Eyes on the (glittering) prize
Look closely and you’ll see ‘Piedi per terra e a testa bassa’ written on the lip of the peak of the cap that sits atop Sebastian Vettel’s head when he’s not driving his SF71-H. It’s there on the cover of this month’s magazine, declaring sentiments to the effect of: ‘Feet on the ground and head down.’
The phrase speaks to ‘humility’ and ‘industry’ – two valuable watchwords for a team and driver about to enter the fight of their lives against Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes. Alone, they won’t be enough to contain what looks like a formidable silver winning machine this season, but if Ferrari remain true to those values and manage to develop their car into something that can match the W09, then maybe we have the fight on our hands that F1 fans the world over would so relish.
Because yes, in case it had escaped your attention, dear reader, for the first time ever we have two four-time world champions going head-to-head for a fifth title and it seems certain that it’ll be Seb and Lewis who duke it out for the big prize (unless the Red Bull-renault combo conjure something to elevate themselves from being feisty contenders into genuine frontrunners).
With their win in Melbourne, Vettel and his Scuderia couldn’t have hoped for a better start to their 2018 campaign, even if, on pure pace, they’re some way from the peaks of performance Hamilton and Mercedes seem certain to achieve. And they won’t care a jot that it took a Mercedes algorithm mangle to offer Seb the sniff of the chance he needed to take a victory against the odds. Ferrari got the ‘W’ and who knows how valuable that position and the points that go with it will be, come Abu Dhabi in November?
If this all sounds a little too pro-ferrari, it’s not intended to, for the achievements of Mercedes these past four seasons, in winning four consecutive drivers’ and constructors’ title doubles, are worthy of the highest acclaim: they might just be the best F1 team ever assembled, which very notion serves only to increase the scale of the challenge ahead for their rivals.
What we wish for, in fact, is not Ferrari wins per se, but for competition. Give us three or four or five team-driver pairings capable of winning regularly and we’ll truly be alive with anticipation for the season ahead.
Delivering those thrills is the challenge that F1’s new owners Liberty Media have set themselves and by the time you read this, more of their plans for the sport’s future direction will have been made public. Until then, settle down for the showdown.