Ferrari has the ideal driver duo according to Arrivabene

While the year 2014 had turned out to be catastrophic for Ferrari, the Scuderia undertook a deep overhaul of its organization for 2015. One by one, Stefano Domenicali, Luca Di Montezemolo, and Marco Mattiacci were removed from management, while Fernando Alonso decided to leave the prancing horse team to join McLaren Honda, following too many Italian disappointments.

In the meantime, Maurizio Arrivabene, the new team principal, and Sebastian Vettel have joined the group, both eager to restore Maranello’s former glory in Formula 1. After four consecutive world titles, the German experienced an extremely challenging year in 2014: while the RB10 was not up to par with the competition, Sebastian Vettel was defeated by Daniel Ricciardo, who was much more comfortable with the car. The time for a new challenge had come, and the German chose to join his dream team, the Scuderia, where he reunites with his friend Kimi Räikkönen.

According to Arrivabene, the two men, who have very different personalities, form the perfect combination to bring Ferrari back to its level. Kimi is the kind of person who doesn’t talk about trivial things; he prefers to stay serious. He can either stay silent and help you, or after a few hours, he hugs you. The guys say it’s weird. But drivers are weird! But more than just the Finn’s quirky personality, he is a very good man and a good driver.

In comparison, Sebastian Vettel lives up to his reputation: « very professional. He reminds me of another German… » And Maurizio Arrivabene admitted his surprise about the level of involvement of the four-time world champion: « I was impressed by his level of concentration and the way he works on the details. He takes notes and uses them during the briefings, it’s great. »

Thus, the two drivers are very different, but both are genuinely involved in the project. After only a few months, the integration of the German seems to have happened very easily, as he is now 120% part of the Ferrari family, in addition to being a funny guy. He is down-to-earth, remains simple, but the new director of Scuderia is not surprised that he has won 4 world championship titles.

The perfect combination therefore rests on Sebastian Vettel, a four-time world champion in the last 5 years, and Kimi Räikkönen, the only world champion for Ferrari since Michael Schumacher.

If Ferrari had been at the top of the timesheets in Jerez, the hierarchy in Barcelona ranked them 3rd, behind Mercedes and Williams. But let’s remember that these are only private tests, with unknown fuel loads and programs…