F1 | Ferrari, the stopped developments, the efforts for the following year: a worrying refrain

Here we go again, punctually like the early darkness with solar time and like the Christmas markets in December, one of the great Ferrari catchphrases of recent years returns in full force, namely "We haven't developed the car for a while because we are already focused on next year's car." And this time the goal is 2023.

For a team that is not fighting for important goals (and in reality not even for stage victories anymore, given that the last one was signed on 10 July) the choice not to spend time and resources on the car used during construction, but allocating efforts to the next one is something logical and natural. The problem, if anything, is when this choice becomes habitual, with seasons that pass inexorably, always hoping that the good one will be the next one. But let's take a step back.

Compared to the last two years (2020-2021), the Red team has certainly turned the page in 2022, designing a car that is consistently fast in qualifying (12 poles out of 20 GPs) and at least initially successful, with four solos in the first half of the season. For a team plunged into one of the worst technical crises in its history, the victories of Leclerc and Sainz nevertheless represented a panacea, a return - in a broad sense - to competitiveness, which turned out to be the objective of the current year.

But the resurrected Ferrari, splendid protagonist of spring, has slowly crumpled in on itself, is involved, in a worrying way and without a real explanation. At least for us mere mortals. Theories? The most disparate. It was the fault of the engine, which was too pushed and therefore unreliable and therefore the men in red chose to race with less power. Actually no, Maranello got the developments wrong, bringing in a new fund that solved the porpoising problems while worsening the performance of the F1-75. No! The new surface has always worked beautifully, only technical directive 39 (the anti-skipping one) came into force which effectively "killed" the Red.

Until, candidly, almost covertly, Binotto admitted that Ferrari had stopped the development of the F1-75, because it was already focused on 2023. A statement as linear, coherent and honest as it was "irritating". And be careful, there is nothing personal here, nor specious; indeed from these pages we were the first to applaud the 2021 progress and the 2022 victories. However, it should be underlined - for the record - the lack of clarity that comes from the Ferrari universe.

To date, the Rossa is not comparable to Red Bull and Mercedes - if only because we are talking about the two teams that have won the world championship from 2010 to today - but what is the mystery that lies behind the involution of 2022? Technical Problems? Organizational? Design errors?

Ferrari sacrificed two years of purgatory in the name of the new regulations. The answer to the terrible 2020 and the decent 2021 had to be 2022, the year of rebirth. Instead, this season that is drawing to a close gives rise to further questions and ancient doubts rather than providing answers.

On the one hand, unfortunately, we seem to be back to square one. Still having to analyze the data, still hesitating on developments to focus on the following year. A continuous procrastination of a victory that never arrives. And there's no telling how the F1-75 got so much worse during construction. The feeling is that there is a bit of confusion, and even concentrating all efforts on 2023 is certainly no guarantee of victory against opponents of this level.

Antonino Rendina