hsg wrote: ↑04 Jun 2025, 09:53
Will Ferrari fire Lewis on the end of year? It is hard to watch how slow he is(last few years), at same time Lecler finish on 3rd place.
Is it possible that drivers become so much slower with age or he was simply average driver in top car?
Lewis sells caps and bigs Leclerc up. Almost a perfect scenario. Ferrari effectively fired Vettel and signed Sainz as a numero due, it's clear as day. How could anyone even question that when we've been told that:
Binotto sees the new 'Schumacher' in Leclerc: 'Clear leader on the track'
''I think we now have Charles. Of course he is not as experienced as Michael was then, because he is not yet a world champion and Michael already was. However, we do have a clear leader on the track and we have the commitment as a whole organisation to build another winning team'', says Binotto in the podcast Beyond the Grid.
''Michael was already a leader when he came to Ferrari, while Charles is still developing as a leader. This year he drives better than last year. With a difficult car he is very constant this year and he knows how to continuously adapt himself on different tracks, in order to get the most out of the car''.
Binotto really sees his leader's intention to bring Ferrari back to the top. '
'He is very involved with the team and the people at Ferrari feel that too. I like how he is part of the Ferrari family. He behaves exemplary and I appreciate his involvement'', concludes the team boss of the Italian team.
Binotto there act just as a mouthpiece. That was not just his own view but the view of Ferrari top management. That was and still is their long-term strategy.
Sainz, as it turned out was a bit too fast to be a genuine number two, Charles would always be ahead of. Sainz would reject orders being still young and ambitious, despite being still a weaker and inferior driver.
Do any of us believe they really were ever thinking they are signing him to win him the 8th?
A guy who was crashed by Russell never had a chance to beat Leclerc over a year, unless he gets a very unlucky/unreliable season with multiple DNFs and penalties. I think Ferrari bosses understood that. He is simply much better choice as a numero due. More natural choice. You do not want to have two closely matched drivers if you want to win a World Championship. Ferrari knows it better than any other team on the grid. Their drivers choices of the past two decades clearly show that. Nothing has changed in their long-term strategy.
The fact that Lewis is consistently slower is a good rather than bad thing. That is what they thought they would get when they signed Sainz.
So why fire Lewis now? I cannot see that. Lewis is as great of a marketing tool a ever. I bet it was Lewis who single-handedly brought title sponsor HP. And fire him now because he's scored few points less than he probably should've scored?
Edit: I also had a suspicion, they at Ferrari started to question if Charles was really that good they always thought he is. Because I think most thought he would trash Sainz more comfortably and consistently. Part of the reason why they decided to go with Lewis was that, a desire to get confirmation. Because if Charles struggled to beat a 40 years old, if it would be again too close, then surely Charles was not a new Michael. Now they got a confirmation, which automatically bigs Charles' and his self confidence up. Not only Ferrari, Charles as well gets another confirmation. Surely you want a driver that had two multiple champions in that same red car and beat, trashed even them both.
