F1 boss gives his insight on how the Maranello team can win again: “Saying 'we are Ferrari' is no longer enough”

F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali claims Ferrari can no longer rely on their heritage to be successful in the sport and have to work on their weak points. The Italian was the team principal of the Scuderia from 2008 to 2014, where he to failed to sustain a championship challenge against other teams.

The Maranello-based team seem to be deep in the mud once again this year after Charles Leclerc dropped out of Bahrain's season opener due to a DNF and Carlos Sainz finished in P4 a long way behind the Red Bulls.

The team were riding high on hype from pre-season testing and winter speculation but failed to impress at the season opener last weekend.

Domenicali thinks that the team must look deep into their flaws and work on them, instead of relying on just their heritage. The F1 CEO believes the Scuderia team must put their emotions away and look at their problems with objectivity if they want to fight for the title once again.

He told Sportmediaset:

"It's clear that when we talk about Ferrari in Italy we're talking... about the national team that everyone supports and everyone has to support but the competition is very strong. Saying 'we are Ferrari' is no longer enough."

"We need to work on the weak points in order to grow without becoming typically Italian and emotional. Only with determination can you get out of difficult situations."

Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur wants to investigate Charles Leclerc's problems in Bahrain

New team principal Fred Vasseur believes a thorough investigation needs to be done to understand why Charles Leclerc suffered an untimely DNF in the latter half of the 2023 Bahrain GP. The Monegasque driver dropped out of the podium places after his car suffered reliability issues, giving his rivals a dream start.

Leclerc and Ferrari's woes seem to have carried into 2023, as the team doesn't look to be anywhere within championship contention in their current state.

A string of reliability and strategic issues brought them down in 2022, and they risk succumbing to similar demons this year unless they somehow understand their problems. The team changed some power unit components in Leclerc's car before the race but still suffered a DNF in Bahrain's season opener.

Speaking to RaceFans, Ferrari boss Frederic Vassuer said:

“Honestly, we don’t know yet what’s happened exactly. There’s been an issue this morning; we changed the parts; we don’t know where it’s coming from and we’ll have the investigation soon. But it’s too early a stage for me to give you a better answer.”

It will be interesting to follow the Scuderia's development closely in the coming months to see if they can mount another championship challenge against Red Bull.