Ferrari has so far suffered a poor start to the 2023 Season. Marquee driver Charles Leclerc was forced to retire in the season opener after an engine issue, while Carlos Sainz finished 4th.
Leclerc and Sainz finished 7th and 6th in Saudi Arabia. But the duo is still miles away from competing against Red Bull. The SF-23 looks much slower than the RB19 and has already suffered from reliability issues.
Coming off a great campaign in 2022, the Maranello-based team was expected to be a contender this season. But so far, their rebound to the winning races has flopped.
It looks like the 15-time F1 champions will be competing against Mercedes and Aston Martin this year. And former Renault and Benetton Boss Flavio Briatore believes it’s high time the top brass and management of the team took their F1 hopes seriously.
Ferrari ownership is to blame for the team’s problems
Flavio Briatore claims every year, Ferrari shows determination to fight for the title. But the challenge fizzles out within a few races. And this was the case after their 2022 season ended positively.
The former Renault and Benetton Team Principal claims the team lacks ambition. The Italian says F1’s legacy constructor’s ownership also neglects the team’s problems.
Briatore said, “I don’t Ferrari’s ownership is involved in the team. It is not enough to change in a single year. We need characters of weight in the team, now there are none.”
Ferrari lacks experienced personnel in the team. Briatore claims Ferrari took 10-12 personnel from Benetton, including high-profile names like Michael Schumacher, Ross Brawn, and Nikolas Tombazis.
Briatore claims they do not have any leaders like Schumacher or Jean Todt within the team. And the team’s sacking of Mattia Binotto also has not helped the team so far.
He added, “Binotto had done a good job, last year Ferrari was competitive. But then he concentrated too many responsibilities on himself and this created problems.”
Flavio Briatore talks about Fred Vassuer & Charles Leclerc
Ahead of the 2023 season, Ferrari announced Fred Vassuer as their new Team Principal. Flavio Briatore believes the Frenchman will be a capable leader for the team.
The Italian commented, “I know him quite well: he is a hard worker, he is a serious one. He has just arrived and is coaching a team with the players he found. Let’s give him time.”
The Italian also spoke highly of Charles Leclerc. He said, “Leclerc is good, it’s the car that’s the problem. Otherwise, he wouldn’t manage to get so close to Red Bull in qualifying.”
However, Ferrari is far from winning this year. They have not won a race since the 2022 Austrian GP and a championship since 2007. The team is desperately searching for success but isn’t able to deliver Leclerc a competitive car.
