"The team could have fallen apart out of disappointment"- Former Ferrari boss on team's 'tough' period before dominance under Michael Schumacher

Ferrari was facing tough times in the late 1990s. The team narrowly missed out on the championship thrice. Ross Brawn, the technical director of the team at the time, recently spoke in an interview with F1 Insider. Brawn explained how Ferrari overcame their hardships and persevered before winning five driver's championships on the trot. He said,

"It should not be forgotten that we narrowly lost three world titles before we made it for the first time at Ferrari with Michael Schumacher in 2000. The three years before were a hardship test. The team could have fallen apart out of disappointment."

Brawn highlighted the fact that the hardships led to the team becoming closer instead of drifting apart. The Italian team learned from their mistakes and turned their weaknesses into their strengths. He explained,

"But the opposite was the case: we grew even closer together and got better. We learned a lot and eventually turned our weaknesses into strengths."

Under Michael Schumacher, Ferrari entered a period of dominance as they won six constructors' championships consecutively. Michael Schumacher became the first driver to win more than five world championships. He won seven and broke Juan Manuel Fangio's record.

Schumacher has won a total of 91 Grand Prix in his career, and a record thirteen in a single season in 2004. He has gone down as one of the greatest drivers of all time.

Much of the German driver's success has been credited to the work of Ross Brawn. He devised most of the strategies which allowed Schumacher to perform as he did. Brawn went on to form his own team and won a championship with them, Brawn GP, in 2009. He later sold the team to Mercedes and was appointed the sporting director of the FIA, the governing body of F1. He is responsible for most of the new rules we have today.

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Ferrari struggling again but can overcome this phase according to Ross Brawn

Ross Brawn also spoke about Scuderia's current status. The Maranello-based team has the best car on the grid, but strategic and silly mistakes have prevented the team from reaching its full potential. The team has dropped to second in the constructors' championship. They are 139 points behind Red Bull due to botched pitstops at the Dutch GP, the wrong strategy call at the Monaco GP, and the Hungarian GP.

Ross Brawn said the team can overcome its current predicament since it has a fast car and strategy mistakes can be fixed with time. He said,

"Yes, they are frustrated. On the positive side, they basically have a car that you can ride at the front."

Ferrari will be confident going into Singapore, a track they won last time. A good finish here would mean they can stave off Mercedes who are challenging them for second place in the championship.