"The culture isn’t right"- Ferrari doesn't have all 'ingredients' to succeed in 2022 F1 season, claims F1 pundit

F1 pundit Marc Priestley feels that Ferrari still lacks the final ingredients to become world champions. The Italian squad built a brilliant car this season and it was the fastest at many tracks as well. However, whether it was a lack of dependability or a lack of strategic acumen, the team has dropped out of contention for the title this season. Talking about Ferrari, Priestley felt that the team lacked the right ingredients at the moment. He said,

“I don’t want to say Ferrari have stumbled across a great car because they haven’t. They have built a fantastic car, the best car on many occasions this year, but they don’t have all the ingredients. They don’t have…I suspect and I know this to some extent, a lot of people I know work or have worked at Ferrari, and it feels like the culture isn’t right."

Marc felt that the personnel within the team did not have the freedom to express themselves. That ended up hurting the team as everyone was a bit nervous when pressure is high. He said,

“It feels like the team environment isn’t conducive to people making decisions on the fly and taking risks. You have to have all of those things. You see it in races, you see it when they are a little bit hesitant on the [team] radio. A team like Red Bull or Mercedes, it feels like the people in that team have the freedom to make a decision that might be a little bit out there, a little bit outside the box, might be a risk."

Ferrari still has to learn how to win again

Marc Priestley pointed to the team's lean period in all these years where the team has found it hard to win titles. The last time the team tasted championship success was in 2007 with Kimi Raikkonen. Marc felt that the team needs to get back to a routine of winning again and that would eventually ease the pressure from the team as well. He said,

“It just all feels that there’s a lack of confidence. Ferrari are a big great team with a massive history and they haven’t won for a long time. Kimi [Raikkonen] was the last championship winner in 2007 – that’s a long time. You have to sort of almost learn again to win. I used to think when people said ‘your team’s got to learn how to win’, I always used to think ‘what are you talking about? You’ve just got to do everything right and you’ll win!’ But it’s not that easy."

The 2022 F1 season would still be ticked off as a positive for Ferrari as the team was able to run at the front after a couple of years in the midfield.