Italian media scrutinise Ferrari: 'Mechanics aren't up to scratch'

Red Bull Racing's domination is now a foregone conclusion. Ferrari seemed to be on the up after Baku, but the race pace was not strong enough for the Italian team. Let's see how the Italian media commented on the race won by Max Verstappen.

Sky Sports (Italian branch)

Everyone at Sky Sports [Italian branch] agrees: Red Bull have built one of the best cars in history. "This Red Bull is one of the best cars in the history of Formula 1, an authentic jewel of Adrian Newey", Leo Turrini writes. "Red Bull are impressive, but Verstappen is crazy".

Turrini is not too harsh in his ratings on the Ferraristi, giving a 6.5 to Sainz and a 5 to Leclerc: "Between qualifying and the race, a weekend to forget" for the Monegasque. On the other hand, he is very harsh with the three rookies, as Piastri, De Vries and Sargeant all receive a merciless 0.

"Ferrari, who started out to regain the good feeling but also the results of Baku, has sadly confirmed themselves as fourth fastest instead. This car has to be managed on the pace right from the early stages of the race, and Leclerc's fight with Magnussen's Haas was a prime example. The mountain to climb seems impassable, and at Imola, we need a strong message for the fans," observed Mara Sangiorgio.

La Gazzetta dello Sport

To define Verstappen, La Gazzetta dello Sport ranges from "monstrous" to "Martian". "Max Verstappen's 38th F1 victory, today in the Miami GP, is perhaps one of the most beautiful of his career, one of those that forever mark the memory of a champion in the memories of fans," reads the pink daily.

On the other hand, Ferrari's problems that emerged in Miami are highlighted: "As soon as the Reds used the hard tyres, they were unable to be as fast as on the medium ones. But it is not a problem of performance with one compound rather than the other. For the Prancing Horse, it's a problem of speed. The speed to stay up there in front and try to win still isn't there. We lack consistency of performance throughout a GP."

Corriere della Sera

The Corriere tries to give an explanation for Ferrari's difficulties. "An unexpected collapse because in Florida, they had brought updates - a new type of floor - which had seemed to work in qualifying. Then in the race, the usual performance problems emerged. Much deeper solutions are needed to cure the dark ills. So much so that Vasseur resorted to Binotto's old catchphrase: 'We have to understand'."

In the ratings, Red Bull receive an 11 (out of 10), while the Ferrari drivers must be content with a 7 for Sainz - and a 5 for Leclerc. The Spaniard "fights with courage and grit, trying to pretend that Ferrari doesn't have the worrying ups and downs that everyone notices," while the Monegasque "also seems to be in a precarious psychological state. He was in trouble even just settling accounts with Magnussen, who has the same engine and thus proved that Ferrari's troubles stem from the car".

Delving into the current state of Ferrari, Giorgio Terruzzi comments: "This SF-23, given for growth, seems to be stuck in a technical stalemate that won't go away, while race after race the hope of a successful World Championship fades. Yes, because winning is out of the question."

La Repubblica

La Repubblica praises Verstappen at length: "The perfect driver. Careful at the start, almost cautious, given that he is on the hardest tyres. He gradually unleashes himself, kilometre after kilometre, until he becomes unstoppable. From ninth to first, with the comeback that all his rivals had announced on Saturday.

If Verstappen gets a 10, how now former rival Leclerc gets a very bad 3. In general, the verdict on Ferrari is not good: "The Spaniard was solid until halfway through the race, then he goes downhill, and even the Mercedes overtake", is said of Sainz.

Autosprint

Autosprint selects five key themes for the weekend that has just ended, and the first is the fight between the two Red Bull drivers. "He couldn't fail to win this race, Max Verstappen. So far, so superior to everyone all weekend, including Perez. Yet the pole position went to Perez because one of his mistakes (the only one of the weekend) had stuck with frighteningly precise timing to the red flag," it is noted.

Another topic addressed is obviously Ferrari and their difficulties. "Identifying the problem is certainly a step forward, but it doesn't mean solving it, and you don't necessarily know how to do it. That the SF-23 has a problem on Sundays is obvious, and we didn't need to come to Miami to find out: it's how to solve this problem, the real shadow of Ferrari's Sundays."

"For some time, people have been extolling the mechanics of the Red Bull, and that seems to be the point: the SF-23 doesn't have mechanics up to scratch. In Leclerc's Saturday mistake, it is evident how, looking at the images in slow motion, the rear end 'dances' much more than on the Red Bull. On the SF-23, on the other hand, the rear end goes up and down, to the point of touching the asphalt, sealing the bottom and causing the car to suddenly lose load," is the analysis that is made of the Red Bull's problems.