrari had donned Black-shirts and ushered in a new Fascism ala’ Mussolini.
It has always been a passion for Italians; Ferrari. And it should be! They are the pinnacle of Italian engineering and motorsport. Ferrari represents something intangible and yet it clings to you like a new pair of David Coulthard’s Australian underwear. A pride and a sense of national identity. For those reasons you can understand the passion and as always, when Ferrari do have a misstep, the Italian Press never ceases to pounce like a McLaren piloted by Lewis Hamilton.
Perhaps Ferrari need to vitriol from their fan base to keep them frosty. Maybe then look to the Italian Press for motivation and rely on them for insight to what they should do in the future. This has always been the way the Italian Press has treated Ferrari for as long as I can remember. It has always gushed when the Scarlet Marque does well and scoffed, spit and threw stones when it placed a foot wrong. The pressure poor Stefano must be feeling.
Truth be known, Ferrari need the presses jibes about as much as Jean Todt needs that red Jumper in a Malaysian Grand Prix. Ferrari know exactly what they are doing and no marque can claim absolute dominance for 50 years. Teams ebb and flow with personnel changes, car designs that work or don’t work and struggles with technical regulations. Was it not less than 5 years ago that McLaren made a car that no one saw? It happens from time to time. I think Ferrari is finding what life without Todt, Brawn, Byrne and Schumacher is really like. It will take time to gel the new team and without the dynamic personality of Michael Schumacher; that time may be the 2008 season…But I doubt it. Let’s see what happens in Spain.
The sports daily La Gazzetta dello Sport “disaster” strewn with “incredible errors”.
“Ferrari, you must immediately improve!” Corriere dello Sport demanded.
Tuttosport “great debacle”
La Repubblica “the first Sunday without Jean Todt” was a “black start” for the Italian outfit.
Tuttosport “Raikkonen was a shadow of himself and Massa inattentive. Not since 1992 has Ferrari started a season so badly,”
