F1 | Ferrari, now we need your victory

A fast that has lasted for almost two years, since 22 September 2019, Singapore GP, when Sebastian Vettel crossed the finish line in Marina Bay first and was then moved on the podium with the Being Ferrari flag. A lifetime ago. A success that shortly followed Charles Leclerc's victories at Spa and Monza. Since then, no trace of the top step of the Ferrari podium has been lost.

Having initially stumbled upon the worst season since 1980, in 2021 Ferrari has found at least decent competitiveness, which is allowing it to play for positions immediately behind the top of the class, rivaling the other fallen noble McLaren for that third Constructors' place which is the Cavallino's declared objective.

The SF21 is a significantly improved version of the SF1000, with an engine that can at least be defined as such because it is not held back by that mystery of Fatima which was the confidential agreement with the FIA; and something more or less was seen. Leclerc's pole positions in Monte Carlo and Baku, Carlos Sainz's second place in Monte Carlo, second place - a victory cherished, cajoled and lost at the best - of Charles at Silverstone, Sainz's third place in Budapest. And Ferrari was also very strong in Imola and Barcelona, ​​and could have collected more in the Austrian double round.

In eleven events the single-seater spectacularly failed only on two occasions, where it suffered temperatures and track conditions, failing to make the tires work: Portiamo and Paul Ricard. For the rest, Maranello has shown that it always has a decent pace and can do good races. But the summit is still an unapproachable chimera.

Yet this 2021 is a plethora of wasted opportunities, with values ​​capable of changing from one GP to the next and with a clash at the top that risks causing the contenders to bleed dry, thus opening up the possibility of inclusion for third parties. No one will dedicate too much time to working on the current cars anymore, because everyone is now focused on completing the design of the 2022 single-seaters, which will soon go into production.

After a long process of "data analysis" and information collection, Ferrari, also through the renovation of its structures, starting with the new simulator, has finally reached an optimal level of understanding of its single-seater, above all leaving behind the correlation problems between virtual data and track data. Binotto also in a recent interview with The Gazzetta dello Sport defended the importance of the team's internal stability to return to winning ways, confident that the work of this difficult two-year period will soon bear fruit.

What is missing, to escape the sad and frustrating contours of a Ferrari destined for the role of supporting actor, condemned to boast of being able to fight for the role of "before the others" and to collect the crumbs magnanimously left on the street by the inconstant Perezes on duty (because Hamilton and Verstappen leave nothing at all, except for reasons of force majeure) it's a victory that lets you breathe some high-ranking air.

A triumph, perhaps also favored by favorable conditions, which can be a driving force of confidence for an entire environment that is getting used to participating, without however winning. We have forgotten what a winning Red team is, the Mameli, the emotion that the National Motor Team transmits (but is it still?). We need the shock, which gives confidence and acts as external feedback on the quality of a long work that must never prove to be wrong.

Betting everything on 2022 was the wisest choice, but in a championship where Alpine won a GP, exploding with joy and demonstrating that it believes in its project, Ferrari cannot be content with just coming close to victory and having it bullied away by Hamilton with just three measly laps to go.

In the great Italian summer and season of sport, between the European Championships and the Olympics, the only thing missing from the Italian celebration is Binotto's Scuderia, that joy of a red car whizzing by first under the checkered flag. A little faster, faster than now, before it's too late.

Antonino Rendina

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