In recent years, it would seem the Ferrari team from Maranello tends to share a certain nature with black holes: Stars gravitate to them so heavily that their light disappears in them.
Heavy is the crown, and wearing the mantel of the oldest stable (Scuderia) in Formula 1 is no joke. But in the same way that many drivers couldn’t overcome the weight of Fiorano’s demands, the Corso Rosso often betrayed those to whom the moon was promised while they never even reached the stars.
Now, Ferrari’s gravitational pull has drawn a new star: Sir Lewis Hamilton.
We must admit, red fits the seven-time World Champion. But as much we love the looks, we fear Ferrari has failed to study its history and is close to repeating.
So let’s take a seat, have a drink and see exactly what happened with the previous stars of the Prancing Horse that has many so afraid.
El Nano, Ferrari’s forgotten golden boy. To compete for a title all year and come in second is one thing, for that to happen in the last instance is another; but to suffer the same fate twice is heartbreaking. Such was destiny’s cruelty with the Spaniard, who was set to bring glory back to Maranello but instead walked out of Ferrari in anger and frustration.
Ferrari signed the two-time champion back in 2010. After winning the season opener in his maiden race with the team, a new world title looked to be on the horizon.
One year later, Alonso is leading the last race, and only 15 points put him above Vettel in the championship. At the halfway point, Ferrari’s engineers make the wrong call from the pits and Vettel pulls ahead, snatching the title by only 4 points.
Two years later and in the very last race, again, Fernando is head-to-head with Vettel for the title. Despite Alonso’s best effort, the Red Bull driver would take the title by just 3 points over the Spaniard.
On both occasions and especially in 2012, Alonso was far from having the most competitive car on the grid as Ferrari was behind in development against Adrian Newey’s creations at Red Bull. But what about 2011? And 2014? Oh boy…
The F150 Italia (2011) just wasn’t fast, enough for a 4th place in the championship. But the F14T from 2014 is regarded by many as the worst Ferrari to ever come out of Maranello; the car would understeer and oversteer at the same time, where Alonso was seen literally wrestling with the wheel to keep it in a straight line.
Moreover, the hybrid engine was terrible and beyond salvation, Ferrari knew they had lost the season without even starting it. We will discuss the details of that later but know that Alonso, once a firm believer in Maranello, had lost all faith at this point.
Between sharp criticism and lots of friction with Ferrari’s leadership, El Nano would hang the red gloves in somber disappointment and look for a better future at McLaren. Unfortunately for him, McLaren-Honda F1 performance was a joke, and the future became an early retirement.
It’s a tough sport, guys, and we are just getting started.
The Iceman. That’s it. We know he wouldn’t like to be presented any other way. Our Finnish friend remains one of F1’s top icons, partly for his straight and short-worded comments (we love you Kimi, never change), but also for his raw talent behind the wheel, as he was the last Ferrari driver to become World Champion in the 2007 season.
Kimi would sign his return to the Red Devil one year before being joined by Vettel, and by goodness, such a powerful lineup had not been seen in ages. The Iceman as Vettel’s wingman was a dream come true for the Tifosi, two World Champions ready to dominate the sport once again.
Similar to Valtteri Bottas at Mercedes, Kimi was always considered the 2nd driver. Despite giving the Tifosi their last World Title, he was never given a shot at the championship as the team and the car were built around Vettel, for whom he would often be sacrificed so Seb could gain more points.
But the Iceman never had the ambition. Or, as some hint, he resigned his ambition after being treated like this. Either way, he was always seen as comfortable being a wingman, he just enjoyed racing, and despite improving season after season, he never challenged Ferrari or Seb, who usually outperformed him.
Oddly enough, this might have sealed his fate. Despite having a great 2018 season with his win at the U.S. Grand Prix and finishing third in the championship, Ferrari decided to call it quits.
Re-born in the USA 🤩
— Formula 1 (@F1) October 14, 2024
Kimi Raikkonen ended his winless streak and set the record for the longest gap between wins at the 2018 US Grand Prix, also marking his final Formula 1 victory 🙌#F1 pic.twitter.com/SMmytuS8zv
He would be relegated to Ferrari’s de facto B-team Alfa Romeo, where he would finish his career with the laid-back attitude that defined his persona. After all, it was just a hobby for him.
The name speaks for itself. The four-time world champion is one of the greats in F1 history, he is why Red Bull is a name feared throughout the sport. After his great conquests in the V8 era, and in the prime of his career, one can only imagine how everyone reacted when he was signed by Ferrari for 2015.
Unfortunately, this story does not have a happy ending. Ferrari lost the development race for the new V6 turbo hybrids and, despite so many years of ongoing efforts, they couldn’t beat the Silver Arrows.
Ferrari’s 2015 engine was a mess against its Mercedes counterpart: They ran a simple turbo system, which had cooling issues; it would overheat and required more cooling ducts which generated more drag. The aero on its own also had more drag and was unstable, suffering from understeering in corners. Moreover, their MGU-H and battery system were inefficient, so they couldn’t deploy as much electric power per lap as the Mercs.
By the time they had recovered for the 2017-2018 seasons, it was too late. The Silver Arrows were so sharp they could’ve shattered a stone — simply unbeatable.
After 5 long years of hardships, the story ends in a disastrous 2020 season. Vettel getting knocked out early during qualifying was a common sight, hanging around P10 during races and struggling to score points. The scene got even worse when we saw the significant gap to the young partner Charles Leclerc, who was usually fighting in the top five and consistently lapping .6 seconds per lap faster than Vettel on average.
BREAKING: Vettel to leave Ferrari after the 2020 season#F1 pic.twitter.com/nhY4pGQf1e
— Formula 1 (@F1) May 12, 2020
Sebastian’s career continued at Aston Martin from 2021, where it would find its demise, having an even harder time than his last days at Ferrari.
Yet another talented driver consumed by red struggle and disappointment, lost in the chants of the Tifosi.
Carlos Sainz, 2021-2024
Ferrari’s latest victim. Joining as a four-time world champion’s replacement is not easy, but the Spaniard was ready to prove his worth after two strong seasons with McLaren (I miss the Sainz & Norris duo). To be fair, Sainz had great overall performance at Ferrari, with 882 points, four wins, and 25 podiums. His numbers are very close to Leclerc’s, and he certainly outperformed the Moneguasque multiple times.
Sadly, however, this is not enough when there is a seven-time champion knocking at the door, and it’s a known fact Charles is favored by Ferrari. Not even the Spaniard could argue his departure. The unfairness came from the timing rather than the decision itself, because following the end of the 2023 season, Carlos sat waiting for a contract renewal that would never come.
Hamilton’s signing felt like it was done almost “overnight.” Confirmed all of a sudden in February 2024, it caught everyone by surprise, even the Spaniard himself, who confirmed it to the media.
"It's for sure going to get emotional!" 🥹
— Formula 1 (@F1) December 8, 2024
Carlos Sainz ahead of his final race for Ferrari#F1 #AbuDhabiGP pic.twitter.com/KTw7idAlnl
Sainz woke up on Feb. 1 to a hard day. He no longer had a seat with Ferrari for next season and the good teams had already been taken, so he had no alternative but to sign with the Williams F1 team, where the only guarantee was that he would not be competing for this year’s title at all. He will be lucky if he can find himself regularly above fifth place, and it is clear he will be looking for a new team for 2026.
Given this current track record and Ferrari’s famous tales of glory, you must be wondering:
How did they do it back then?
It’s a cold morning at Imola, a deafening V10 engine blasts over the finish line at 19,000 RPM with Michael Schumacher behind the wheel. The new F2004 is undergoing pre-season testing and the engineers look like they’ve just seen a ghost.
The numbers are wrong, they must be, a 12-hour investigation unfolds as they try to find where mistakes were made.
The timing equipment was fine, the mechanics hadn’t forgotten to add the ballast, and their two drivers claimed the speed was real. Dropping back in disbelief, their fears now turn into amazement: It was true, their new creation was already lapping 2 seconds faster than last year’s championship-winning F2003.
Their engineering was so impressive, so well beyond their own understanding, that they would rather think to be mistaken than believe their craftsmanship could be that good.
Jean Todt reigned with an iron fist during his time at Ferrari. The engineers should feel ashamed if the Ferraris achieve anything but a 1-2 in the race. Already winning the championship before the season’s end? It didn’t matter, total domination was demanded.
This is the definition of Ferrari, that’s how you do it.
The man, the myth, the legend. The Red Baron remains the embodiment of Ferrari, Enzo’s wildest dream come true in the form of a star driver. With seven World Champions, five of them under the flag of the Prancing Horse, he is one of the best to ever exist, a record believed to be unbreakable until Nov. 15, 2020.
As fate would have it, Sir Lewis Hamilton is tied with Schumi, with seven world titles on his shelf. It bears the question:
How were they successful? How can Lewis replicate Schumacher’s glory with Ferrari?
The fact of the matter is no driver can outperform a bad car, no matter how good the driver is. We do not mean to lowball Schumacher or Hamilton’s skill behind the wheel; they are both incredible, but so are Alonso or Vettel in their own right.
Take a look at the beginning of the 2022 season in Saudi Arabia. A disastrous new Mercedes W13 is knocked out in Q1 in 16th position. It was shocking to see the man who had recently won four consecutive world titles struggle to beat the five next slowest car. Not even a Hamilton’s wheelmanship was enough to outperform such a bad car. The core design principles of the W13 were so off that everyone knew the Briton was out of title contention for the season.
The hard truth? Schumacher made it to the moon because Ferrari deemed it so.
They delivered a spaceship of car, worthy of his skill, but the Red Baron could’ve never made it on his own. There is no such thing as a free lunch, there is no replacement for displacement, and it certainly is as much the rider as it is the horse.
Alas, my dear reader, amidst comments of both drivers struggling with the SF-25’s handling plus the FIA investigating its rear wing due to a purported unfair advantage (flexible wing), it remains to be seen if the folks from Maranello can offer their new star a drive to fight for the title or they will keep taunting around the middle of the points-earning positions.
Hamilton’s skill is not in question; he can win a world title, but Ferrari must deliver.
