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Ferrari faces a 97-point deficit against Red Bull in the constructors championship. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari's lead driver, faces an 80-point deficit against Max Verstappen in the drivers' championship.
All of this, despite Ferrari having arguably the best car on the grid this season. In all likelihood, with 9 races left the championship dream (if there was any) seems to be over.
How did this happen? At first glance, if you look at the season in isolation, it can point to the car's reliability issues costing the team in some races. In others, Ferrari's lack of strategic acumen has compromised the lead driver's race multiple times as well.
Having said that, the 2022 F1 season cannot be seen in isolation. It needs to be seen with a 360-degree view of what the Scuderia has been up to for multiple decades now and why Ferrari might be nothing but an overhyped underperforming brand in F1.
Ferrari's track record in the last 43 years
Ferrari's last championship triumph was in 2007 with Kimi Raikkonen. Prior to that, the team had a successful stint with Michael Schumacher after he won 5 consecutive titles.
There is, however, one crucial realization that Michael Schumacher's stint marked and continues to mark even today. Before Michael Schumacher's first ever title with the team in 2000, the last title for a Ferrari driver was in 1979.
The period from the 1979 F1 season to the present day can be divided into three parts.
Phase 1: 1979-1995 (32 wins and 1 Title)
This phase includes the 1979 title-winning campaign for the team and the period after that. During this time, the team had some great talents like Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Gilles Villeneuve driving the car. Despite a few wins here and there, there was no title triumph in store.
Phase 2: 1996-2006 (87 wins and 5 Titles)
This was when Michael Schumacher joined the team. The team grew with him to ultimately become a championship-winning juggernaut by the 2000 F1 season and then went on a 5-year unbeaten run.
Phase 3: 2007-Present (50 wins and 1 Title)
This was the phase after Michael Schumacher retired from the sport in 2006. Ferrari won the title the very next year with Kimi Raikkonen in the 2007 F1 season. The team had talents like Fernando Alonso, Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen at their services. However, when it came down to results, the 2007 F1 title was the only moment of glory in the last 15 years.
Looking at these three phases, one of the more astounding things is the comparative success in these three phases. In the last 43 years, Michael Schumacher's 10 year stint with Ferrari yielded more wins and championships than the 33 years when he was not part of the team.
In essence, the Italian squad has had one successful decade that has marked an almost 4 decades of failure. Ferrari might be a massive global brand and a coveted seat in F1 but if you look at the statistics, they are not indicative of 'success' by any means.
Rampant politics
One of the bigger issues with the team that has been present for far too long is the backroom politics. It is a feature of the Italian squad and more often than not it acts as a deterrent.
Many people forget that even the current leadership of Mattia Binotto was achieved after a political tussle with Maurizio Arrivabene in 2018. The team has passion, the will to succeed, and there is loyalty as well towards the brand. At the same time though, there are backroom politics and there is almost always an ongoing fight for power.
Because of this, the energy that is supposed to be spent fighting off the rivals is spent fighting the battles inside the team. Even former president Luca Di Montezemelo was notoriously always involved in power battles with Jean Todt at Ferrari.
Ultimately, Di Montezemelo did succeed when he was able to hire Kimi Raikkonen to drive for the team in 2007.
Compare that to teams like Red Bull and Mercedes and what you see is a well-oiled machine with a sole focus on winning the championship. There are no distractions! There's only a push towards the win. The Italian squad, on the other hand, has always had one thing or the other to blame.
Lack of respect for drivers and an arrogance of 'being Ferrari'
Alain Prost, a multi-time world champion, was fired by the team. Sebastian Vettel's contract was not renewed. Fernando Alonso's replacement was signed behind his back without any prior intimation, and even the legendary Michael Schumacher was pushed out by signing Kimi Raikkonen.
Ferrari itself is a huge brand, and in terms of value and prestige, nothing comes close to it. This does not mean that drivers of such value should not be treated with respect. Sadly though, that is what has happened too many times. There is almost a sense of arrogance in the way the team conducts itself even today.
You wouldn't see Mattia Binotto admitting that the team employed a poor strategy in the race. It is often said that the first step towards improvement lies in admitting there's something wrong. You just don't see that with the Italian squad.
However, the icons of the grid, Christian Horner and Toto Wolff, are very quick to identify mistakes and strive for solutions. What Mattia Binotto did, on the other hand, was silence his lead driver publicly after destroying his race at the 2022 F1 British GP.
The only time the team has succeeded in the last four decades was when it had a French leader (Jean Todt), with an English deputy (Ross Brawn) and a German driver (Michael Schumacher). This goes to show that the only time the team succeeded was when it did not have the typical "Ferrari" culture.
In the end, you shouldn't ask the question of what happened this season? We aren't looking at a team that has been growing steadily and just needs the final few tweaks. Instead, what we are looking at is a team that has followed this pattern of under-achievement over the last four decades.
Does it even deserve to be called a frontrunner? Or is it fair to say that Ferrari is the overhyped underperforming brand of F1? We are leaning towards a 'Yes' on the latter one.
