As Red Bull get further ahead and results get worse, the pressure will always rise in Maranello. A season of expectation and promise is quickly falling apart for the Scuderia.
For now Maurizio Arrivabene has the vote of confidence of Ferrari CEO, Sergio Marchionne. Yet Sergio is not for suffering fools gladly, and demands success – and quick – from his employees.
The Italian team boss admits that Hungary will be a proving ground in terms of the performance deficit to the Mercedes team, but also claims Ferrari are determined not to fail.
“After Hungary we cannot fool around anymore,” said Arrivabene.
“After that [race], we will understand what chances there are and where we are – and I believe that we cannot fail.
“Earlier in the season we had some problems related to certain components of the power unit, and these were sorted to the point that today our strong point is the engine.
“Now we need to work on reliability and other areas such as the aerodynamics.”
Arrivabene also went on to dismiss the Red Bull renaissance.
“I believe that the progress Red Bull has made is good for F1, because they have helped create more interest and a better show,” he continued.
“But I still think that our goal is to counter the Mercedes and not Red Bull.
“At this stage of the season if we said that we give up it would be wrong. We need to be focused to solve problems, and to do so in tough times.”
The pre-season noise from Sergio Marchionne who was most vocal in his expectations, appears to have been counterproductive to Ferrari’s efforts.
The question is whether the senior ranks at Ferrari will return to playing the blame game. As the pressure mounts, surely heads will once again roll and the Maranello blood be spread far and wide.
By TJ13 contributor Pagie78
Craig.J. Alderson is Senior Editor at TJ13, where Craig oversees newsroom operations and coordinates editorial output across the site. With a background in online sports reporting and motorsport magazine editing, he plays a key role in maintaining consistency, speed, and accuracy in TJ13’s coverage.
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Interesting assessment, Pagie78.
Unwise to dismiss RBR, in my opinion. Unwise to focus on the outcome of one race.
Feeling like not much has changed at Ferrari with respect to the old “now or blood” culture.
Even if they do manage to finish ahead of Mercedes he will look silly if Red Bull are still ahead of Ferrari. He is taking a very short term view because Marchione set very challenging short term targets. In the longer term in 2017 things may be different but Marchione’s axe may have fallen by then, hence the short term focus I suppose. Poor Arrivabene really is on a hiding to nothing.