F1 News
"Ferrari loves you when you do it right, without success there's friction"
- GPblog.com
Alexander Wurz believes that the pressure at Ferrari is unprecedented. According to the President of the GPDA (Grand Prix Drivers' Association), this is also something that Sebastian Vettel has had to deal with in recent years.
"Sebastian is a friend of mine, but I didn't see it coming (his difficulties at Ferrari red.). He is always very closed about it", reports Wurz in conversation with Sky Sports. The Austrian notes that the first years of a driver at Ferrari are often beautiful with a lot of love and emotion, but that that fades after a few seasons.
"Ferrari asks a lot of its drivers. They love you when you do it well, but when you have little success anymore there is friction. The team then does everything to protect the name, the work and the quality of Ferrari", says Wurz. Ferrari sets high standards and is not minded to send an important pawn out of the lane if they think it is in the interest of the race stable.
High expectations Ferrari
This doesn't only apply to drivers, but also to team bosses. Jean Todt was the last chief to win a world title with the Maranello based race stable, but then Stefano Domenicali and Maurizio Arrivabene were forced off the stage after bad results. "I think this is partly due to pressure and influence from outside, but also due to the style of the Ferrari team. The combination of those two seems to be tricky", concludes the former Formula 1 driver.