What happened to Ferrari in the Sainz case these days has something tragicomic about it. The failure of Ferrari's appeal is just one of the by now routine demonstrations that the neighing of the little horse is no longer scaryat least as it once was. Let's go over what happened recently and in the past and find out how, if you want to stay on top, what has been done is not enough.
Yellow Sainz: yet another proof of slowness and ineffectiveness
Restart, contact, penalty. Sainz concluded, after a disastrous restart from the old west, the Australian Grand Prix in twelfth position. The penalty inflicted on him by the marshals after the contact with his compatriot Fernando Alonso brought the Madrid player back so much. The answer of the cavallino to the Federation, however, she arrived with jet-lag already settled after the return. On April 6, i.e. four days after the race, Ferrari presented a series of "evidence" and testimonies to attempt an unexpected revocation of the sentence.
What is worrying is not only the slowness, but also the weakness of what has been brought before the legislator. Evidence such as "sunshine in the eyes" and testimonials from the other riders in the post-race interviews weren't enough, on the contrary, they served to make Sainz look more guilty than he already was. In addition to his clumsiness, in terms of timing, he doesn't even excel politically. To name those who can do it, just think of the speed of Aston Martin in bringing many proofs, moreover concrete, for exonerate Alonso and make him regain the podium in Saudi Arabia. In short, a lawyer like that is what every defendant wishes to avoid.
Insufficient Ferrari when it really counts
Almost four years have passed, but in the memory of Ferraristi the canadian grand prix 2019 rumbles like it was yesterday. The situation is similar, but here the Ferrari weapon was much more pointed, given the objective innocence of Vettel. The outcome is the same: the appeal is rejected for non-significant evidence. It almost seems like that, when it really matters, ergo when there is a first place at stake, Ferrari doesn't have the hunger to fight to get it if the possibilities exist.
To give some examples: why fight so hard for a fourth place in a year already written and not even raise your voice in cases like Silverstone 2021 o Singapore 486066. In the first case there was also the possibility of making square with Red Bull, In the second the application of the penalty to Sergio Perez had made many turn up their nosesa sign that something could have been done.
What happened to the voice of the Ferrari we knew?
So the leitmotif is this: the redhead always collects, and when she replies, it does so by bringing home a handful of flies, and sometimes making a fool of himself with the FIA, which is certainly not going through a golden age. The political power of the Scuderia is now a thing of the past. From the two years of purgatory after 2019, passing through the technical directive of 2022 and the regulatory change that scuttled the concept of the single-seater from Maranello, finally arriving at the feeble decision of the FIA on the violation of the budget cap by Red Bull, diplomatic successes are countless. Looking at it optimistically, this protest is meant to be a first shout-out of the Vasseur era. A new beginning where you don't hesitate to flex your muscles even when a fourth place is at stake. But before we see a regain of the weight we once had, if it happens, it will take time.
