Despite starting on pole on 12 occasions this season, Ferrari has only managed to get four victories. It seems the title hopes have now collapsed for Ferrari, due to the string of mechanical issues, poor tactical choices, and driver errors. Amidst the misery, a former Ferrari driver gave salient advice to Scuderia about Mercedes and Red Bull’s management.
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Former Ferrari driver Gerhard Berger urged Ferrari to re-evaluate its structure. The Maranello-based team needs to remodel its way to triumph to compete with Red Bull and Mercedes. He believes Scuderia has got all the sources, drivers, and spirit required to be a top team, and it is just the management that they need to reassess.
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To paint you a picture, the Ferrari Duo of Charles Leclerc, and Carlos Sainz had performed splendidly on the tracks by securing 16 podiums. Although they still trail behind Red Bull by 137 points.
Seeing this, and also being impressed by Christian Horner & Toto Wolff, Berger said, “You need multiple shoulders that the load needs to be spread over at the top, like Red Bull with Helmut Marko, Christian Horner and Adrian Newey.” (translated using Google).
“It’s the same with Mercedes F1. They’re a great team that I’m sure will be back in the fight for the championship next year. But at Ferrari, they get in the way of their own way.”
DIVE DEEPER
It takes a lot of effort to build a team. Mattia Binotto surely succeeded in making Ferrari what it looks like this season compared to the previous seasons. However, if we talk about the Silver Arrows, their situation is completely different from Ferrari’s. After the last year’s fierce battle for the championships, nobody would have thought that the 8 time world champions will suffer this season.
Did Mercedes’ Blunder Cost George Russell a Podium?
The season is going badly for Mercedes. The star Mercedes driver seems to be struggling this season. Despite starting from the second row at Singapore Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton ended at P9.
And it was no different for his teammate George Russell. Starting at P20, due to an engine penalty, the young Brit tried to make his spot up to the front grid. Unfortunately for him, Mercedes’ gamble with the slick tires early in the race didn’t really work for him.
ZANDVOORT – George Russell (Mercedes) during the 3rd free practice session ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of the Netherlands at Circuit Zandvoort on September 3, 2022 in Zandvoort, Netherlands. REMKO DE WAAL (Photo by ANP via Getty Images)
What little chance he had of getting points for Mercedes ended when he collided with Haas’s Mick Schumacher and punctured his tire.
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He said,” I had the tangle with Mick… I don’t really know what happened there; I felt like I left him plenty of space. We would have probably finished inside the points, because we were flying and got the fastest lap at the end by almost two seconds.”
This is the second instance when George Russell finished out of points.
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When asked about how the team is progressing, he said, “We’re making loads of progress as a team, that I’m proud about. We’re here to win races; points are always great.”
If we forget about the misfortunes of Mercedes and the reliability issues of Ferrari, both teams can be considered championship contenders. With just 5 races left in the season, surely both teams will learn from their mistakes and look to make a strong comeback next year.
