Vettel smiles again: if Racing Point is a leap in quality compared to Ferrari...

It's an upside down world, an upside down bordering on the surreal, almost difficult to comment on. Sebastian Vettel embraces a highly ambitious project with enthusiasm and motivation, recovers his smile, feels the trust of those who strongly wanted him, obtains technical guarantees of competitiveness. Above all, he gives the idea of ​​having made a leap in quality, leaving Ferrari for Racing Point (!).

The facts speak for themselves, at least for now: Aston Martin enters F1 as a constructor with the full support of Mercedes, with the strings expertly pulled by Toto Wolff, assisted this time by the commitment of the tycoon Lawrence Stroll.

Who would have thought that the former Jordan, then Force India and so on, would have had the strength to sign a four-time world champion, to think - we'll see if he succeeds - of climbing to the top of the top category, relaunching a iconic brand of British sportsmanship, the cars of His Majesty's secret agent. Who would have ever thought, just some time ago, that Stroll Sr. would explore the technical market aiming for big names, that in short he would take it so seriously.

Ferrari (best wishes and sons for the 1000 glorious GPs) takes the announcement of Vettel and his new team as a small cold revenge. Bent in its immobility, in its painstaking and obscure work of rebirth, made up of long-term proclamations and many difficulties in the present, the legendary Red is now snubbed in the hierarchies of an F1 that is increasingly in the orbit of Mercedes, and its proclaimed leader Leclerc , the shining hope of rebirth, becomes “a 22 year old boy who still has to grow up“, Binotto's words on TG3.

Vettel has embraced the Mercedes family in the role of the champion around whom Aston Martin wants to build something important. The same German praised the passion of Lawrence Stroll, with words that – unintentionally? – they sound like a dig at those who are at the top of the pyramid of a legendary team, but without being able to demonstrate the same passion or even a minimum amount of enthusiasm.

Seeing Sebastian, so in love with the Ferrari legend, espouse with so much and convinced enthusiasm a project that was exciting on paper is yet another hard blow for the Ferrari fans. Because once upon a time Maranello took the world champions away from the competition, as did the best technicians on the market.

This time, however, our champion was dismissed with a phone call, because he wasn't part of the plans, yet suddenly he recovered his smile, confident “to be able to fight for important positions again with a team that has enormous potential”. Racing Point. Not Ferrari, which once again comes out in a battered image, and increasingly diminished in expectations. And that really hurts.

Antonino Rendina

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