Source: Ferrari Multimedia

F1 News

Arrivabene: Ferrari need to stop being afraid to win

Arrivabene: Ferrari need to stop being afraid to win

06-11-2018 12:20
Author profile picture

Jake Williams-Smith

Ferrari team principal Maurizio Arrivabene believes that Ferrari needs to stop being afraid to win in order to conquer Mercedes. The team had the better car of the two teams for much of the season but couldn't capitalise and find themselves trailing in the constructors' championship with just two races remaining.

Arrivabene highlighted an inability to deal with pressure when it counts most as the reason Ferrari cannot seem to win a championship anymore, another late-season slump meant Lewis Hamilton ended up taking his fifth world championship crown at a canter thanks to mistakes earlier in the season by the Scuderia.

"There are areas where we are superior, others where they are. But I think we still lack the habit of winning," he told media ahead of the Brazilian Grand Prix.

"For them to have a 1-2 is almost ordinary. For us it is still an exceptional event. We must be more aware of our means, and not be afraid of winning.

"In tennis they call it 'il braccino': the fear of winning that comes when you are close to the goal. We must trust ourselves, and make the victory a good habit."

He also highlighted Suzuka qualifying as an example of when Ferrari overthought things and ended up costing Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen valuable time having put them out on intermediate tyres rather than slicks like the rest of the top ten in changeable conditions.

"There was a moment (in 2018) when we were a phenomena, then a phase in which the finger was pointed at the driver, and finally followed by a period where the car was the target.

"In the end we understood even more that we win and we lose all together. There were mistakes from Vettel and to a lesser extent from the team, but the lesson we have understood is that you do not need to point the finger at someone.

"There is a manager of the racing team and it's me. I got angry once (in Suzuka), but I think that once in three and a half years we can accept.

"When things go wrong I'm here, and I've always said it. But when it's all right, my satisfaction is to go under the podium, sing the anthem, and applaud. Once, maybe I will also get on the podium, but there is a long list of people who deserve to go there before me."