F1 struggling to explain Ferrari decline
The F1 paddock is scratching its head about the strange and sudden decline of Ferrari's 2018 championship assault.
Some think Sebastian Vettel's struggle is because the FIA installed a second sensor in his car's controversial battery layout.
Asked if he could explain what the sensor is for, F1 race director Charlie Whiting answered: "No.
"If I did that, I would have to describe Ferrari's car and then the rest of the teams will understand some more things about it.
"I can't let that happen."
Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton, now commandingly leading the championship after Suzuka, isn't sure why Ferrari has dropped off.
"I didn't expect it," he said.
"Until the mid part of the season they were very strong and then we got to Monza where they were still quite strong, but then Singapore was where it really started to tail off.
"I don't really have an answer for that," added Hamilton. "You should ask Sebastian."
An editorial in Corriere della Sera, an Italian newspaper, links Ferrari's performance drop with the death in July of Sergio Marchionne.
Correspondent Daniele Sparisci said the former president was the "custodian of internal balance", and in the absence of that, Ferrari has split into two warring factions.
On one side, reportedly, is team boss Maurizio Arrivabene, and on the other is Mattia Binotto, who is regarded as second in line for the throne.
"It is said that relations between them is at a historic low," said Sparisci.
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Is it a Ferrari decline or a Mercedes increase in performance and Hamilton magic? Then it may just be driver mistakes and Ferrari making some strategic blunders.
Mercedes, currently, rules the roost, the car itself that is. Whether Hamilton is a better driver, calmer under pressure, than Vettel, is a tossup. Hamilton was as erratic as Vettel when Rosberg would buckle under and took the title. Most of Ferrari's overt issues reside in the person of Arrivabene. The man is an unmitigated poor principal and his issues trickle down to the rest of the Scuderia.
Seems that Mercedes made some developments that boosted performance since Spa. But Ferrari recent bad strategic calls and Vettel unforced driving mistakes are the real explanation for the crisis.
I am sure something has happened within the Ferrari which affected the performance as well as disturbed Seb's focus and that translated into making errors.Mercedes has given a great support to Hamilton and he has produced results being totally focused on his role as a lead driver.
I'm convinced that a big part of Ferrari's performance gain has been erradicated by the second sensor that the FIA have installed, which in turn makes me think that it must have been outside the regs and either the FIA have told them to desist or Ferrari are not deploying whilst being monitored. Its a shame as it was just what the championship needed. What has made things more difficult is that Mercedes have got on top of their drivability issues, which was an area where Ferrari and RedBull were clearly ahead.
I too think that maybe Ferrari were hiding something that was not strictly allowed. Sensors been added to the cars now show Ferrari's true pace. I don't want to say cheating but.......maybe? I also believe if the FIA have found something not quite right with the cars they will keep it quiet as they don't want word to leak out that Ferrari of all teams are involved in a scandal as of who they are, heritage and the fact that Mercedes have no other challengers to the titles.
Arrivabene is a big issue. If you go around with a face like a smacked arse most of the time and take it out on your staff when they are trying their best and doing what you've asked them to do then you've got to start looking at yourself.
Pressure has ramped up on all of the Ferrari team, I suspect, because the Ferrari has lost a bit of speed since the introduction of the second sensor and that means that Vettel has to try and extract that bit more from the car, to make up for it's loss of speed.
2018 is turning into one of Sebs worst years, more so than 2017 in terms of errors and could leave deep mental scars unless he can finish strongly. If I were a betting man I'd say that this is the reason why Scuderia aren't continuing with Kimi but rather looking at new blood and are effectively hedging their bets incase Seb can't do it next year. For the state of F1 we need Ferrari and a top driver to push Mercedes and Hamilton.