Statistically speaking, Ferrari are the greatest race team the world has ever known. Very few gear heads with two braincells to rub together would dispute the claim that Ferrari are to F1 as, well, water is to the ocean. That is to say: Formula One would never be the same without Ferrari. In a sense, they are Grand Prix. While other auto manufacturers go racing to raise their brand awareness and sell more cars, Ferrari sell cars just so they can go racing. Being that they are giants of their discipline, you would be forgiven for expecting Ferrari to conduct themselves in a manner befitting their enormous stature. You might expect that they would be gracious in victory, magnanimous in defeat, and at all times respectful of their on-track rivals. And if you did expect such conduct from Ferrari, you would be pretty tired of the vitriolic nonsense spewed forth from various Ferrari mouthpieces over the past several months.
To start with, there is the constant denigration of the new blood coming into the sport. In the past week they have likened Stefan GP to vultures picking at the Toyota carcass on their official blog. Yes, Ferrari, how dare they try to strengthen the sport which is your life blood; how dare they attempt to follow their dreams in much the same way as your progenitor, Enzo Ferrari, did. Furthermore, they make the implication that some of the teams are not in Formula One of their own free will. (As an aside, I am terribly sorry for putting this next quote in here. It is but one sentence, yet has eight commas. Ferrari apparently hate semicolons and periods as much as they hate new Formula One outfits.)
"Of the thirteen teams who signed up, or were induced to sign up, for this year’s Championship, to date only eleven of them have heeded the call, turning up on track, some later than others, and while some have managed just a few hundred kilometres, others have done more, but at a much reduced pace." You can find that rest of that rant here. Now, you may be thinking to yourself, "Beard, what could they possibly mean, 'or were induced to'? What in the infinitely square sunglasses of Enzo Ferrari are they blathering about?!"
Are they seriously trying to imply that Ol' Max Mosley stormed up to some racing outfits, beat down their doors, and barked, "YOU'RE GOING F1 RACING AND YOU'RE GONNA LIKE IT"? Try as I might, I just cannot fathom what Ferrari are driving at (pun there). It is always after a puzzling lambasting of the newcomers to the grid that I begin to wonder what Ferrari's motivation is for all of this. If we're being honest, then we're all probably thinking that, barring retirements, it is at least a 50-50 shot that none of the new teams will finish ahead of a Ferrari on track even once this year. If Ferrari are the greatest, and almost always near the front of the grid, wouldn't they welcome more challengers to vanquish? In what way is beating 12 other teams worse than beating only 10? From where, then, does this constant urge to disparage come?
Ferrari also published this interview with Piero Ferrari. In it, among other things, he said: "I completely agree with Luca di Montezemolo when he says that there should be the possibility to start a third car, which can be managed by smaller teams, or maybe even do it like we did in the 1970s, considering the stable rules, private teams often used cars from the bigger teams from the previous year. I really think that it’s absolutely possible thinking about introducing a third car, which could guarantee more suspense and lower costs." And suddenly their motivation becomes clearer, although no less ludicrous.
Really Ferrari? REALLY? You are still banging on about 3 car teams? By the way, 40 years ago called, they wanted to let you know that they aren't relevant to the sport anymore. I understand the logic behind psychologically attacking your adversaries, but I don't think that's what this is. This reeks more of Ferrari pushing a (wholly unpopular and, quite franky, silly) agenda. And more to the point, there comes a time to just button up and get on with it already. If these new teams are diluting the sport so severely, then embarrass them on the track. Go out and lap them 3 times, Ferrari, but you'd better look out if you've underestimated one of the new challengers because these haughty expositions you give will be a bitter pill to swallow if Lotus, Virgin, or Stefan "pull a Brawn" on you.
All your diatribes merely serve to provide ammunition for your critics and motivation for your rivals. Oh, and by the way, I do hope your rumoured "faster wheel nut" design works out marginally better for you than did your "revolutionary pit release technology" in Singapore 2008. What's that aphorism about throwing stones and living in glass houses?
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Any Italian will confirm that the ability and reputation of your competitors are the most important aspects of the battle. Even engaging in competition against a substantially weaker opponent is seriously frowned upon and utterly degrading. *Especially* if you win. Victory over a lesser opponent is a far worse fate than losing against a worthy competitor. A challenger has to be universally accepted or proven as worthy, both in ability and reputation, before the challenge can even be accepted.
A different perspective: I can't just pitch up at the Augusta Nationals with a putter and demand to play. Apart from ability, I also need a fair amount of good reputation to even be noticed. Why should this be different for F1?
While the finances of F1 are a closely guarded secret, you don't have to dig deep to see that just about nobody races at a loss. When Crazy Bernie started the money-revolution, Ferrari had names like Bugatti, Jaguar and Aston Martin on their minds. Worthy opponents, so, while they had reservations, they didn't complain too much. Instead, they got Toyota. WAIT: I'm not trolling here.
Toyota's F1 entry was initially regarded as a joke. However, they earned respect from the Italians by putting in a massive effort with commitment and dedication. They showed their passion. In the end, they got a proper thrashing, but when they decided to call it quits, they got up, shook hands, and left in good spirit. They are now (at least) regarded as friends.
What happens now is that a lot of people are seeing easy money in F1. People with no reputation, track record or "passion for the battle" - purely interested in making a quick buck - are openly and unashamedly scavenging on the remnants of a departed friend (Toyota). This pisses Maranello off big time. But for a lot of people (especially those coming from countries where *anything* is fair game to be monetised) there's nothing wrong with it.
To add to the disgrace, these people can't even string together a couple of cars and a few mechanics to at least put up a veneer of respectability to the rest of the paddock. If you don't have the reputation, at least show some commitment. This is not even like pitching up at a gunfight without bullets - it's like pitching up without a gun. And then they have the audacity to demand "fair treatment".
In Italy, this is considered despicable. In some other countries, everyone's allowed to make a quick buck.
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