"Biggest problem for Ferrari is the closest media scrutiny."
- GPblog.com
It's something you don't often hear at the start of an F1 season; "Ferrari still has a long way to go". F1 chief Ross Brawn believes it's going to be another tough season for the Italians after a dramatic season start in Austria.
In the first round of the GP of Styria and it was already done for the Scuderia. Charles Leclerc drove off the rear wing of teammate Sebastian Vettel in turn three. What promised to be a not too strong weekend resulted in downright drama.
In the column of Brawn on Formula1.com he says: "Charles did well by taking the blame immediately, but that doesn't help. It's sport and things like that can happen. Now the engineers in the factory have to work hard because there's a lot to do".
Ferrari strict under the microscope
Brawn continues: "One of the team's biggest problems is that Ferrari comes under the closest scrutiny from the media. This is especially the case in Italy. I know from my own experience that the pressure from the Italian media can be quite intense. You have to make sure that it doesn't affect your team."
"They have to handle this well. They can't turn this around in a day. So there's still a long way to go. They have to find out if there are any fundamental problems with the car. They have to do it fast because they're not at the right pace, to say the least."
In the two previous years Ferrari also suffered from fundamental problems during the season. For example, in 2018 the entire floor actually had to be redeveloped. The solutions they had to the problems of 2019 turned out to be illegal. In 2020, the Scuderia even fell so far back in relation to the competition that it seems almost irreparable.