BACK DOWN TO EARTH
All film directors know the pitfalls of attempting a sequel to better the original, while the studios heap on pressure to outdo yourself. Ferrari president Sergio Marchionne made it clear he expected his team to do better in 2016 – nothing less than a first title since 2008 would do. Under the technical leadership of James Allison, Ferrari went all out with the car too: conducting a major overhaul of the suspension design, bodywork and power unit. “All our hopes are in this car” said Allison before the season started.
The season started well, Vettel leading the first race in Australia before questionable tyre strategy handed victory to Mercedes. But that was as good as it got really. Vettel’s driving was decent through the first half of the season, but the car wasn’t up to scratch: the gearbox was unreliable, the engine inferior, the appetite for tyres too great, the amount of downforce available too little – and as Ferrari’s difficulties piled up so the strain began to show.
By mid-season Allison was gone, amid tension with Marchionne over the team’s long-term technical direction. This prompted Ferrari to push Mattia Binotto further towards the front of Maranello’s technical stage, as management scrambled to cover the gaps. There were more strategic errors, and questions about Arrivabene’s capacity to inspire, amid Marchionne’s stated desire to squeeze more efficiency out of Ferrari’s enormous F1 budget.
Vettel seemed unimpressed by this turmoil and his driving seemed to suffer too. Suddenly, Kimi Räikkönen was giving him something to think about on track, and come the Japanese GP Arrivabene was pointedly suggesting Vettel needed to buck his ideas up and stop interfering in matters behind the scenes. Seb’s foul-mouthed tirade at race director Charlie Whiting at the Mexican GP later that month was the final grisly waypoint in a generally ugly season.
Time for a reset. Fortunately, another upheaval in F1’s technical regulations offered all at Ferrari an opportunity to begin anew.