Ferrari

Ferrari and Monza are two of the most storied names in Formula One history. In motorsport circles, both are synonymous with Italy.

But despite being home to F1's most successful team and one of the most famous circuits in the world, Italy has struggled to produce top-level grand prix drivers—particularly in recent years.

In fact, the 2014 season (Caterham's driver decision notwithstanding) will be the third in a row without an Italian driver on the grid.

Aside from the current drought, there has only been one season since the F1 World Championship began in 1950 where an Italian did not start at least one race: 1969. And that year, Tino Brambilla almost made it onto the grid for the Italian Grand Prix, but Ferrari only had one car available, opting to give the drive to Pedro Rodriguez.

On the surface, the current situation for Italian drivers seems quite odd, given the deep motorsport tradition in the country. So, what are the underlying reasons for it?

One is the current financial crisis, which has hit particularly hard in Italy. With so many F1 teams struggling with the increasingly bloated costs of the sport, more of them are looking to sign drivers who bring sponsorship money with them. As Italian businesses continue to struggle, they do not have the spare cash to support the country's drivers.

Davide Valsecchi, Lotus' third driver in 2013, is a perfect example. He is a talented driver, having won the GP2 championship in 2012, but he was passed over for Kimi Raikkonen's seat when the Finn missed the last two races of the 2013 season. For 2014, it seems Valsecchi will be out of F1, one of only two GP2 champs (along with the reigning title-holder, Fabio Leimer) never to race at the sport's highest level.

In a recent interview with F1passion.it, Valsecchi said that:

Today, quality doesn’t matter that much, to get a seat one just needs the budget that is currently not within my reach. We’re talking about huge sums, so high that they’re very hard to find in Italy. ... When there are drivers, such as the Mexicans or Venezuelans, who bring even 15 million euros, if not more so, the mission becomes impossible for me.

Another potential barrier for Italian drivers is Ferrari itself. If any Italian companies do come up with money for a sponsorship, all things being equal, they would likely prefer to associate themselves with an icon like Ferrari, rather than an up-and-coming driver.

Beyond that, the team has been somewhat reluctant to hire Italian drivers, in keeping with the preferences of its founder, Enzo Ferrari.

After several drivers—including Italians Alberto Ascari, Eugenio Castellotti, Luigi Musso and Lorenzo Bandini—were killed driving Ferrari cars, The New York Times noted in Ferrari's obituary that, "the Italian press branded him a 'Saturn'—a devourer of his children." At least without Italian drivers behind the wheel, he could not be accused of killing his countrymen.

When it became apparent that no Italian drivers would make it to the grid in 2012, team principal Stefano Domenicali told the official Ferrari website (via Autosport) that he was, "very sad." 

And it does seem that Ferrari is trying to help. The Ferrari Driver Academy now includes two Italian drivers: Antonio Fuoco and Raffaele Marciello (who was born in Switzerland). This bodes well for the future of Italian racers, as the Academy has already assisted Sergio Perez and Jules Bianchi on their journeys to F1.

Still, the shadow cast by Ferrari is not completely positive for the prospects of Italian drivers. In Italy, it is not individual drivers that matter, but the Ferrari team (and especially winning for the Ferrari team). 

In the first four years of the World Championship, two Italian drivers—Ascari and Nino Farina—won three titles for the Scuderia. Since then, Ferrari has won 12 more Drivers' Championships, but none by an Italian. Drivers like Mike Hawthorn, Phil Hill, Niki Lauda and, more recently, Michael Schumacher and Kimi Raikkonen have become champions in the blood-red cars and been embraced by the tifosi.

Even men like Gilles Villeneuve, Nigel Mansell and Fernando Alonso have been adopted by the rabid Ferrari fans, even though they have not brought a title back to Maranello.

This is in contrast to the U.K. where, spoiled for choice with the number of teams to cheer for, the fans seem happy to support any and all British drivers. The Italians, on the other hand, are able to focus all their love on one team, Ferrari, to the exclusion of everyone else.

So, what are the future F1 prospects for Italy's young racers?

Marciello, the more polished of the two Italians in the Ferrari Driver Academy is still at least a year or two away from being ready for F1. He won the European Formula Three title in 2013 and could spend 2014 in GP2 or Formula Renault 3.5. The latter series was won by Kevin Magnussen last year, catapulting him into a McLaren race seat.

Valsecchi was the best hope for an Italian to return to the F1 grid in the immediate future. But in the F1passion.it interview he said, "I won’t stop exerting myself to have a steering wheel in hand soon. In the meantime, I don’t conceal my desire to get into IndyCar." Therefore, it seems unlikely that Valsecchi would be interested in another third driver role, even if it were offered to him.

There are no other immediate candidates. Kevin Ceccon, who tested for Toro Rosso in 2011, spent the first half of last season in GP2 before losing his seat, and Giovanni Venturini won the GP3 sprint race at the British Grand Prix. Both are still a long way from F1, though.

When Jarno Trulli—with Vitantonio Liuzzi, the last Italian driver to race in F1—was replaced by Vitaly Petrov before the start of the 2012 season, he lamented to the Italian news agency, Ansa (via Reuters):

Formula One without Italian drivers is a shame. I'm sorry but the problem is not mine: others must take responsibility for this impoverishment, for a situation that in fact did not start yesterday and that people have not woken up to.

In Italy there's no system to help drivers reach a high level, so it's normal that we reach a situation like this. There are talents, but if nobody supports them there's no hope.

With Fuoco and Marciello in the Ferrari Driver Academy, there is hope for Italian drivers. However, the indifference of the country's racing fans to anyone not driving a Ferrari and the inability of Italian companies to provide support means it may still be a few years before we see another Italian in an F1 cockpit.

Follow Matthew Walthert on Twitter @MatthewWalthert

Ferrari have planned to celebrate Michael Schumacher’s birthday on Friday by staging a vigil outside his Grenoble hospital in France.

Schumacher remains in a critical condition following a serious skiing accident sustained at the Meribel resort on Sunday.

Autosport reported on Thursday afternoon that Ferrari’s official Facebook page urged fans of the German to turn up wearing the red of Ferrari outside the hospital.

In these difficult days and on the occasion of his birthday the SCUDERIA FERRARI CLUBS want to show their support for MICHAEL SCHUMACHER, organising tomorrow a silent and respectful event all in red at the Grenoble University Hospital Centre. Do you want to participate? Find the Club closest to you and contact it for further information!

The gesture is, of course, well intentioned, but it appears that a lack of thought went into this Facebook post, and I would be astonished if it goes ahead on safety grounds.

The hospital in Grenoble is one of the busiest at this time of the year and has to cope with numerous emergencies on a daily basis due to injuries on the slopes.

Time is of the essence in rushing casualties into theatre and minutes can often be the difference between life and death.

Schumacher is an icon of the sporting world and such an open invitation on the biggest team in the sport’s official Facebook page could lead to hundreds, if not thousands, of fans turning up outside the hospital. It appears to be a recipe for disaster.

At the time of writing, the invite remains on the Facebook page, but surely the most thoughtful and respectful way of showing support for the seven-time world champion is simply to send messages of goodwill on social networking accounts.

Schumacher’s family have already thanked fans for sending such messages via a statement on his official website, which read:

Following Michael's skiing accident, we would like to thank the people from all around the world who have expressed their sympathy and sent their best wishes for his recovery. They are giving us great support. We all know he is a fighter and will not give up. Thank you.

Out of respect for other individuals who will be rushed to intensive care over the next few days, sending simple messages of goodwill is surely the most appropriate way of showing support.

Aside from the major regulations set to shake up Formula One in 2014, the other major talking point is how Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen will work as Ferrari teammates.

On paper, it looks like the strongest team pairing on the grid, but many have speculated that their contrasting characters could be disruptive.

Even Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo has admitted that the pairing could be a “dangerous” one for Ferrari, as quoted on ESPNF1.

Putting together Alonso and Raikkonen could be dangerous. But in Formula One ... everything is potential danger. I think that Fernando knows that he drives not for himself but for Ferrari. And Raikkonen knows that he is in the second half of his career, two very important years for him, with experience and responsibilities.

Both Alonso and Raikkonen are used to having No. 1 status, and Ferrari have traditionally favoured one strong driver, from Schumacher to Raikkonen and now Alonso—although Felipe Massa did buck that trend somewhat in 2008 with some sterling performances.

Alonso is known to have thrown his toys out of the pram when he doesn’t get his own way, and di Montezemolo was forced to publically scold his star driver back in July after the Spaniard criticised his car’s lack of competitiveness.

When paired with another strong character in Lewis Hamilton at McLaren, Alonso found the situation so hard to bear that he left the team after only one season.

Raikkonen can be a difficult character to manage, too, as Lotus discovered to their cost. The Finn refused to let Romain Grosjean past in Korea, leading to a heated radio exchange. He then walked away from the final two races after a dispute over his pay.

Having two big names in the same team hasn’t always worked for Ferrari. Nigel Mansell was always deeply suspicious that Alain Prost was getting preferential treatment at the team and announced his retirement midway through the 1990 season.

However, whilst there is certainly good reason to believe that things may not go smoothly, there is just as much reason to suggest the partnership will bear fruit.

Two drivers fighting to prove they deserve No. 1 status has worked in the past—famously at McLaren, where Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost brought out the best in one another, the team winning an incredible 15 out of 16 races in 1988.

The recently retired Mark Webber is one driver who believes that Alonso needs a stronger teammate to bring the best out of him, as quoted on Autosport.

I think Fernando will see it as a positive thing.

The positives for me are that Fernando needs to be pushed more on Saturday afternoons; which he will live for.

Kimi will lift him and help him to get a bit more out of himself on Saturday afternoons. On Sundays there is no question, we know Fernando is a brilliant racer, but on Saturdays Kimi will lift him to another level.

Ferrari will certainly hope that it is Webber and not their own president who is proven right as they take the fight to rivals Red Bull and Mercedes in 2014.

When Felipe Massa crossed the finish line in the Brazilian Grand Prix to bring down the curtain on an eight-year spell with Ferrari, he had tears in his eyes.

Team boss Stefano Domenicali spoke from the heart over the radio when he told Massa, “We love you. You will always be in our hearts and don’t forget an important thing: You are a world champion for us. Obrigado Feli, Obrigado!”

Massa had finished in seventh place after a gutsy drive from ninth on the grid and, but for an inexplicable drive-through penalty for crossing the pit-entry line, may well have finished on the podium. It would have been a fitting end, and a clearly emotional Massa thanked Domenicali for his kind words.

“Thank you guys! Thank you so much! Don’t say such words because I could cry at the wheel!”

Why such an emotional goodbye? Massa has always been a popular and well-liked figure amongst fans and those who work in the industry and has been a loyal servant to the Ferrari cause.

Five years earlier, Massa also had tears in his eyes as he crossed the line in Brazil believing he had pipped rival Lewis Hamilton to win the world title on home soil. Moments later, those tears of joy turned to tears of despair as Hamilton passed Timo Glock’s ailing Toyota on the penultimate corner to snatch the title.

Aside from his 2008 championship year, Massa has had to play second fiddle to his teammates at Ferrari, notably Michael Schumacher, Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso. But Massa did have the better of Raikkonen in 2008 and won more races than any other driver that season.

After his near-miss in 2008, much was expected of the Alonso and Massa pairing the following season, but after a couple of technical terrors blighted the opening part of his season, an incident at the Hungarian Grand Prix changed his career.

Following Rubens Barrichello, Massa’s helmet was stuck with extreme force by a suspension spring that fell from the Brawn car, fracturing his skull and leading to surgery and a lengthy rehabilitation period.

Massa missed the remainder of the season and, although he was back for the following year, he was never quite the same driver after his near brush with death, and his performances tailed off rapidly.

Two heavy crashes at Monaco and one in Montreal this year seemed to put further doubt in Massa’s mind, and he admitted afterwards, as quoted on Autosport, that the Canadian crash had affected him psychologically.

"Physically I'm fine. This crash was nothing compared to Monaco, it was much slower. The crash I had here is more psychologically you know, rather than physically. So I need to forget about that and start a different thing."

Massa enjoyed an extremely close relationship at Ferrari with his race engineer Rob Smedley and, as the Sky Sports video feature shows, they are the best of friends and always will be.

It will be tough for Massa to move on from his Ferrari family of the past eight years, and that is why Brazil was so emotional, since eight years is a long time to be with one team.

Many thought that leaving Ferrari would be the end but Williams saw something in Massa that was worth taking a gamble on.

The Brazilian was well-liked at Ferrari, never kicked up much of a fuss and has experience in abundance that can only be a help to the highly rated Valtteri Bottas.

Perhaps it’s not that much of a gamble after all.

It comes with a degree of irony that Fernando Alonso is a huge fan of the sport of cycling.

On the first day of this month, the Spaniard sent tongues wagging with a tweet advising his 1.8 million followers to expect “important news” from him in the near future.

With Red Bull yet to officially confirm that Daniel Ricciardo would replace the departing Mark Webber, imaginations were dreaming up a mouth-watering pairing of Alonso and Sebastian Vettel at the Milton Keynes-based team.

However, only the shrewdest Formula One fans were spot-on with their assumption that the Ferrari driver’s upcoming news would be related to his acquisition of Euskaltel Euskadi, the financially stricken cycling team.

Nearly three weeks later, and all has been revealed—it is, in fact, Ferrari who have broken with tradition by forming a world-class double act in bringing Kimi Raikkonen back to Maranello for 2014, allegedly to the dissatisfaction of Alonso. It will be their first all-world champion lineup since 1953.

Being accustomed with cycling, Alonso will no doubt be familiar with the term “domestique.” For those unaware, it’s a French word used to describe a road racer who works solely for the benefit of his team leader, translating into English as “servant.”

The great cycling writer Roger St. Pierre once said of the role of the domestique:

It is team tactics which so often win or lose races - and the lieutenants and the dog soldiers who expend their energy blocking chasing moves when they have riders up the road in a position to win. It is they who ride out into the wind so their aces can get an easier ride tucked inside their wheel. Rare indeed is the major victory that cannot be credited in large part to the groundwork laid by the domestiques.

To an extent, it is a role that can also be assumed on four wheels rather than two. The irony is Alonso knows all too well that Felipe Massa has not been a good enough domestique for him during his three-and-a-half years as Ferrari’s No. 1 driver.

Since coming agonisingly close to winning the 2008 drivers’ championship, Massa has failed to take a race win or indeed a pole position, while his number of podium finishes stands below double figures ahead of Singapore this weekend.

Now, the role of the domestique is not to claim the glory, but an occasional stage win is never begrudged, so long as it is for the good of the team and its leader. An individual Grand Prix can be compared with a stage in a cycling event, and by taking just nine podiums in his last 80 races, Massa has made life much easier for Red Bull, Mercedes, Lotus and (before this year at least) McLaren.

David Coulthard of the late 1990s is a prime example of the perfect domestique in F1 terms. At a time when McLaren and Ferrari were permitted to give ruthless team orders, the Scot was the perfect wing-man for 1998 and 1999 world champion Mika Hakkinen.

Although Eddie Irvine did a decent job (four wins and 26 podiums) in a similar role for Ferrari in the same era, Coulthard (13 wins, 12 poles, 62 podiums) was a better driver and is perhaps the reason Hakkinen and McLaren were able to trump anything the Italian team could produce for their No. 1, Michael Schumacher.

Schumacher would have to wait for his ideal domestique, but he duly arrived in the shape of Rubens Barrichello in 2000. With the Brazilian doing the dirty work for the team, "Schuey" was able to break almost every record in the book and the pair were responsible for five of Ferrari’s six consecutive Constructors’ Championships, their best ever run amid a dominant spell.

The point is, even without the ability to make team orders, a solid domestique is still required by any world champion, and Webber has certainly proved his worth to Vettel and Red Bull since they emerged as major players in 2010.

With nine wins and 38 podiums, as well as 11 poles, the Australian has been at the right end of the pack more often than not, and he’s likely to leave the sport with over 1,000 career points, despite his indifferent form in his final year.

His presence at the forefront has so often allowed the Red Bull tacticians to dictate and control race proceedings in Vettel’s favour, with Webber’s role as a domestique only flawed by his outspoken approach to how he has been used. Nonetheless, he’ll leave the sport with at least three Constructors’ Championship honours, probably four.

Expect Raikkonen’s return to Ferrari to create a similar environment. According to Pete Gill of Sky Sports, Ferrari chairman Luca di Montezemolo claims Alonso will be the main beneficiary, stating: “I want more victories, consistency and podiums from Raikkonen. Alonso will be the first to benefit.” It’s difficult not to be sold on his view.

Raikkonen is a great tactical driver and an important character in the interests of the sport, but he doesn’t quite possess the raw talent of Alonso, who pushed Vettel's RB8 all the way last year in a much inferior F2012. Bookmakers have Alonso odds-on to outscore his new team-mate, and they rarely get things wrong.

There is cause for concern from Alonso, of course. With the Finn having produced a run of 27 consecutive points finishes since his return to the sport, only ended by break failure in Belgium, no driver in their right mind would underestimate Raikkonen.

Alonso will be keeping close tabs on how his team-mate is performing early on in 2014, but after an initial period of unease, he should remember that it is he who is the double world champion in the team, and the Ferrari technicians and tacticians are likely to work in his favour.

Although he perhaps won’t admit it himself, Raikkonen is the perfect domestique for Alonso’s next title, and with Red Bull taking the riskier option in Ricciardo for 2014, the Spaniard may not have long to wait.

Follow me on Twitter: @skyjamiecasey

On the face of it, the decision taken by Ferrari to pair Kimi Raikkonen with Fernando Alonso seems a highly risky one.

Alonso is known to like being the team leader and have a compliant teammate, much like Michael Schumacher before him. The last time he had a teammate capable of matching him, it created friction within the team and the Spaniard left McLaren as a result.

When things aren’t going his way he has often thrown his toys out of the pram to the extent of even challenging the Ferrari management, as reported by Autosport in July.

Add into the mix the fact that Raikkonen appears so laid back to the point of being horizontal and you have a pairing that is like chalk and cheese.

So can a coupling that seems to have trouble written all over it really blossom to give Ferrari the best chance of winning both constructors’ and drivers’ championships?

There are certainly reasons to believe so.

They can push one another to a higher level

Yes, a clash of personality can cause friction within a team but is it not better to double your chances of points scoring finishes at races?

Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost didn’t exactly see eye to eye to put it mildly but in their first season together at McLaren the team won an incredible 15 of the 16 races that season.

And for Senna and Prost, read Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber or indeed Alonso and Lewis Hamilton in 2007.

Having two highly competitive teammates in a team together can work wonders for motivation and may be exactly the kick Alonso needs to propel him to greatness and a first title with Ferrari or conversely a second for Raikkonen.

According to Webber, it is exactly what Alonso needs to lift him to a higher level of performance as he told Autosport.

I think Fernando will see it as a positive thing. The positives for me are that Fernando needs to be pushed more on Saturday afternoons; which he will live for. Kimi will lift him and help him to get a bit more out of himself on Saturday afternoons. On Sundays there is no question, we know Fernando is a brilliant racer, but on Saturdays Kimi will lift him to another level.

They may actually get along

A lot has been written about the personality differences between Alonso and Raikkonen. One a Spaniard with a fiery Latino temperament and the other an ice-cool Finn.

Any yet we have seen exactly this kind of pairing gel well before. Remember when Juan Pablo Montoya joined Raikkonen at McLaren? People said it just wouldn’t work but there appeared no signs of friction within the team and the pair actually appeared to connect well.

There may not exactly be a sharing of technical information between the pair in the garage regarding optimum set-ups and both have differing driver styles, but it would be rash to talk up the chances of team infighting before the new season is even underway.

They’re fighting for a common cause

The bigger picture at Ferrari is that they desperately need to narrow the gap to Red Bull sooner rather than later.

The Milton Keynes based team has been utterly dominant over the last four seasons and is on the verge of a fourth successive constructors’ and drivers’ title.

For a team as big as Ferrari, not winning a title since 2008 will be a huge concern and both Alonso and Raikkonen will be working as hard as ever to address this issue in order to stop the Vettel juggernaut next season.

Nobody in the history of Formula One racing has come as close to winning the world championship without actually doing so than Felipe Massa.

Rewind to the final round of the 2008 world championship in Brazil. Massa had just crossed the finish line to win his home race, and, with title rival Lewis Hamilton only sixth, he celebrated with tears of joy as did his father in the pit lane.

Moments later those tears of joy turned to tears of despair as Hamilton passed Timo Glock’s ailing Toyota on the penultimate corner to snatch the title.

The question is, would Massa have been a worthy world champion? And having been axed by Ferrari for Kimi Raikkonen for the 2014 season, has his eight-year stint with the Maranello team been a success?

Addressing the first point, it is worth noting that Massa won more races in 2008 than any other driver with six victories to Hamilton’s five. There was no separating the pair until the final corner of the final lap and a point’s difference was the outcome at the end of the season.

It is also worth noting that Massa was comprehensively the better Ferrari driver that season than the man who is set to replace him in 2014. Raikkonen won only two races in 2008 and tied for third with BMW’s Robert Kubica, 23 points behind the Brazilian.

Massa certainly would have made a worthy world champion in 2008 from his consistency of performances and race wins. But would a world championship title have constituted a successful Ferrari career?

It’s fair to say that Massa can be forgiven for being second-best to the great Michael Schumacher during his first season at Ferrari. The team was built around Schumacher, and the daunting task of trying to impress in such exalted company may have accounted for early spins in Bahrain and crashes in Australia. But Massa also took his first two wins that year and finished third in the championship, retaining his place when Schumacher announced his retirement from the team.

Paired with Raikkonen for 2007, Massa was winning the team battle halfway through the season with two wins, two second-place finishes and a couple of podiums but things began to turn around from France onwards where the Finn led home a Ferrari 1-2 before winning again at Silverstone. Three more wins and three podiums gave the Finn the title as Massa had to make do with fourth.

Having touched on 2008 and his title near-miss, 2009 proved to be a pivotal season in Massa’s career through no real fault of his own. Now joined by Fernando Alonso, Massa endured bad luck with a number of technical issues during the opening part of the season before an incident during qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Following Rubens Barrichello, Massa’s helmet was stuck with extreme force by a suspension spring that fell from the Brawn car, fracturing his skull and leading to surgery and a lengthy rehabilitation period.

Massa missed the remainder of the season but was back for the following year. He began well enough, with a second-place finish in Bahrain and third in Australia, but his season tailed off rapidly, and he would only stand on the podium twice more as teammate Alonso just missed out on the title.

By the end of 2012 it was clear that Massa’s position at Ferrari was under scrutiny, the Brazilian only managing a solitary podium in two and a half seasons of competition leading us to his current predicament.

But I’m of the opinion that Massa’s downfall in competitiveness can be traced back to the freak accident in Hungary in 2009. Such a life-changing incident is bound to have some kind of effect, just as Stirling Moss’ crash at Goodwood, although far more serious, ended his career because he just didn’t feel like the same driver any more.

So despite 2008 how do we judge his Ferrari career? It must be taken into consideration that but for two seasons he has been the No. 2 driver, as was Rubens Barrichello before him and Eddie Irvine before that.

Let’s consider the stats

So in the battle of the No. 2 Ferrari drivers, Massa averages 1.375 wins per year and 4.5 podiums per season, Barrichello 1.5 wins per year and 9.5 podiums per season and Irvine one win and six podiums per season.

It’s all pretty tight stuff but, bearing in mind that Barrichello’s Ferrari was the class car of its field at that time and Massa and Irvine have had to deal with the might of McLaren and Red Bull, it would be harsh to say that Massa’s Ferrari career has been a failure on that basis.

He may walk away with his head held high.