Spring 2017, Melbourne: Ross Brawn introduces himself to the press as the new technical director of Liberty Media’s Formula 1, just purchased from Bernie Ecclestone, and announces: “We want the Grands Prix of the future to be increasingly driver-friendly. This excess of technique, especially electronics, suffocates man’s ability to make a difference: we must free the ability and courage of those who drive, giving them back the chance to make a difference.”
Important words: there was a hola in the press room. But beyond the new rear shape (above all the wing) of the F1 cars starting a couple of years ago, capable of offering greater possibility of slipstreaming without the car suddenly becoming undriveable and therefore slightly favoring overtaking, it can be said that Has the objective been achieved? Not so.
That F1, and top-level motorsport more generally, has for decades been increasingly technical territory and with less space for humans, is nothing new. Electronics, then, has definitively unbalanced the picture; or balanced, it depends on the observation point. Without a doubt the chips, the predictions, the simulations, have benefited mechanical reliability. Engines, axle shafts, suspensions, chassis: everything is less fragile, thanks to the theoretical work that establishes limits that life on the track rarely contradicts. This is good. But we have gone much further, and this – regarding the driver’s expressive potential – does not always offer positive dividends.
Just think back to the Canadian GP a few days ago. Lando Norris, on a spectacular day, had taken flight in the early stages of the race. His pace was almost unmatchable, and incidentally the signal that his teammate Oscar Piastri, so far a revelation of this 2024 season, received was more than clear: against that Norris, there was little to fight. Perhaps even Verstappen, also having a day of grace (but for him this is now the rule) with Red Bull, would have struggled to stay in front of him. But here’s the warning from the McLaren wall: watch out for the tyres! After all, everything predicted a race between dry and humid and wet, therefore with the great risk of changing tires. The timing and conditions for the possible strategy were not very predictable.
Result: Lando, who could have taken off with an airtight advantage even in the event of a weather earthquake, found himself in the mix and in the end the usual Verstappen won. With no desire to criticize Andrea Stella’s team: why didn’t they let their driver try to make a difference? With the storm hanging over the Montreal sky, the tires would have had to be changed sooner or later anyway. What’s the point of pretending to “read” everything first? It’s Formula 1, baby. And unfortunately the trend also spills over into other areas.
Again not to criticize, but where did the apparent apathy of the Ferrari drivers in Montreal come from? Okay: Q3 missed by a few thousandths, starting from the sixth row which in those conditions, barring epochal twists, closed off any prospect of dreams.
And more generally, the Canadian SF-24 was not the one from Monte Carlo, despite the circuit named after Gilles appearing favorable on paper, with its continuous stop-and-gos and zero corners with several lateral Gs. Subsequent analyzes pointed the finger at Leclerc’s engine, diagnosed as lower in performance. But PU only suffered from its usual ‘hunger’ for air: an aspect that has already arisen in the past, including last year, and which – probably – the need to take action after less than brilliant qualifying ended up exasperating. And in fact that engine did not suffer any damage, and will be used regularly in the future. So, in the search for the reasons for the misstep on Notre Dame Island, attention is diverted to the team and the riders. The former was seriously reprimanded by Fred Vasseur in his analyzes of the incident, once they returned to Maranello. Errors in all sectors, underlined the team principal and not always with conciliatory tones.
If it is difficult to judge the behavior in the internal orbits of the Cavallino, it is however quite indisputable that in Montreal the pilots were not in their best form. Leclerc was already nervous at the end of qualifying, and probably disheartened before the GP started. Sainz was a shadow of himself all weekend: never one of his muscle bursts, never a smile. It’s clear that it’s not easy to be able to count on the top of your strength when you know that at the end of the season you’ll be on your feet and without (to date) a valid alternative. Carlos’ management probably didn’t play their cards to the best of their ability: in short, they kept Audi on edge while waiting to understand whether a place would become available for him at Red Bull or Mercedes.
And now that Horner has signed Perez again and that Toto Wolff has openly spoken out in favor of the young wave, i.e. Kimi Antonelli, the Spaniard has felt (it is said) even revising the Germans’ financial offer downwards. And here we already asked ourselves the question a few days ago: without the famous manhole in Las Vegas, last November, and therefore probably finishing ahead of Leclerc in the Drivers’ World Championship for the second of three years (2021-22-23) of them cohabitation in red, would Ferrari have had the same composure to sacrifice him to make room for Lewis Hamilton starting from 2025? Knowing full well that an announcement of this level 11 months ahead of schedule would sooner or later cool the enthusiasm and determination of a driver who, thanks to his enthusiasm and determination, was the most ferocious until Melbourne three months ago internal competitor that Charles ever had in Maranello.
We close with a question that is not intended to be a provocation, but aims to understand the current times: drivers are by far the largest expense item, in human terms but not only, of an F1 team. Sainz and Leclerc, for example, cost more than it would (will?) cost to secure Adrian Newey. Yet it seems that in Maranello there isn’t all this interest in making the Spaniard feel pampered as there was eight months ago. Hamilton costs enormously more than any sharp mind in Mercedes, yet at the moment it seems that no one in the team has any more desire or intention to get along. Indeed, to be honest, this second explosion from Russell, who had essentially taken them from Lewis a year ago, suggests that Brackley takes a certain pleasure in suggesting that Hamilton is leaving, yes, but without being the champion anymore capital letters once upon a time.
Even these evaluations, driven or rather imposed by the logic of image, marketing and very high corporate strategy, seem to be packaged specifically to make the absolute value of the drivers more opaque, who in the end are the most important human material for winning. Max Verstappen, voracious and increasingly perfect in every and every situation, seems to be there to suggest it.
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