“Neither Sebastian Vettel nor Fernando Alonso Won”: Former Ferrari Boss Reveals the Real Reason for Team’s Failures
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When Michael Schumacher retired, Scuderia Ferrari desperately sought out a new star. Kimi Raikkonen briefly filled that role when he took the 2007 world championship and remains as Ferrari’s last F1 champion to date. Even when the team recruited high-profile drivers like Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel, they ultimately fell short of expectations.
Recently, FIA president and former Ferrari team principal, Jean Todt, spoke to Corriere Della Sera about his ex-team. He declared, “Without the car, neither Alonso nor Vettel won. Sebastian won when he had a competitive car (with Red Bull). The same for Schumacher. When he arrived at Ferrari in 1996 he had to wait until 2000 for the title. You can have the talent, but if you don’t have the means, the team, the reliability, you can’t do it. We have to put it all together.”
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Todt Believes that Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso were not at fault
Although Vettel and Alonso are drivers of great caliber, they could never go all the way to the top with Ferrari. The Spaniard could not relive his glory days with Renault, while the German failed to replicate his Red Bull success. In light of this, it is very easy to pin the blame on either driver and say that they were not good enough.
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However, Todt firmly believes that Ferrari is partly to blame for their shortcomings. Over the years, the team has made several small mistakes and they were all costly. Whether it was to do with the car or poor strategy or the teammate gulf, none of this helped their cause.
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Now, with Charles Leclerc as the team’s new star, as well as 2021 signing Carlos Sainz, Ferrari could dream again. Sainz is undoubtedly a hugely talented driver and very consistent. So, the Maranello squad hopes that he can push Leclerc all the way and both drivers can take the fight to Mercedes and Red Bull.