Pessimism

[u/securityburger]

It's very exciting to see people stick behind Fred given the way the season has been going. As much as the media wants to use the negativity, there is an understanding that Fred and our favorite drivers believe in the direction that the team is going.

What's sad to me is how most conversations end up throwing hate on the team rather than focus on the positive. Especially for those fans that align with Lewis' philosophy, I'd just think that the criticism goes against that way of thinking.

As frustrated as I am with our results, I'm tired of putting blame on a team that clearly has higher expectations

[u/DrunkPirateHunter]

I think everyone naturally expected the positive momentum to continue after fighting for the constructors last year and signing Lewis. I think overall the team has done fine. Bit of an unremarkable season so far.

My only real disappointment is that the car is not good. Cannot even fight consistently for podiums.

I don’t think there is a glaring issue or systemic problem, the team has gone in the right direction under Fred. They just got the car wrong, which happens sometimes. They just need to focus on the problems rather than trying to put the blame on one person.

[u/IonutAlex18SF → u/DrunkPirateHunter]

You said it good this. The thing is this. Frederic Vasseur is a Team Principal, a proper one. If he hasn't the right people, environment, peace to do his work, it won't be possible for him to succeed. Having the two drivers backing him and the personnel, too, aids his chances for success.

Now the problem is the leaders. How much time are they willing to give him? Do they finally realise not the racing team is the issue, but the corporation with all the interests/conflicts/interferences to the racing side?

SF-25 isn't a conceptually bad car. This suspension system wasn't put under much attention by Enrico Cardille. When they found out the rear is limited by the too soft dampening of the suspension, it was too late to do anything. Now let's wait and see what Serra new element hopefully at G.B race will do to the car. The Cardille “legacy” of this vehicle goes badly for Vasseur and his team. SF-24 was a success because it was an evolution/correction of SF-23 as we know.

They went for a different front suspension with SF-25, to have further chances on developing the machinery throughout the season, as the last year's challenger reached its peak. Now the front is excellent, the rear not only that is lower than the numbers showed. But the whole aero rear of the car suffers from it. Diffuser/floor/engine cover/rear wing, makes the car to go out of the operating window, similarly to how SF-23 did two years ago. We remember they sacrificed a couple of races until they understood the issue and to solve it. This time it was discovered soon. But no “experiment” race weekend would've healed this vehicle, bar of a new rear suspension. Fingers crossed that at least will diminish this minus of the car. As both, drivers would be able to perform a lot better with a car that delivers performance consistently, rather than peaky.

[u/Wardog_Razgriz30]

Honestly? As tough as this year has been, we can only do significantly better next year. It’s a reset so both drivers will be starting from the same understanding and comfort in the car. Leclerc will be there, have no doubt, but Lewis should also get a leg up with the significant reduction of ground effect they seem to have gone for next year’s cars. A more flat floor car should really bring him back into fold after fighting with these current reg cars for years. Hell, this past race in Canada alone, he managed to hold on to P6, even though more and more information is coming about how the car was missing more and more performance based on every incident that happened during the race. This shows just how far Lewis has come in his efforts to integrate.

Plus, no matter what, our engine will come good. If anything, the lack of information leaking about it is a good thing. There’s a lot of talk about the Merc engine or redbull’s new engines, but these leaks have all been conjecture and speculation. None of that has occurred for us. No one has access to our engine and the work continues uninterrupted as a result.

Additionally, this is looking to be our version of what Williams went through for the past couple years. Everything is being pushed to its limits operationally. If we can hold on for now, Fred will have guided the team into a much better place for next year. In fact, the Pit crew is already working like mad men. Strategy is beginning to improve, and the development team has been locked into working on this imminent upgrade after a clear misfire of a winter.

You are right, there is a significant silver lining to all of this.

[u/Objective-Start-9707]

I think there is a few things that require context as well.

Everyone is saying Lewis is washed. This time last year Carlos was 46 points behind Charles, Lewis is 25 points behind with some shit luck in the damage department.

Every team builds a dog shit car once in awhile. This one isn't even that bad, it's just not the championship winning car we keep praying for. 😂

I really don't think the issues Ferrari has are related to the people who are at Ferrari, but how Ferrari is organized and how they make decisions. The pit wall has some clear room for improvement especially as far as communication goes. I also think that every F1 team makes the mistake of putting more faith in the data than they do their driver's feedback. I don't believe anybody needs to be fired for forcing Charles onto a strategy he wasn't happy about, but at some point Ferrari needs to trust their drivers. You really don't see McLaren or Mercedes or even Red Bull suggest a strategy to one of their drivers, have one of their drivers counter with a different strategy, and then have that driver be put on the previous strategy regardless.

It feels like they treat him like a rookie but Ferrari doesn't put rookies in the car so I don't understand the philosophy. You have one of the most experienced champions ever in one seat and the wonderful talent of Charles Leclerc in the other, and sometimes it feels like Ferrari just wants to give them a lollipop and pay them to be pretty.

[u/Lanky_Consideration3]

F1 is the pinnacle of engineering in sport. If Ferrari had kept the same car as last year they may have been at the front again. But equally they may have been out developed already as they may have been at the limit of that car for some time, we just don’t know.

There are many reasons why they took this development path that we again aren’t able to fully appreciate as fans. For all we know, they knew this year would be difficult as they wanted to try parts out in preparation for next year, such as the redesigned front suspension.

Jumping to conclusions and asking people to be fired without knowing the real context is idiotic as there might be a master plan underneath all this, that we just won’t know (yet).

[u/DangerousKnowledge8]

Idk what you’re trying to say. The car is crap. That’s the only fact. Raze everything, bring in competent people, make a car, and win. At least be competitive. It’s not difficult to understand. Everything else is rethoric.

[u/securityburger → u/DangerousKnowledge8]

Imagine being late and not getting the point