Ferrari: where is the Ron Dennis character?

[SidSidney]

Just reading this reportage from AS, with Stefano Domenicali giving the by-now almost traditional early season "this is not the time to point fingers for mistakes in the Winter" speech:-

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/113030

Stefano seems like he is a nice enough chap, but with the best will in the world, isn't it time for someone else? He’s the exact equivalent of Whitmarsh at Maranello, in terms of being a nice guy but not a winner, and if it wasn’t for his family connections via Banca di Imola I suspect he would have been moved aside long before now.

If you look at the period 1996-2008, Ferrari was 1/2 in the Constructors in 11 of those 12 years; and yes, Stefano took over in 2008 but frankly inherited the good stuff from Todt - and yet still let the Driver’s championship slip away to Hamilton despite dominating the Constructors. Since Stefano started running his own team in 2009 they have been 3rd three times, and 4th for the first time since 1993, with just one 2nd place. I don't think that's where Ferrari want to be; I suspect most Ferrari followers think the same.

With another poor start to a season, despite some of the best talent in the paddock behind the wheel, he has to be in a very tough spot justifying his position at the head of the team. A resurgent McLaren under Dennis/Boullier and Williams rising from the grave just makes it even harder. I wonder who will initiate the change? And perhaps more important, who is even close to being able to take on the challenge of leading that team against characters like Dennis, Lauda and Horner?

[oT v1]

Montezemolo surely? He just passes the buck more than Dennis.

[l4mbch0ps]

I think you're just looking at much too small of a slice of Ferrari's F1 history. If you take a look at their performance in other eras, it's much less dominant. Obviously they had an amazing run with Michael and the whole group that surrounded him, but that was really a standout period in Ferrari's history. It's highly competitive in F1 and you really can't expect a team to dominate for really long periods of time - 12 years at the top is pretty good.

[Pup]

Stephano does seem to be Ferrari's Whitmarsh.

I'd say that Brawn will have choices when he returns. Which he will - the challenge of outsmarting trout won't keep his interest for long.

[charlex]

Stephano does seem to be Ferrari's Whitmarsh.

I'd say that Brawn will have choices when he returns. Which he will - the challenge of outsmarting trout won't keep his interest for long.

100% agree. I dream Briatore at Ferrari

[TheGkbrk]

Flavio for the win

[heidenreich27]

Its time to replace him, briatore or brawn would be exellent

[kaido]

I don't think you can place blame on one single person at Ferrari. You have to look at Ferrari culture as a whole. It seems to me that Ferrari is still stuck in the "golden years" and hasn't taken the step forward like most of the teams.

But at the same time the Culture of Ferrari is the reason why the fans react the way they do. One race down and the "fans" are already "writing off" the seasons and calling for blood so to speak.

Why people magically expected Ferrari to be a class above the rest this season baffles me. Last Season Ferrari was behind Red Bull, Merc and Lotus. Although Lotus has gone backwards this season it seems that Ferrari is still the best of the rest behind the front group. If past years development is anything to go by Ferrari is where it should be. Until Ferrari start to take some BIG risk or change the structure and culture of the team i don't think much will change

[beelsebob]

Oh come on. You guys just can't help but point fingers can you.

The bottom line is, only one team out of 12-13 wins each year. Even if you consider only the top flight, only one team in 4 wins each year. Only one team in history (McLaren) has managed to keep up a 1 in 4 winning ratio.

Yes, Ferrari are a bit down just now. But at the same time, they were enormously up for a very long time. It's not unreasonable for them to not win for a considerable amount of time. Don't worry, they'll be back on top at some point. Even Williams is showing you can make your come back.

[Vasconia]

The obvious choice would be Ross Brawn, a natural leader and a very clever guy. The second one Flabio, though some aspects of his personality are not the best ones for a team leader.

Anyway, Domenically is a weak one, a good worker but not a good leader, he can make a much better job in another position.

[Richard]

On one hand its possible to say Ferrari have been second only to RB in a period on unheralded domination. They should be proud of that. On the other hand, they're only going to displace RB is they have a sense of urgency and find a step change from somewhere. So sometimes people have to create a crisis to trigger the desired change.

Of course they have to make sure the contrived radical change doesn't accidentally throw the baby out with the bath water.

[Gridlock]

Flavio for the win

Hi Fernando!

[mnmracer]

In the Schumacher era, it was almost the holy trinity: Michael Schumacher, Ross Brawn, Jean Todt.
Now with Red Bull, you also have a 'holy trinity': Sebastian Vettel, Christian Horner, Adrian Newey.
Even going back, Ron Dennis' character has always been much stronger in the paddock when he had at least one strong character besides him.
Even with a strong figure like Colin Chapman, his biggest presence was when he had a star driver that he was in touch with, like Jim Clark.

I can't quite put my finger on it why, but Stefano and Fernando don't make that strong imposing presence with just the two of them. I think it doesn't help that Stefano seems more of an 'underling' to Luca than the golden trio ever did, and with Luca hardly ever being on track (or if he is, not very visible) it seems more like a hobby club that is controlled by corporate. Take away Newey and pre-2012 Vettel, and Mateschitz being as vocal as di Montezemolo, and you'd have the same situation at Red Bull.

[mika vs michael]

Fernando Alonso, James Allison, Ross Brawn...

[Gerhard Berger]

I don't think you can place blame on one single person at Ferrari. You have to look at Ferrari culture as a whole. It seems to me that Ferrari is still stuck in the "golden years" and hasn't taken the step forward like most of the teams.

But at the same time the Culture of Ferrari is the reason why the fans react the way they do. One race down and the "fans" are already "writing off" the seasons and calling for blood so to speak.

Why people magically expected Ferrari to be a class above the rest this season baffles me. Last Season Ferrari was behind Red Bull, Merc and Lotus. Although Lotus has gone backwards this season it seems that Ferrari is still the best of the rest behind the front group. If past years development is anything to go by Ferrari is where it should be. Until Ferrari start to take some BIG risk or change the structure and culture of the team i don't think much will change

Domenicali always says " I know what it takes to win, i was here during the Schumacher years etc.". Comments like that don't help the team move forward.

Team principle's job is to keep the pressure from the media and fans off the team. Todt did it very well. Domenicali seems to have succumbed to the pressure with knee jerk firings (Baldisseri, Dyer, Costa and now these guys at the engine dept.).

Why people expected Ferrari to be competitive this season? I guess because of the new regulations and the fact that Ferrari is a true works team, which gives you certain advantages in a new engine era. They should be up there competing with Mercedes, not fighting with Force India and Toro Rosso.

I don't think fans demand domination or even winning all the time. They do want to see progress, and sadly that has not happened under Domenicali.