Recently, former F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone spoke about the Scuderia Ferrari team. In conversation with the Daily Mail, the Briton had a few interesting things to say about the Italian outfit. He believes that his good friend Flavio Briatore would be an ideal team principal for Scuderia Ferrari.
For a fairly long time, the iconic Italian marquee have endured a run, with their last driver’s championship in 2007. During the Michael Schumacher era from 2000 to 2004, they were utterly dominant. After 2 years of Renault taking over the reigns, Ferrari returned for one last hurrah to claim the 2007 F1 drivers’ title. They also took the F1 constructors’ championship a year later.
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Sadly, their title run has dried up since then, despite occasionally producing strong cars. Last year was no exception, as they undid their hard work with an error-strewn campaign. The feud between their drivers Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc, did not help matters either..
Speaking about team principal Mattia Binotto, Ecclestone believes that he is not the right man to lead a team of Ferrari’s calibre. He thinks that since Binotto is an engineer, he is not the right fit. Ecclestone affirmed, “They need someone in there who can make people understand that when you say something it happens. Not maybe. Or a discussion.”
“I would have got Flavio Briatore to run Ferrari. Flavio would do what he always did with Benetton and Renault: he’d steal the best people from other teams. The problem is that in the end, Flavio would have let people think Ferrari belonged to him.”
What riddles do Ferrari need to solve?
One of the biggest problems is the scales tipping violently. In other words, juggling Vettel’s waning form and Leclerc’s meteoric rise has been a challenge. Vettel is still regarded as the numero uno, so there is bound to be an ego clash when the young upstart starts performing better than his experienced teammate.
Ferrari’s mishandling of the situation led to the dramatic coming together at the penultimate race in Brazil. Though things have calmed down between the two, there is no telling whether Ferrari may experience a sense of deja vu.
Speaking about the clash, Ecclestone said, “Sebastian did a shitty job and I told him so. He finished where he deserved [fifth]. Ferrari favoured [Charles] Leclerc, 100 per cent. They fall in love with a driver there and it is hard for the other guy. A lot of things went on against Sebastian.”
He also spoke about the Canadian Grand Prix, where Vettel got flustered and lost a surefire win to Lewis Hamilton. The 89-year old concluded, “The business in Canada upset Sebastian. He thought Ferrari should have backed him more and got stuck in. He’s right.”
