Times are certainly tough for Ferrari and team principal Mattia Binotto, with growing calls from Scuderia fans for the Italian to be sacked from his role at the Maranello-based team.
2022 really has been a wasted year for Ferrari, given that for the majority of the season they have had the strongest car on the grid, albeit for some second half upgrades from Red Bull.
Ferrari proved that they had the potential to win both championships in the opening three rounds of the season, where Charles Leclerc claimed two victories and a second place.
With Red Bull having started the year badly, the Italians had a golden opportunity to build an advantage over the Austrians; however, they fell right back into their former ways.
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It soon became apparent that Ferrari had gone for performance over reliability, a grave mistake that has seen the side have arguably the least reliable power unit, although, Renault can also be thrown into that equation.
Leclerc retired from the race lead at Azerbaijan and Spain following a power unit failure, whilst Carlos Sainz suffered the same fate whilst challenging for second in Austria.
Had it just been those problems for Ferrari then perhaps they’d still be in the title fight; however, that was just the beginning.
Strategic errors have been an embarrassing feature of Ferrari’s season, with Leclerc alone having lost victory following strategic mishaps at Monaco, Silverstone, and the Hungaroring.
In all honesty, Ferrari haven’t deserved the championship this season, with the side having so much to learn going into 2023.
Binotto has constantly been asked whether a change of personnel is needed at Maranello, given all the errors.
But every time he’s insisted that nothing needs changing, including, him.
Ferrari have come an incredibly long way since 2020 and 2021, and that must be respected, given that they were battling with McLaren just 12 months ago, whereas this year they’re among Red Bull and usually ahead of Mercedes.
Should the same happen next year, though, then Binotto’s reign must be questioned, with the Italian having seemingly taken the team as far as he can since taking the role from Maurizio Arrivabene in 2019.
Arrivabene led the team in their dramatic rise in 2017 and 2018, where they re-found their position as title challengers, with Sebastian Vettel at the wheel; however, his departure in January 2019 saw the beginning of their woeful three years.
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His departure was controversial, with it rumoured that he’d been involved in disagreements with other Ferrari hierarchy.
Nevertheless, he was spotted supporting calls for “Binotto out”, which were chanted to the Italian whilst walking towards a vehicle.
The video has emerged on social media where he can be seen nodding and smiling, before waving his hand to suggest he was joking.