THE BANDWAGON OF COMMONPLACE CRITICISM

Jumping on the bandwagon of cliché criticism is incredibly convenient, especially when it’s not entirely wrong. Let’s face it—Ferrari has a serious problem on the strategic front. The facts speak for themselves.

However, when the issue is blown out of proportion, we inevitably reach that familiar point of no return, so beloved by the media and its affiliates. They revel in just a touch of arrogance, sarcastic tweets that might get a laugh the first time but quickly grow tiresome when they replace actual analysis of the problem.

I get it—the idea that "they're all idiots" is tempting because it’s the easiest thing to think. It’s also a cathartic way to vent frustration over missed victories despite having the best car on the grid. But these shallow takes are beyond irritating—whether coming from industry insiders who should know better or wannabe fans whose motivations are unclear: are they passionate about the sport or just demanding that Ferrari exists solely to please them?

To those in the latter group, let me burst your bubble: unless you’re at least about to shell out €210,000 for a Ferrari Roma (the cheapest model on the market), Maranello doesn’t care about you. And don't fool yourselves into thinking Ferrari races in F1 for the sake of its "fans." It's primarily about financial returns, dressed up with some superficial storytelling about brand history and values. Was that too harsh? Sorry, not sorry.

Back to the facts: the race results are what they are, and fitting Leclerc with hard tires was a terrible choice. End of the story.

But none—and I mean none—of the Monday morning engineers ever considered the evolving weather conditions during the Hungarian GP when dissecting that decision.

The hard tires could have potentially solved two issues: checking off the mandatory use of that compound in dry conditions and providing a safety margin against tire degradation if the predicted rain had arrived. It was a choice with some logical reasoning.

Then the rain never came. Mistake made, lesson learned. Move on.

© Simone Marchetti