Former Ferrari director critical: 'Sainz and Leclerc make too many mistakes'
He is now 84 years old. Yet Cesare Fiorio still follows Formula 1, and Ferrari in particular, closely. The former sporting director of the Italian pride is critical of the performance of the Scuderia, which, although winning a Grand Prix in 2023, 'only' finished third in the constructors' championship.
Speaking to the Gazzetta dello Sport, Fiorio says he is not happy with the aerodynamic part of Ferrari's cars. The performance of the power units is fine in the Italian's opinion. Also, the former director of Ferrari thinks drivers Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz need to improve. "They made a few mistakes too many. But they are both very fast," Fiorio believes.
Leclerc compared to Verstappen and Hamilton
Charles Leclerc is said to be on the verge of signing a mega contract at Ferrari, while Carlos Sainz is said to be far away from a new deal. On a new commitment from the former, Fiorio said: "I think it is a good move because he is getting faster and faster and working on making fewer mistakes. Until recently, he was making too many. But that's normal at that age. Verstappen also made a lot of mistakes at that age during his first years. Now Leclerc is moving more towards what Max and Lewis Hamilton already have in terms of maturity."
The former Ferrari sporting director does seem to forget a small detail in his comparison with Verstappen: indeed, the three-time world champion is older than Leclerc, the age difference being just over two weeks.
Prior to Toto Wolff getting his technical directive passed in 2022, the Ferrari was an excellent car. Leclerc still made mistakes at the rate that his apologists attribute to him operating at an equipment disadvantage, even though he had the fastest car.
I would not blame Leclerc or Sainz for this as Ferrari seriously got to take most of the blame, they are destroying 2 great drivers.
Fiorio? The guy who screwed up all John Barnard effort in Ferrari and needed Jean Todt to came and clean all his mess? Good lord.
If you believe the drivers and I do it's the nature of the car. It's too twitchy and unstable.
I agree with his opinion, if you put Leclerc, Norris and Russell in championship winning cars I expect Leclerc would be last I think would clinch the title. Leclerc is more erroneous than the other two.
And too polite, Max and Russell will be the most 'elbows out'. Oh.. you didn't mention Max, hah, well, then it's Russell alone. Although Lando could win because he generally makes smaller mistakes than Charles and George. The Vegas crash out was kinda rare for him. George doesn't seem to have the 'tyre game' under control yet, Lando and Charles seem to have a better .. grip on it. Charles is the better qualifier, so i think it would be tight between Lando and Charles. If George doesn't crash anyone out, but he seems to be getting better at that, Vegas (Russell vs Max overtake/penalty) was a small reminder.
I will include Piastri in that list. I have mentioned before, the next driver to be a new WDC will definitely be either one of these 4 drivers. I can't really see anyone else in the current field that is capable of doing so.
Aside from Max, Lewis and Alonso you mean? Or do you count both Lewis and Alonso out? I think both could still be serious contenders if they're in a good car. (EDIT: btw i know that i'm saying all the other driver's first names but also keep saying Alonso, it's just because i often forget that his name is Fernando, and i'm lazy, Alonso is shorther, .. despite the lengthy explainer. Oh, also, yeah, same for Piastri, it's just the name that stuck the most.) But yeah, i do think that Piastri might be a contender. 2024 might not be the best indicator i think, as i expect him to sorta dip a bit as he's getting more familiar with the sport. His rookie 'burst' behind him now, he could prove to settle in right away, or take some time. He's still young, and maybe he might be at an advantage in a few years when we're going to see more new faces, so he could fill a gap (if there is one) as he could be reaching his peak between the rookies and midfield vets. I just don't see him as a direct contender just yet, and it remains to be seen how long the current top drivers (and teams) can stay at this level.
I have often said NEW WDC. ie, the driver that will get their very first title.... like Max did in 2021.
He types "Alonso" instead of "Fernando" to keep it shorter then writes a whole paragraph to explain why. Gotta love this guy haha.
Everyone saying Piastri will be world champion but he did a little better against Lando than Lance did against Fernando. Just like Stroll, less than half the points, beaten quite badly in qualification and race. I know he is still way better than Lance bit results are very disapointing. We see better rookie season than this quite often
Lando made way more mistakes than Charles. Carlos beat Norris 2 years in a row too.
Lando is not a tight qualifier, but i think his overall pace is good. I think Lando currently mostly makes smaller misjudgements, but not often a DNF. Something both George and Charles have a bit more experience with. Carlos beating Lando in 2019 was in his rookie year vs Sainz who started in 2015, and in 2020 there were only 8 points between them. Sainz is still a decent driver, so i don't think it is really a bad reflection on Lando. But he might still be too sloppy overall to directly compete at the top on track. Then again, Charles is also prone to lock ups under pressure, it almost cost him his P2 in Vegas. (again a Vegas reference, hah)
I thought Lando would have beat Carlos in his second season, i still think Norris became a little better driver but not at Charles level
I was gonna say "his age"? Maybe he meant the amount of years spent in F1, as Leclerc is now reaching the "Max at Red Bull" period, since Max joined a couple years earlier. EDIT: Oh, and although i agree that both drivers still make mistakes, but it also depends on the car, which has not been ideal or that reliable. The better the car, the higher the confidence, the better the results, it spirals upwards. They've gone past the 'formative years', and they're not likely to fight as hard if the car is less good again, but rather 'waiting it out' for the team to give them a proper car again, unless that dip lasts more than a year. I mean, not to mention "that guy" again, but look at Lewis' start of 2022 and the year overall. I think Sainz and Leclerc could in a similar situation if 2024's car will be worse, they'll be lacking motivation, lacking confidence, and then it spirals downwards. Of course i would respect it greatly if they still fight hard for it, but i could also understand it if they didn't, as it will be a wasted year nevertheless. Also kinda like how Lewis felt at the end of this season, happy to be done with that car.
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