Ferrari

Unlike his team-mate, Adrian Sutil, Esteban Gutierrez seemed comfortable when it became clear that he would not be retained by Sauber for 2015.

While a disgruntled Sutil, facing the end of his career, told ESPN F1 of his desire to receive clarification for the team's decision to drop him—and Giedo van der Garde, Sauber's 2014 reserve driver, informed GPUpdate.net of his shock at being denied a full-time race seat—Gutierrez was, curiously, at ease with his situation.

Despite his Formula One career hitting a brick wall at the age of just 23, the Mexican told NBC Sports' Luke Smith ahead of the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix:

I’ve been working on other things.

As I’ve said before, it’s a risky direction, but I think it could be a good one for the future. Still not guaranteed, still working on it, so hopefully that comes off soon, and we can share this with you guys.

I have my goals in Formula 1, but I’m willing to do anything that is possible or impossible to achieve my dreams.

I’m looking for a reserve/test driver [role] in a top team, with a plan for the future. An option that I have includes [Friday practice runs] and some other interesting things, so I hope I can share those with you soon.

I’m working on it. I can be quite sure that you will see me around here.

The smart money was on Gutierrez appearing at Lotus, a team of race- and championship-winning pedigree, and one that would be in need of the sponsorship funds that helped secure his employment with Sauber from 2013.

https://twitter.com/willbuxton/status/538611995822784512

As the reserve driver at the Enstone-based team, Gutierrez, it was thought, would receive the practice appearances he craved and would be in a prime position to gain promotion to a race seat whenever Romain Grosjean or Pastor Maldonado moved on.

Yet the 2010 GP3 champion had even bigger plans up his sleeve.

F1 took a collective gasp of astonishment on Monday when Gutierrez was confirmed as the test and reserve driver for Ferrari.

Esteban Gutierrez joins us as new test and reserve driver! Welcome @EstebanGtz http://t.co/cESEnln2Du pic.twitter.com/LbT5RZmpz0

— Scuderia Ferrari HP (@ScuderiaFerrari) December 15, 2014

For someone who recorded just one points finish in almost 40 grand prix starts, Gutierrez joining the most iconic and successful institution in the sport's history is, at face value, a case of a driver landing on his feet.

And although there is more than a hint that Gutierrez's signing has been based around commercial reasons—F1 journalist Joe Saward notes that the Prancing Horse are also hoping to raise their profile in Mexico, while Ferrari have announced sponsorship agreements with the driver's backers—joining the team will give the youngster the opportunity to restart his career.

A new sponsorship agreement for Scuderia Ferrari http://t.co/Z7Sn3sEMAw pic.twitter.com/1vV4hniTzq

— Scuderia Ferrari HP (@ScuderiaFerrari) December 16, 2014

Gutierrez, after all, was unable to impress the wider world behind the wheel of a Sauber, having had the misfortune of joining the team just as the Swiss outfit began to regress from podium contenders to backmarkers.

After securing four podiums with Sergio Perez and Kamui Kobayashi in 2012, Sauber, per Formula1.com, scored points in just 10 races in 2013.

Finding himself alongside a driver of Nico Hulkenberg's calibre in his rookie season, Gutierrez was up against it from the very start, with the German's stock at its peak following his challenge for victory in the 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix.

Although he was comprehensively beaten by Hulkenberg, scoring 45 fewer points than his team-mate, Gutierrez's upturn in form in the latter stages of 2013—culminating in a seventh-place finish at Suzuka—highlighted that he was more than capable of leading a team if handed adequate machinery.

Any solace that he took from his gradual improvement across 2013, however, soon evaporated, with his make-or-break 2014 season coinciding with the arrival of Sauber's worst-ever F1 car, which failed to score a single point in 19 races.

Despite failing to make waves at Sauber and making a number of notable on-track errors along the way—a race-ending mistake while running in eighth at this year's Monaco Grand Prix was a sackable offence in itself—Gutierrez, rather tellingly, has retained the support of the cognoscenti.

Rob Wilson, the esteemed driving coach, told The Racer's Edge YouTube channel that his client is a "very, very quick" and "gifted" driver, likening his Sauber struggles to the predicament faced by Valtteri Bottas in 2013.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAu8z1S1Gxk

Bottas, like Gutierrez, made his debut in an uncompetitive car and faced questions regarding his true potential. However, six podium finishes in 2014 as the Williams team mounted a resurgence saw the Finnish driver hailed as a future star.

Wilson, who has worked with the likes of Kimi Raikkonen and David Coulthard, also paid tribute to Gutierrez's dedication, stating that the Mexican is "constantly working on his craft."

A willingness to learn will pay dividends for the 23-year-old at Ferrari, where he will observe firsthand the contrasting approaches of two modern greats in Raikkonen, the easy-going superstar, and Sebastian Vettel, the man committed to recreating the dominant spell of Michael Schumacher.

His presence in such an environment, and his direct association with the Ferrari name should—despite the team's statement implying that the Mexican will be carrying out his work in the simulator, not on-track—stand Gutierrez in good stead for a return to the grid in the coming years.

Although a return to Sauber, should their experiment with Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr go horribly wrong, cannot be ruled out, it is plausible—even at this early stage—that Gutierrez will represent Gene Haas's new team in 2016.

In September, Haas F1 announced that they had established a technical partnership with Ferrari, which would potentially make them the second Ferrari-affiliated team in the 2016 paddock, with the Prancing Horse bound to have at least some influence over driver choices.

Leading a brand-new outfit may, admittedly, see Gutierrez head in the same direction as Timo Glock and Heikki Kovalainen—whose talents were wasted as their careers fizzled out at Marussia and Caterham, respectively—but the Mexican deserves another chance to prove his worth in Formula One.

Free from the Sauber nightmare, a backseat role at Ferrari could prove to be a masterstroke.

It's no wonder Gutierrez looked so pleased for himself in Abu Dhabi.

For Sebastian Vettel, November 29 was a very important day. On a damp track, he took his first laps in a Ferrari at the team's test circuit in Fiorano, Italy. 

He was finally out on his own, away from the Red Bull family who had nurtured his career since he was a teenager and with whom he won four Formula One world championships.

November 29 was also a very important day for Ferrari. It marked the end of the once-promising Fernando Alonso era and the beginning of the Vettel era. The last time a world champion German driver joined the Scuderia, he ended up winning five drivers' titles.

Official: first pictures of Sebastian in Fiorano!

Ufficiale: prime foto di Sebastian a Fiorano!#ForzaFerrari pic.twitter.com/SUeDLWeD1m

— Scuderia Ferrari HP (@ScuderiaFerrari) December 1, 2014

The test was an emotional experience for Vettel, who grew up watching his countryman Michael Schumacher win those championships for Ferrari in the early 2000s.

After his day at Fiorano, Vettel told the Ferrari website:

You know there are a lot of fairytales about Ferrari and how it feels to drive a red car and in the end I can only confirm these fairytales, it’s not just a story, it’s a true legend that exists and it feels really, really special to become part of that and to be inside the car, to see the people coming, running to the track and trying to climb the walls to see the car, so there is definitely something very magic and something that happened today which I will never forget.

One of those fans climbing the walls for a glimpse of Vettel in a Ferrari was Lorenzo Santi. Born in Florence, the 24-year-old computer engineer has lived in Fiorano since he was three. He has been breathing Ferrari exhaust fumes nearly his entire life.

Although a Ferrari fan since birth, it had been years since Santi had been to the track to watch a Ferrari test, despite living just a few kilometres away. "It is like living next to the Colosseum or next to the Niagara Falls," he said. "You don’t go visiting those awesome places everyday because you know you can go there when you want!" 

But last weekend was something different, something special. Vettel is a four-time world champion, hired to restore the luster that has faded from Ferrari in the years since 2008, when the Scuderia won their last world championship.

On Saturday morning, with the town still drying from the early morning rain, Santi picked up his friend Andrea Manna in his 1989 Jeep Wrangler. They arrived at the circuit just as Vettel appeared. He wore a new, white helmet for the occasion and was driving Ferrari's 2012 car, with a V8 engine—not the current model with the quieter, hybrid V6.

"In Fiorano, there is a sound condition you can’t find in many places," Santi explained. "There are many buildings around the track, especially a very big ceramic industry with a big wall facing the track. So, even if the car is far from where you are, you can hear the real sound escaping from the exhausts...I guarantee you this is a very good reason just to be there!"

Standing on the hood and roof of the Jeep, the two men watched the beginning of the new Ferrari era.

#Sebastian #Vettel in @ScuderiaFerrari for the first run at the Fiorano circuit https://t.co/bI1CEKkTJC @spontonc #Ferrari

— Lollosanti (@Lolloz89) November 29, 2014

"I remember I’ve been here a long time ago as a little child, driving through Maranello and trying to look over the fence," Vettel said in his interview with the Ferrari website. "Looking back to the years when I was 11 or 12, trying to look over the fence and trying to see a glimpse of Michael running on the track, well, today I was the one running and saw the tifosi around."

The tifosi are Ferrari's diehard supporters, although the name—which literally means "fans" in Italian—can be applied to the supporters of any sports team in Italy. But in motor racing circles, it means just one thing: the type of fan who will give up a day of their weekend to peer over a fence to see a flash of red through the trees.

Davide Barbolini was there, too. He was born just four kilometres from the Ferrari factory in Maranello, a neighbouring town of Fiorano. The 31-year-old, who still lives nearby with his wife, used to skip classes as a teenager to watch Schumacher test at the Ferrari circuit.

"I can swear in Fiorano you really lived inside Ferrari," he remembered, "with the pure smell of rubber, brakes and gasoline coming from that red car."

In those days, there were fewer restrictions on testing, so the red cars would be on track all the time. "From my family house I could clearly hear the F1 car running on the test circuit and it was incredible symphony for a young Ferrari supporter," Barbolini said.

@antorendina @Pjdona foto di sabato fuori dall'abitacolo pic.twitter.com/vThNndHcLb

— Davide Barbolini (@Dabba83) December 1, 2014

With a friend, he chose a different spot to watch the action from—a public bridge near Turn 12 at the back of the circuit. Barbolini estimated there were 100 fans with him, on the side of the busy road, with others climbing trees or the fence around the track.

"That day," said Barbolini, "I was there to see the new Ferrari driver showing the world his will and his determination to be part of a team he loved sincerely since his childhood. That's enough—to me and to many tifosi—for a new hope, even if that was only a test with old car and no relevant impact on 2015 performances."

As Vettel performed his final cool-down lap of the session, he waved to the tifosi gathered around the track, as you can see in the video below. That brought back a special memory for Barbolini.

Video: Watch the lap of #Sebastian at Fiorano on the F2012! http://t.co/ZhrV8vKhPd #ForzaFerrari http://t.co/ny7eyh1nZZ

— Scuderia Ferrari HP (@ScuderiaFerrari) December 2, 2014

"On a cold rainy day of February, in 1999, Michael waved his hand during a slow lap right in my direction," he recalled. "I turned myself and realised I was alone due to the heavy rain...he was just saying hello to me!"

Of course, Barbolini was not alone last weekend. The tifosi were out in force to celebrate.

Andrea Ettori lives in Modena, the hometown of company founder Enzo Ferrari, but he is not a tifoso. His favourite driver is McLaren's Jenson Button, ever since he saw the Brit claim his first pole in Imola at the 2004 San Marino Grand Prix.

As a big F1 fan, though, he has often made the drive to Fiorano to watch Ferrari tests. He knew Vettel's first laps in red would be a special event and wanted to be there.

ecco Vettel alla guida della F12012 con il casco bianco #F1 #1avoltadiSeb #test #Fiorano #Ferrari @autosprint pic.twitter.com/tby5chsDtU

— Andrea Ettori (@AndreaEttori) November 29, 2014

"I think Vettel is the man for the Ferrari team right now," Ettori said. "He and Kimi [Raikkonen] are great friends, they can work in the same direction and I think that Ferrari, in the next two years, can return to competitiveness."

Much of that will depend on whether Ferrari can deliver a competitive car for Vettel and his new team-mate, Raikkonen.

Alonso came close to two titles with the Scuderia, but he never had the best car on the grid and was never able to fulfill the potential his two previous titles with Renault promised.

In 2014, Ferrari were even further behind, having failed to adapt as well as Mercedes to the new engine regulations. Vettel also struggled last season, uncomfortable with his Red Bull car and thoroughly beaten by his team-mate, Daniel Ricciardo.

Enzo Ferrari once told Car magazine's Keith Botsford that "the greatest drivers were distinguished by their supreme ability to handle any kind of situation, any car, any driving condition, any kind of race."

Despite four titles, Vettel has faced critics who said he must prove himself with a team other than Red Bull to show that his success was not just the product of a dominant car.

Now, he has that opportunity. If he can win at Ferrari, he will earn the love of the tifosi clambering over the fences for a glimpse of him. If not...well, now is not the time for thinking that way. As the sport's oldest and most popular team, success for Ferrari is good for F1.

The sun is rising again over Maranello—now Vettel and his new team must prove it is not another false dawn.

Unless otherwise noted, all quotes were obtained firsthand.

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Just before the Japanese Grand Prix, Red Bull announced that Sebastian Vettel—winner of the last four world championships—would be leaving the team at the end of the year.

Speculation began immediately that he was headed to Ferrari, with leading figures on the Red Bull team talking as if it were a done deal. Team advisor Helmut Marko, for example, told the official Formula One website, "It was not only a case of Sebastian wanting to leave, but also of Fernando Alonso clearing the way. The more Alonso distanced himself from Ferrari the more likely it became that Seb would move."

However, there are also rumours floating around that Vettel could actually be moving to McLaren, to partner Alonso. Last week, ESPN F1's Maurice Hamilton wrote that both men had recently been spotted at Farnborough Airport, near McLaren headquarters, and that "An Alonso/Vettel partnership in the mould of [Ayrton] Senna/[Alain] Prost is the sort of thing [McLaren CEO] Ron Dennis dreams of."

For the purposes of this article, though, let's assume Vettel is making the obvious move to Ferrari, following in the footsteps of his countryman and idol, Michael Schumacher, who joined Ferrari in 1996 and brought the iconic Italian team back to glory.

(New)Man in Red!!!! #Vettel #Alonso #Ferrari #F1 pic.twitter.com/0vM1QFhlL0

— F1Writers™ (@f1writers) October 15, 2014

But glory has been in short supply around Ferrari's Maranello headquarters lately. The team's last title came in 2008, during Kimi Raikkonen's first stint with the team, when he partnered with Felipe Massa to win the constructors' championship. Their last victory came early in 2013, when Alonso won his home grand prix in Spain. The current win drought is the longest since the pre-Schumacher years.

Given all of that and the fact that Alonso—widely regarded as the most naturally talented driver in the sport—has managed only two podiums this season, what are the realistic expectations for Vettel if he does end up at Ferrari next season?

Perhaps it is easier to say what does not look possible, first. A championship—drivers' or constructors'—seems out of the question. Mercedes' advantage is so great right now that it is unlikely anybody will overtake them by the start of next season. The gap will probably close, but Ferrari are also looking up at Red Bull and Williams right now. Both of those teams have a more realistic shot at taking the fight to Mercedes in 2015.

What about winning a race? That is more likely but still not a lock. Ferrari have only had one real shot at victory this year, in the rain-affected Hungarian Grand Prix, where Alonso came second. In a straight fight this year, no one has been able to come close to Mercedes, and Vettel will need help (in the form of Mercedes reliability problems or Spa-style mistakes) if he hopes to return to the top step of the podium.

More likely, 2015 will be a rebuilding year for the team as new Ferrari chairman Sergio Marchionne and team principal Marco Mattiacci continue to restructure the team and bring in the people they want.

"We've got to kick some ass and we've got to do it quickly," Marchionne recently told Autocar magazine (via Autosport's Jonathan Noble). "It takes what it takes. We might screw up, but we've got nothing to lose, right? Let's risk something."

Meanwhile, Mattiacci told a Ferrari fan question-and-answer session in August:

We are applying a change to our working methods, adopting a new approach and a strategy that can make us more competitive. We have decided to invest in new infrastructures and people to create a more modern and slimmed down organization, but one that at the same time puts the emphasis on the team and on individuality. It is equally important to give everyone the chance to express their talent to the maximum.

One of the biggest changes this year—aside from Marchionne's and Mattiacci's arrivals—was the sacking of Luca Marmorini as head of the Ferrari engine department. The team's 2014 engine is significantly under-powered compared to the Mercedes unit and has contributed not only to Ferrari's struggles but also those of their longtime customer, Sauber (ironically, their other customer team, Marussia, look set for their best-ever finish in the constructors' standings).

Raikkonen, Vettel's presumed teammate for next year, said, per ESPN F1, the changes have not made a noticeable difference yet, but:

As for the future I think it will be a bit different and, at least from what I've heard, we're going in the right direction. But there's a lot of work to do to get where we should be in the front.

There's some new people coming and Marco has done a very good job, done the right things with changes, and I'm sure in the future or even next year we will be in a much stronger position—if it's enough—already.

If it's enough—and that is a big "if." It is a difficult task to overhaul the structure and culture of a hundreds-strong team in just a few months.

One man who might be up to the task is Ross Brawn, who was a big part of the Schumacher revival and more recently built the Mercedes team that has dominated this season.

There have been rumours about him returning to Ferrari, but in September he told Germany's Auto, Motor und Sport (via Reuters' Alan Baldwin), "I'm not considering a role at Ferrari or anywhere else at the moment. I'm not in contact with Ferrari and am not actively seeking a new role in Formula One." He also said, "Never say never."

But none of this speculation will bring success. No matter who is hired or what changes are made, Vettel is looking at a difficult first season wearing Ferrari red. However, after four years of unqualified success at Red Bull, he finally faced disappointment this year.

Despite being overshadowed this year by his new Red Bull teammate, Daniel Ricciardo, Vettel has remained cool and focused. Those traits—and this year's experience, not running at the front, for once—will serve him well if Ferrari are not immediately competitive.

In terms of timelines, Mattiacci told Sky Sports' Martin Brundle at the Belgian Grand Prix:

Now we are basically setting up a strategy that is going to be for the next three years and that is probably for sure going to see Ferrari go back to the top in Formula One and succeed. ... It is going to take a while. This is not soccer: you don’t change the coach and buy two players and you are going to win next year’s championship.

At the start of the 2017 season, Vettel will still be just 29 years old (for reference, Alonso is now 33). He has the time to build something special with Ferrari.

Asked in an interview with the official F1 website whether Red Bull offered a better chance to win races next season than Ferrari, Vettel responded, "At the end of the day it doesn't really matter—as I said that it was the craving for something new; a new challenge!"

He also knows that if he can help return F1's most successful and popular team to the top of the sport, he will be mentioned in the same breath as Schumacher and many other F1 legends.

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Former Ferrari chairman Luca di Montezemolo has effectively confirmed Fernando Alonso's exit from the Formula One outfit, providing details of the driver's reasons to terminate his contract two years early.

Although official word is yet to come from either Alonso or Ferrari, Di Montezemolo has told Italian network RAI (h/t Sky Sports) the Spaniard has higher ambitions than what's been achieved of late:

"Alonso is leaving for two reasons: One, he wants another environment. Two, because he is an age when he cannot wait to win again. ... He was disappointed that he has not won over these last years and wanted new stimulus."

Since joining Ferrari in 2010, Alonso has managed to finish second in the world standings on three occasions (2010, 2012 and 2013), but he is currently enduring his worst campaign with the Italian giants, sitting in sixth with three races left in 2014.

It's far from the hopes he would have held upon joining after winning world titles with Renault in 2005 and 2006. McLaren appears to be his most likely destination.

Season	Series	Team	Races	Wins	Poles	Podiums	Points	Position
2001	Formula One	European Minardi F1 Team	17	0	0	0	0	23rd
2002	Formula One	Mild Seven Renault F1 Team	Test Driver					Test Driver
2003	Formula One	Mild Seven Renault F1 Team	16	1	2	4	55	6th
2004	Formula One	Mild Seven Renault F1 Team	18	0	1	4	59	4th
2005	Formula One	Mild Seven Renault F1 Team	19	7	6	15	133	1st
2006	Formula One	Mild Seven Renault F1 Team	18	7	6	14	134	1st
2007	Formula One	Vodafone McLaren Mercedes	17	4	2	12	109	3rd
2008	Formula One	ING Renault F1 Team	18	2	0	3	61	5th
2009	Formula One	ING Renault F1 Team	17	0	1	1	26	9th
2010	Formula One	Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro	19	5	2	10	252	2nd
2011	Formula One	Scuderia Ferrari	19	1	0	10	257	4th
2012	Formula One	Scuderia Ferrari	20	3	2	13	278	2nd
2013	Formula One	Scuderia Ferrari	19	2	0	9	242	2nd

It's also stated that Sebastian Vettel is the man expected to replace Alonso at Ferrari, Sky Sports' Mike Wise having announced earlier this month that the current season would be the German's last for Red Bull.

The time remaining on Alonso's Ferrari deal complicates matters in terms of which team he'll represent next. When asked by NBC (h/t Sky Sports' James Galloway) whether he'd be driving with a McLaren in 2015, Alonso replied: “I don’t think so.”

BBC Sport even hints the 33-year-old could face a year out from the sport as his affairs are put in order, although it's difficult to believe that fate coming to fruition:

McLaren or a year off? That's the choice facing @InsideFerrari's Fernando Alonso: http://t.co/Wk9D8M6uGl #bbcf1 #F1 pic.twitter.com/6WOe9KWpJx

— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) October 14, 2014

Alonso has managed to finish on the podium just twice this year and has the slimmest of hopes of managing a top-three finish. Should Daniel Ricciardo finish fourth or higher in next month's United States Grand Prix, even that will be out of reach.

During his title drought in recent years, Ferrari's star has always managed podium prominence, but this season will see his lowest tally of top-three placements since 2009.

Should he fail to top the order in any of this year's final three races, it will be just the fourth time in his career Alonso hasn't won a calendar race—two of those coming in his first four years as a Formula One driver.

Di Montezemolo isn't aiding his former employer by revealing the truth behind Alonso's fate before it comes to pass, but it's been rumoured for some time that the two would be parting ways.

The fine details of Alonso's future are still yet to be decided, however, and his focus will assuredly remain fixed on the current campaign, despite all the distractions impeding his vision.

Fernando Alonso is good at every track on the Formula One calendar. The most complete driver on the current grid, the Spaniard is perhaps the only driver who can be counted on to get the maximum out of his package week in, week out.

But though excellent in each grand prix, there are some tracks on which he moves up to an even higher level. The Marina Bay Street Circuit is one of them.

By finishing fourth in the 2014 Singapore Grand Prix, Alonso maintained his record of never having finished outside the top four at the track.

He has done this despite rarely possessing even the second-best car in the field.

The Marina Bay Circuit is mostly laid out on public roads which are used by standard road traffic throughout the rest of the year.

Whereas many circuits today use a careful blend of materials to create smooth, grippy surfaces, these roads were laid down to handle normal, everyday traffic. Durability and value were far more important than grip, and years of use by cars, buses and lorries have taken their toll.

Over the course of the year, layers of dirt and grime settle on the already low-grip surface. This makes it harder for even the soft, sticky Pirellis to "bite" around the corners and in braking and traction zones.

Mechanical grip—that provided by the tyres—is always quite low.

Were this a high-speed circuit, that would be less important. At greater speed, the huge levels of downforce generated by the cars push them down hard onto the track—aerodynamic "grip" is far more important than mechanical.

But Singapore is not a quick circuit. Of its 23 corners, 16 are medium speed or slower. Eight would be categorised as simply "slow."

They are typically around 90 degrees, and feature very tight, abrupt apexes which must be hit for an optimal line and lap time.

In these turns, the low speeds involved mean the benefits from the car's downforce generation are reduced, and mechanical grip gains greater importance.

But as previously mentioned, that mechanical grip isn't always there at Singapore. The car will often step out in the entry, mid-corner or exit, requiring tiny adjustments on the steering and throttle.

And it's in these situations that the difference between drivers of varying levels of ability becomes apparent even to a naked-eye observer.

Sky Sports F1's Martin Brundle noted this during live TV coverage of second practice. When watching the cars through the tricky Turn 5, Brundle singled out Alonso and Lewis Hamilton as two drivers able to carry more speed than others:

We're seeing some amazing speed carried through here, Fernando Alonso, the commitment... you can really see the difference between the great and the merely very good straight away on a corner like this. They're so close to the wall, those with confidence, those with belief that the car will stick, that they've got the skill, and then they pick up the throttle slightly earlier.

I'm seeing Lewis Hamilton do that. . .they drive directly at the wall and light the turbo up, and then control the slide, control the wheelspin while still believing they're not going to connect with that violet wall-covering...

The very good drivers—most of the rest of the field—can and invariably do make these adjustments when needed. But the truly great drivers can make them almost instinctively, gaining crucial tenths- or hundredths-of-a-second.

Brundle also mentioned the presence of the barriers, which also plays into the hands of a driver like Alonso. Just knowing the wall is right there at the edge of the track is enough to instill a sense of caution into every driver on the grid.

But those most able to simply see the track—and not focus on what lies beyond it—can extract that little bit more from their lap. It's as much confidence as it is bravery, and no one is more secure in his own ability than Alonso.

A final factor which may work in the Spaniard's favour in Singapore is the relative darkness and floodlit scenery.

Last season, BBC Sport's then-technical analyst Gary Anderson theorised that certain drivers, including Alonso, have better visual awareness and space perception than the average man on the grid. He wrote in his column:

Some drivers will react differently to the glare of the lights, and the reflections of the other cars. And I'm sure that's where you see a slight difference in the drivers' abilities to use the limits of a given track.

Everyone's eyesight is different and drivers respond differently to that. Different light levels affect people's perceptions of space, meaning some people will leave bigger gaps at night than they would during the day.

And I'm sure Alonso, Vettel and Hamilton are strong in that area as well as being world-class drivers.

All these things together are important over a single lap, but being able to take that advantage for two long, tiring hours is where Alonso's greatest strength lies.

Lap after lap, race after race, Alonso hits those apexes, brushes those barriers, corrects those slides and shaves off those valuable tenths better than anyone else in the business. His Singapore record is evidence of this.

Only once in seven races at Marina Bay has the Spaniard failed to finish at least one position higher than he qualified. That one occasion was in 2010, when he started on pole.

In 2009 he gained two places; in 2011, one; 2012 also saw him gain only a single place, but in 2013 he gained five.

In the most recent race, he started fifth and finished fourth.

That's not a bad result, but had the safety car not appeared when it did, he looked likely to beat the Red Bulls on what should have been one of their best tracks.

Anywhere else in 2014, that would have been surprising.

But not in Singapore.

The "unfortunate" events of 2008 are a topic for another day, perhaps a day far in the past, and were deliberately not mentioned in the year-by-year recap. But it's worth noting outside the main body of the article that although Alonso was helped into the lead by Renault's shameful act, he still had a lot to do in order to win.

At the very moment that Michael Schumacher climbed out of a Ferrari for the final time in parc ferme at the 2006 Brazilian Grand Prix and headed for his first retirement, Fernando Alonso inherited the unofficial tag as the most complete driver in Formula One.

And with good reason.

The Spaniard, after breaking Schumacher's five-year spell of dominance to become the youngest-ever world champion in F1 history the previous year, had just added his second crown in as many years.

Over the course of his two title-winning seasons, Alonso had claimed 12 pole positions, 14 wins and 29 podium finishes in 37 grands prix, glowing reflections of his qualifying speed, his race pace and, most impressively, his consistency.

Sure, there were some concerns over his maturity and ability to manage pressure—telling The Guardian's Alan Henry that Renault had left him feeling "alone" with just two races of the '06 campaign remaining and the championship in the balance was on a par with a driver running over his pit crew—but Alonso's brilliance on the track far outweighed his occasional prickliness away from it.

And at just 25, those rough edges would be ironed out over the years.

Now at the age of 33, there is little doubt that time has had a humbling effect on Alonso, whose most recent outburst of real note came at last year's Hungarian Grand Prix, where he was quoted by BBC Sport's Andrew Benson as stating that he wanted "someone else's car" for his 32nd birthday.  

The Warrior that uses the sword when is insulted can not be considered brave, brave man does not flinch, because he has higher goals..

— Fernando Alonso (@alo_oficial) August 19, 2013

The Spaniard, in the eyes of many, remains the most complete driver on the grid, but the results no longer support that theory as strongly as they once did.

He has won 17 races since the end of 2006, but Alonso has failed to get that third world championship over the line, missing out on the crown in the final races of the 2007, 2010 and 2012 campaigns.

Alonso's time away from the top has coincided with the emergence of Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel—the two drivers to whom he is most often compared—who despite making their grand prix debuts in 2007 have a combined total of five world championships between them, with the former standing a good chance of making it six in the coming months.

Berger: Until a year ago I saw Alonso as the most complete #F1 driver. But after 2013, for the first time, I put Vettel in first place.

— Fans of Seb Vettel (@FansOfSebVettel) January 10, 2014

From a performance perspective, there is one key aspect of Alonso's weaponry that is missing in contrast to his peers: one-lap pace.

While Vettel and Hamilton have seemingly always be relied upon to pull a sensational flying lap out of the hat in the dying seconds of a qualifying session, Alonso—admittedly, not helped by a floundering Ferrari in recent years—has been found to be lagging behind.

The 2012 German Grand Prix was the scene of his last pole position—which was also his most recent front-row start—while his last pole in dry conditions occurred, unbelievably, just shy of four years ago at the 2010 Singapore Grand Prix.

Alonso's failure to extract the most from his machinery and his consequent underachievement on Saturdays often leaves him with more to gain by playing catch-up on Sundays, which contributes to his self-appointed identity as a "warrior" in racing conditions.

A normal man takes everything as a blessing or a curse.
A samurai is a warrior who accepts everything as a challenge. #BahrainAlo

— Fernando Alonso (@alo_oficial) April 21, 2013

The reason behind the Spaniard's relatively average success in qualifying conditions, as well as substandard machinery, is arguably the passing of time.

You only have to look across the Ferrari garage to see Kimi Raikkonen, a fellow world champion who, with his 35th birthday less than a month away, has gradually lost the vigorous pace that allowed the Finnish driver to challenge Alonso for the title in 2005.

Even Hamilton, widely regarded as the fastest man in F1 across one lap, is arguably not as thrillingly quick as he was when he burst onto the scene in 2007, his rookie campaign, and 2008, when he claimed his first world championship.

Another flaw in Alonso's repertoire is his very occasional tendency to make small—yet costly—mistakes behind the wheel.

And although the Spaniard is far more reliable than the vast majority of his fellow competitors on the grid, slight losses of concentration and errors of judgement—which have occurred on a one-per-season basis in recent years—have prevented Alonso from putting his status as the best driver on the grid beyond any doubt.

His failure to leave Raikkonen, then at Lotus, any room at the start of the 2012 Japanese Grand Prix, which led to a race-ending puncture, arguably cost Alonso that year's title while his retirement from last year's Malaysian Grand Prix after clumsily tagging the rear of Vettel's car and choosing to continue with a damaged front wing left him with a mountain to climb from a very early stage in the season.

Alonso repeated the trick in last month's Belgian Grand Prix, hitting the Red Bull driver at the La Source hairpin and losing an element of his front wing although the fact that it took place on the final lap of the race when he was running in a distant seventh place meant it slipped under the radar.

In spite of those minor imperfections in his driving, however, Alonso remains—for now, at least—the most accomplished driver in the current era of Formula One.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BkbqM294hY

Despite his drought of success, the Spaniard has this season provided several reminders of his qualities, with that 14-lap battle with Vettel at Silverstone a reflection of his aggression, fearlessness and fairness in wheel-to-wheel combat.

His drive to second in Hungary, where he was on course for victory until the final three laps, meanwhile showed that he has retained that wonderful knack of being there or thereabouts when a surprise result is up for grabs.

Alonso remains a class act, but as long as that third world title continues to elude him—and as long as the likes Hamilton, Vettel and, indeed, Daniel Ricciardo, the star of 2014, all continue to grow and mature as racing drivers—the Spaniard's rivals will soon be queuing up to dethrone him as the most complete competitor in the sport.

Luca di Montezemolo has announced he will leave his position as President of Ferrari, bringing to an end weeks of speculation over his future.

In a statement on the team website, Montezemolo said:

Ferrari will have an important role to play within the FCA [Fiat Chrysler Automobiles] Group in the upcoming flotation on Wall Street. This will open up a new and different phase which I feel should be spearheaded by the CEO of the Group.

This is the end of an era and so I have decided to leave my position as Chairman after almost 23 marvellous and unforgettable years in addition to those spent at Enzo Ferrari’s side in the 1970s.

As indicated in the statement, his replacement as chief of company will be Sergio Marchionne, the CEO of the FCA Group. 

During Montezemolo's reign, the team rose from the doldrums to dominate Formula One. Michael Schumacher won five world championships with the team as they swept all before them in the early years of the millennium.

But that was a long time ago, and things have changed.

Montezemolo remained in charge as Ferrari returned to the ranks of the also-rans, failing for six consecutive years to produce a title-worthy car.

Even considering all he did for the team—and the Ferrari company as a whole—his departure was long overdue.

Luca Cordero di Montezemolo (the English-speaking media tends to drop the Cordero from his surname for the sake of brevity) was born into an aristocratic Italian family in 1947. His father was a Marquis, as is Luca, but titles of nobility lost their legal status in Italy in 1948.

They didn't lose their usefulness, though.

His well-heeled family had ties to the founders and owners of Fiat—the Agnellis. Luca's father Massimo was a close friend of Gianni Agnelli, the grandson of company founder Giovanni.

Gianni became president of Fiat in 1966, and three years later oversaw the purchase of a substantial stake in Ferrari.

In 1973, Montezemolo returned to Italy from the United States. Per ESPN, his family connections helped him into his first role within the Fiat family, working at Ferrari.

But while his name opened the door, it didn't do his job for him. Montezemolo quickly proved himself to Enzo Ferrari, and after just a year working for the company he was placed in charge of the F1 team.

World titles for Niki Lauda followed in 1975 and 1977, and Montezemolo was promoted into the higher echelons of Fiat.

It seemed he had left Ferrari and F1 behind. During the 1980s he occupied a number of positions within Fiat and worked on a wide variety of projects. But while Montezemolo was gone, the jewel in Fiat's crown—Ferrari—began to struggle both on and off the track.

On the F1 side, Ferrari had not won the drivers' championship since 1979. Williams and McLaren had emerged as the dominant forces, leaving the Scuderia to pick over their scraps.

The road-car business was doing even worse. Unprofitable and inefficient, Business Week reported it came close to bankruptcy towards the end of the 1980s.

The death of Enzo Ferrari in 1988 could have been the beginning of the end, but Gianni Agnelli—still president of Fiat, which still owned a large slice of Ferrari—had other ideas.

He turned to an old hand from the past, and in 1991 Montezemolo was appointed as president of Ferrari. His task was twofold—rebuild the flagging road-car business, and return the F1 team to winning ways.

The changes he made took time to bear fruit. By the end of 1995, Ferrari had won just two races under Montezemolo's leadership.

But in 1993, he had brought in Jean Todt to run the F1 team. Together, Todt and Montezemolo convinced Michael Schumacher to come to Ferrari for 1996, then added the remaining pieces of the "dream team"—technical director Ross Brawn and aerodynamicist Rory Byrne.

In 1996, the team won three races. In 1997, Schumacher took the title fight to the final race of the year. He went close again in 1998, but 1999 was the watershed moment.

For the first time in over 15 years, Ferrari had built arguably the best car on the grid. Schumacher would surely have been champion had he not broken his legs in a horrific Silverstone crash; team-mate Eddie Irvine took up his mantle.

The Ulsterman couldn't quite wrench the drivers title from McLaren's Mika Hakkinen, but he led Ferrari to their first constructors' championship since 1983. It was the start of a period of dominance unmatched in F1 history.

Ferrari won five drivers' and five constructors' championships between 2000 and 2004. Ferraris won 57 of the 85 races in these five years, scoring 23 one-two finishes.

Only four races in this period had a Ferrari-free podium.

Four men are usually credited as the driving force behind this incredible era—Schumacher, Todt, Brawn and Byrne. But the input of Montezemolo, from his perch overseeing the entire operation, cannot be ignored or overstated.

It wasn't among those inside Ferrari. For dragging the team from the midfield to the summit of the F1 mountain, Montezemolo was rewarded in 2004 with the Chairmanship of Fiat.

But all fairytales have an ending, and not all of them are happy.

After five years of dominance, Ferrari were beaten to the titles by Renault in 2005 and 2006. Schumacher retired at the end of 2006, Brawn departed as well and Todt went a year later.

With so many senior figures going elsewhere, Montezemolo's influence within the team grew.

At first, everything went smoothly. Kimi Raikkonen brought glory back to Ferrari in 2007, and though Lewis Hamilton claimed the crown the following year, the Ferrari was the best car on the grid.

But sweeping changes to the regulations for 2009, coupled with drastic reductions in testing allowances, saw Ferrari lose their way.

Slow to react and reluctant to embrace the advanced simulator and wind tunnel technologies of their rivals, the Scuderia have not produced a championship-worthy car since 2008.

In response, scapegoat after scapegoat has been sacrificed on the Maranello altar. Designer Aldo Costa departed in 2011, team principal Stefano Domenicali left in April this year and engine chief Luca Marmorini's head rolled in July.

But perhaps the axe should have been aimed a little higher.

Speaking early in August to Italian journalist Leo Turrini, Costa—now of Mercedes, where he helped create the all-conquering W05—spoke of his experiences at Ferrari. He said (h/t ESPN for the English translation):

Strategic mistakes were made—I'm talking here about errors of vision—very serious ones.

I'll give you an example: In 2008 we in the racing department put in a request to construct a new wind tunnel. We considered it essential to remain competitive. We were told that this was not the case and that there was no need.

In Ferrari all the decisions, on strategy and people, have always been taken by the president, Montezemolo. To be fair, he took them when Ferrari was winning everything and he also took them when Ferrari stopped winning.

Montezemolo deserved to receive credit when Ferrari were sweeping all before them. By the same token, blame must also fall upon his shoulders for the team's recent slump.

And a general can only throw so many foot soldiers onto his enemies' swords before he has to face the music himself.

Along with Todt, Brawn, Byrne and Schumacher, Montezemolo formed part of one of F1's most formidable teams.

He also transformed Ferrari's road-car business. Per Business Week, sales in 1993 were just 2,289; in 2012, Ferrari announced 7,318 cars were delivered.

And in 2013, the BBC reported Ferrari's profits had hit $363 million. In 1995, they were a paltry $2 million.

But nothing lasts forever. While Montezemolo's business acumen is undimmed, his methods and decision-making style were no longer suited to the ever-evolving landscape of F1.

His presence, overseeing all the Scuderia's operations from on high like an omniscient, omnipotent, axe-wielding hawk, had become suffocating for those under his command.

He'll go down in Ferrari folklore as a legend of the past.

But it's right that other men be given the opportunity to create a brighter future.