Frenchman Jean Alesi believes there is no point in criticising Scuderia Ferrari, with the former F1 and Ferrari driver saying it does “no good” for the Italian team. They should support their team as he points his finger at the Italian supporters.
In recent weeks, Scuderia Ferrari has come under fire for controversial strategic decisions in races such as the last Grand Prix in Budapest, Hungary, where Ferrari put hard tyres on Charles Leclerc’s car at a time when the Monegasque was fighting for a potential victory. In the end, Leclerc crossed the finish line in sixth place that day after seeing the performance of his car drop rapidly once he was on the track on hard tyres.
Between poor reliability and strategic blunders, Ferrari has ‘stolen’ 108 points from Leclerc since the start of the year, while the Monegasque himself is responsible for losing 32. But rather than criticise Ferrari, Jean Alesi called on the Tifosi to show their love.
“I want to address the angry and disappointed Ferrari fans,” says Alesi,
“It’s a rollercoaster season and that heightens the emotions and reactions. Dreaming of a victory turns a defeat into a sporting drama with a passion that reminds me of football cheers,” Jean Alesi told Corriere della Sera.
“I suffer thinking about Hungary. The weather changed the performance and there were mistakes even before the strategy. But criticising Ferrari is not good for any fan, it does not bring anything good to the team. I say this understanding every explosion because passion is made of strong feelings. We could analyse the race to try to understand the how and why but now it’s not necessary.”
“It serves rather, for my part, as an invitation to hold on, to consolidate, not to destroy. Because negativity brings no good, ever. Now I want to love this Ferrari because the Ferrari men are the first to suffer for every defeat, for every mistake that leads to a defeat.”
After the Hungarian Grand Prix, Scuderia Ferrari still sits second in the constructors’ championship, 97 points behind Red Bull and 30 points ahead of Mercedes.
I disagree Mr. Alesi ! The team has no excuses for screwing up Tire Strategy. If other teams can get it right then so can Ferrari, the longest running team in F1 with the worst personnel and decision making. Mattia has made bad decisions. What, you want to be a Team Principal or Ferrari’s PR man? Go for it!
As much as Jean Alesi is being a loyal Ferrari Homer, there needs to be accountability within thebScuderia. If you repeated strategies your way out of victories and/or podium places then THERE. SHOULD. BE. ACCOUNTABILITY.
I don’t agree, he last raced for Mercedes if I remember correctly. He is just being honest, I have to agree, there’s absolutely no point in negativity.There is more than enough negativity in the Italian press.
The team should not position themselves as victim of criticism. If the team doesn’t change mindset and do nothing to correct the malfunctioning team and race management,they will only keep looking for excuses and waste the great work done by the factory and Charles.
The fans know from way back Seb & Kimi & Charles pairings how drivers’ performance depreciate with bad strategy , mostly against driver’s thinking. How come it is difficult for Mattia to immediately acknowledge mistake ? Now, it’s happening to the Charles – Carlos pair .
There have been many problems with reliability and driver pairings at all teams. Ferrari specifically with Mansell & Prost, the new (at the time) semi automatic gearboxes were unreliable, Prost was considered the No.1 driver (by himself) but Mansell was far better.
I think all F1 fans already knew what Ferrari is capable this season and the results that come race after race. Challenges such as weather, strategy, tactics, setup changes, tyre management is something that Ferrari as a top level team should be able get on top to win. Yeah, mistakes happened and as a human, you cant runaway from it but how many more time of mistakes you need to realised during this season that there’s similarity about why the team fumbles during race when the quali was so good?
There’s a rock that stunted the gears in Ferrari and you guys should address it. Maybe Ferrari doesnt want to make it a public thing thus blaming it on the car’s pace and fix it internally we never know. Let’s see after this break, if Binotto’s casual remark to win the next 10, 9 races ever came true. With RBR top form this season and Mercedes rise, this is the only season you have only 1 team to challenge. After this season, i think at least 5 teams can compete for the championship and it will be even more harder.
Ferrari is recognized as a international icon. No matter were you go in this world just say Ferrari and see what happens. They deserve criticism from all. So the poor me doesn’t play well.