Review 2016 – Ferrari: The red dream fades with the years

Important figures

Position in Constructors’ standings: 3rd

Pole: 0

Victory: 0

Podiums: 11

Points: 398

Best result: 2nd (Vettel: China, Canada, Europe / Räikkönen: Bahrain, Spain)

Best qualification: 2nd (Vettel: China)

Submitted by Mercedes, the prancing horse couldn’t keep up with Red Bull’s pace

Promising at the start of the season despite major reliability issues, the SF16-H positioned itself as the second single-seater in the field during the tour between Australia and Russia.

Upon arrival in Europe, in Spain, a new adversary emerged in the form of Max Verstappen. With Ricciardo’s fourth place, Red Bull occupied the second row for the first time following the qualifications, ahead of the Ferraris. Daniil Kvyat, parachuted to Toro Rosso, paid for his repeated attacks on Ferrari, especially on Vettel, with the Russian Grand Prix in sight, where Kvyat hit Vettel twice, forcing him to retire after two corners.

First challenger to Mercedes, Ferrari was beaten to the punch in Barcelona, and the very young Dutchman claimed victory, leaving only the second and third podiums to Räikkönen and Vettel. Now in direct competition with the Austrian team, Ferrari kept in touch, but internal tensions and the lack of solutions to improve the car took their toll on the Reds during the European tour.

The departure of the technical director, James Allison, (struck by the death of his wife at the start of the season) after the German Grand Prix further sounded the death knell for Maranello, who lost the second place in the constructors’ championship to Red Bull at that moment. The end of the season was even more challenging, with isolated problems such as the failure of Vettel’s rear anti-roll bar in Singapore and the loose bolt on Räikkönen’s right rear wheel in Austin. All these mishaps made the battle with Red Bull impossible. Only two podiums, at Monza and Abu Dhabi, were achieved—by Sebastian Vettel—in the second half of the season.

A solid and homogeneous duo but a very complicated second half of the season

After a refreshing 2015 season for the German with three victories snatched from the Brackley team, Sebastian Vettel threw himself wholeheartedly into his 2016 season with the goal of once again reaching the peaks. His ambitions were quickly torpedoed by the Russian submarine Daniil Kvyat, which didn’t stop him from securing five podiums in the first eight Grand Prix. The rest was far less fruitful, as his Ferrari became less competitive than the Red Bull, while Räikkönen increasingly gained the upper hand in qualifying.

Then, in an already uncomfortable situation, the situation worsened in Malaysia when he collided with Rosberg at the start, through his own fault. This mistake was not one of a four-time world champion but reflected the troubled mindset of the German. The breaking point was reached in Mexico, where the ears of viewers and FIA officials rang after the on-track altercation with Verstappen, which ultimately deprived both of a podium finish in favor of Ricciardo.

#F1 #MexicanGP Team Radio: Sebastian Vettel vs Max Verstappen:) via @_eI14 pic.twitter.com/8bMXB7PoKf

— Zdravko (@zdravkost) 1 novembre /f1/actualite/21627-bilan-de-la-saison-2016-votez-pour-votre-top-10-.html

His season ended on a positive note with a third-place finish in Abu Dhabi.

Discreet by nature, Räikkönen, on the other hand, started his season with a tendency to follow Vettel without entering into much competition with him. The pragmatic veteran of the discipline (37 years old since October) doesn’t make a splash, positions himself where expected, but shows a slight lack of competitiveness. He stood on the podium three times in the first eight races compared to five for his teammate.

After Monaco, the question of his retention at Ferrari for 2017 began to arise. However, the suspense didn’t last long: the Scuderia announced his contract extension at Silverstone during the British Grand Prix, following a podium finish earned in Austria in the final lap after the collision between Hamilton and Rosberg.

From then on, the Finn found a resurgence in performance, and the qualifying sessions turned in his favor, while the race results remained in his teammate’s advantage. “Iceman” found solutions over a single lap, but the Sunday races were more complicated, especially when the Scuderia also made mistakes, like that darn wheel nut in Austin, which deprived Räikkönen of a hypothetical last podium to end the season.

Reconnecting with success and the title in 2017?

The period of a lack of world titles affects the image of the Scuderia in the Formula 1 landscape but does not prevent it from remaining a central player. Like Mercedes and Red Bull, Ferrari participated in the tests of the 2017 Pirelli tires.

But questions about the health of Maranello’s parent structure persist, and the horizontal structure implemented after James Allison’s departure by Sergio Marchionne and Maurizio Arrivabene does not garner unanimity. The absence of a chief engineer to coordinate all development bodies is a matter of debate. For Pat Symonds, technical director at Williams, this classic pyramidal organization is essential to make decisions on certain points during disagreements between engineers and development departments. This could explain the noticeable disarray within the Scuderia.

Ferrari Christmas, a time to look ahead https://t.co/zUYuSNhUeF

— Scuderia Ferrari (@ScuderiaFerrari) December 19 /f1/actualite/21627-bilan-de-la-saison-2016-votez-pour-votre-top-10-.html

Another point to discuss is the approach adopted by Ferrari for the 2017 season in the design of its single-seater. Like Mercedes and Red Bull have done in recent years, Ferrari has decided to design its future single-seater in what is called an aggressive manner, exploiting points of the regulations at the limit of their interpretation. Such an approach has been absent for several years in Italy, and we are eager to see what it will yield.

The design conception has been entrusted to Rory Byrne, the artisan of Ferrari’s success during the Schumacher years. This might reignite hope for the tifosi who have been waiting for a new constructors’ or drivers’ title since 2007 and 2008.

The appointment is set for February 24th to discover the car with the code name 688, which will succeed the SF16-H.

Don’t forget to vote for your top 10 drivers of this season!