Press: Ferrari in 'real crisis' after Barcelona
Ferrari is clearly now in a "real crisis", the partisan Italian media has proclaimed after Barcelona.
After four consecutive Mercedes 1-2 finishes, hopes were high for the Spanish grand prix, staged at Barcelona where Ferrari dominated the winter test season.
But on Saturday and Sunday, Mercedes were once again first and second in both qualifying and the race.
"What has happened to the reds?" wondered La Gazzetta dello Sport's Umberto Zapelloni.
He called the current situation a "real crisis" for Ferrari.
Well known Italian blogger Leo Turrini added: "Barcelona was supposed to be a weekend of truth, and it was."
Indeed, Ferrari was beaten in Barcelona not just by Mercedes, but also an improved Red Bull.
"Ferrari had to react, but nothing came of it," noted Daniele Sparisci, writing for Corriere della Sera.
He stopped short of blaming Sebastian Vettel.
"Blaming him would be too brutal at this point. The problems are more acute than the quadruple champion's identity crisis, or the young Leclerc's inexperience," said Sparisci.
The editorial at Corriere dello Sport read: "For an ever worsening Ferrari, there are just no excuses anymore."
Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto admitted after Barcelona that the problem could be with the basic "concept" of the 2019 car.
But former F1 driver Marc Surer says it is "too late" for Maranello to change the concept now and still keep its world championship hopes alive.
"It's not just a new front wing," he told Kolner Express newspaper. "They'd have to turn the whole car upside down."
A reporter for Ziggo Sport, the Dutch broadcaster, had the nerve to ask number 1 Vettel to summarise the last five years of his career.
"F**k you. Ok?" the German smiled.
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Wait and see what happens in Monaco and then we can judge Ferrari and give a prognosis for the rest of the season. They might just decide that their main competition this year is not Mercedes but Red Bull and Marx Verstappen and they drop out from the race for the championship and let Mercedes run their own race as nobody is challenging them, unless they suffer a few unexpected misfortunes later and let others back into the chase. I nearly went to Spanish GP but thought better of it and stayed at home instead. We might see Ferrari and Williams leave F1 soon and that would be the end of it. Just love the reply Vettel gave to the Dutch Ziggo Sport and must have given him a great pleasure and relief from constant pressure he has been subjected to since he joined Ferrari.Hamilton should consider going to Ferrari and see if he can work his magic there but I suspect he will resist such a move. So far it has been battle between two Mercedes team mates and it does not look that anyone else is going to come between them.
But Ferrari has already said that they have speed on the straightaway, but are slow in curves. And Monaco is all curves. I shall watch and support Ferrari, but the result is already known. The question is simply can they stop the Red Bulls from inserting themselves between Mercedes and Ferrari like Verstappen did in Spain?
I'd fancy Ferrari to be the third team at Monaco, despite the power from the engine. Low speed corners is where it's being hurt at the moment and to give credit where it's due Verstappen is driving great this year, arguably the pick of the field, so if he can avoid the wall I'd expect at least his car to be in front of both Ferraris.