2014 Review – Scuderia Ferrari: The End of an Era

The legendary Formula 1 team has experienced a difficult year. The first without a victory since 1993. The departure of Fernando Alonso marks the end of an era for the reds, who will welcome a new world champion in their ranks in the person of Sebastian Vettel, on whom the revival of the Italian brand will rest.

THE DRIVERS

Fernando Alonso – 6th in the general classification (159 pts)

This year, Fernando Alonso already had his mind elsewhere. Despite a season start that could have been promising, the double Spanish world champion never managed to make his car a regular contender for the podium. With his championship victory dreams quickly gone, the Bull of Asturias spent much of his season looking for a new refuge, leaving his legendary motivation aside and multiplying derogatory remarks on the tactics used, and fiery reactions to his team’s evident mistakes. The Spaniard found some solace in surprising consistency and two podiums secured in China and Hungary.

Not sure if Alonso will easily recover from this failure with Ferrari, as he should have been continuing Michael Schumacher’s legacy. Ultimately, he will leave this heavy task to his rival Sebastian Vettel, to probably embark on an Anglo-Japanese adventure whose real potential he does not know.

Translate: Kimi Räikkönen – 11th in the overall standings (54 pts)

In a permanent struggle with the behavior of his car, Kimi Räikkönen was only a shadow of the world champion he was with Ferrari in 2007. Provoked by his teammate, who was much more comfortable with a recalcitrant car and better adapted to the new driving style imposed by the current regulations, the Finn was also outdone on the national level by his compatriot Valtteri Bottas, who frequently appeared on the podium this year with his Williams.

A few flashes of pride showed that Räikkönen hadn’t lost his driving skills, but it was mainly a sense of frustration that emerged from the few statements the Finn gave to the press. With around a hundred fewer points on the final championship scoreboard than his teammate, the Finn’s season is clearly a failure. No wins, no podiums, no pole positions, and only one 4th place finish to his name at his favorite circuit in Spa-Francorchamps. His performance over the last two years with Lotus was more commendable! He can only do better in 2015, or risk his motivation waning and putting a definitive end to his presence in Formula 1.

L’EQUIPE

Ferrari – 4th in the Constructors’ Championship (213 pts)

The technical revival of /f1/actualite/19173-bilan-2014-caterham-f1-plus-detincelles-en-coulisses-quen-piste.html should have put Ferrari at the forefront of the pack. Instead, with a power unit more reliable than Renault’s but significantly less powerful than the untouchable Mercedes, and a partially failed aerodynamics, the F14-T turned into a nightmare for Fernando Alonso and Kimi Räikkönen, offering them nothing but disappointments in their single-seaters.

From a more political standpoint, Ferrari offered us the spectacle of a team in crisis with resignations and departures at all levels. Stefano Domenicali was ousted after a Chinese Grand Prix where Alonso’s car was seen with two different types of tires during testing, and the grandiloquent departure of Luca di Montezemolo, who seemed to cling a little longer to his presidential seat, will remain the highlights of a tumultuous year. The reconstruction is underway, but the scars of this turbulent year are likely to linger in the minds for a long time.

PERSPECTIVES

The year 2015 must be one of renewal for Ferrari. Before leaving his role as Sporting Director, Marco Mattiacci gave his team a great gift by bringing the four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel to Maranello. The German will have the heavy task of leading the reconstruction of a team that has been lacking regular victories for over a year.

The successive failures of Fernando Alonso in the title race over the past five years and the relative disappointment with Kimi Räikkönen’s underperformance this season have left their mark on the team. With a new internal organization and Vettel’s motivation, 2015 should show some progress, even if victory is not necessarily the stated goal.

The limited possibilities for technical improvements in terms of power unit and aerodynamics will clearly be a handicap, but not insurmountable for a company like Ferrari, which will necessarily have to demonstrate progress compared to a traumatic season. A new management team, a new multi-titled driver combined with a sense of revenge should be the perfect engines for this reconstruction.

Find all our team-by-team reviews of the season /f1/actualite/19173-bilan-2014-caterham-f1-plus-detincelles-en-coulisses-quen-piste.html:

– Caterham: Plus d’étincelles en coulisses qu’en piste

– Sauber: Une saison vierge de résultats

– Marussia: De la joie aux larmes…

– Lotus: Une saison dans les bas-fonds

– Toro Rosso: Des progrès malgré les défis à relever

– Force India: Une saison en net progrès

– McLaren: Année de transition après 20 ans avec Mercedes

– Williams: La saison du renouveau sportif