Ferrari has an interesting piece up at its site that focuses much more on the World Cup than on the Grand Prix.
Here are a few bits:
Here in the paddock at the Montreal circuit, people are already working out how they can fit in watching some of the opening matches around the busy F1 schedule, nowhere more so than in the Ferrari camp, as one would expect from an Italian team with one Brazilian and one Spanish driver, thus representing three of the strongest football nations on the planet. To mark the occasion, today, Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro organised a special “World Cup Press Conference†with both its drivers, in the team’s trackside hospitality unit.
Now, this could be a Rossi-esque post — meaning, as Grace pointing out in this week’s podcast, that Ferrari managed within hours of Valentino Rossi’s big-old crash last weekend to get something up that connected the MotoGP star and Maranello — in which Ferrari is just trying to get a little World Cup bump. (Hey! It worked!)
But it also could hint that there will be distractions a plenty this weekend. Don’t forget, there’s that Le Mans race going on, too. (As I’m sure you can tell, Giancarlo Fisichella has not done so well that he’s getting noticeable mention at Ferrari. Poor Fisi!)
And I do, to an extent, mean this all somewhat seriously. There seems to be a growing opinion that Ferrari’s team leadership is to blame for its lack of pace over the last two seasons. No more Jean Todt. No More Ross Brawn. No more Rory Byrne. With them in charge, the World Cup would have been on the DVR back home in Maranello. (Digression: Wouldn’t it be awesome if like Pavarotti sang “Back Home in Maranello” before the Italian GP?) But under the current leadership? Heck, Stefano Domenicali just might be the one organizing the pitlane pool.
And the same could be true at other teams, it’s just that Ferrari had the PR smarts to ride the World Cup bandwagon.
So, Your View: Do you think there might be extra distractions, for Ferrari or any other team, this weekend due to the World Cup starting?
