OUR BIGGEST OPPONENTS
A
fter a weekend in Canada where Ferrari
turned victory into defeat, Sebastian
Vettel has gone to great lengths to not
blame anyone within the team but instead has
accused Italian media of being the Maranello
team’s Achilles’ heal.
Speaking in the aftermath of the Canadian
Grand Prix, Vettel said, “We were closer than
ever. I think sometimes it’s a bit surreal. We
are an Italian team. I think Ferrari stands for
great passion and a lot of values in Italy and
sometimes it seems like the Italian press is our
biggest opponent.”
During the post race press conference he
urged an Italian journalist to “write something
nice, which would be a nice message for all
the people in Maranello that are really working
their arse off day in, day out to make a strong
Ferrari car.”
The comment by the four times world
champion can be interpreted as a call to Italian
media to ease up on Ferrari. Daily reports
and headlines about the team are frequent in
Italy and of late there has been a great deal
of negativity surrounding the Italian team, not
helped by their below par start to the season
relative to Mercedes.
Kimi Raikkonen is constantly in the firing
line regarding his future with the team. Some
questionable performances, with Canada
being a case in point, make him an easy and
frequent target.
Speculation about the future of current
team principal Maurizio Arrivabene is also a
regular topic of late, while destabilising reports
of James Allison leaving Ferrari emerged this
weekend in the Montreal paddock.