Norbert Haug: Ferrari mistakes are part of its history

Norbert Haug, the former head of Mercedes Motorsport, is not surprised by Ferrari’s mistakes, saying that this is something of a tradition for the Italian team. The miscalculations are mainly explained by pressure, which, incidentally, only increases with each subsequent phase.

In Monaco, everyone saw a more than obvious example of tactical blunders from the Scuderia’s strategists, and Haug joined the chorus of critical voices that had been ringing for more than a week. One thing is clear: these mistakes could have been avoided and the team lost the race win through their own fault.

Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz started from the front row, but in the end the Monegask only finished fourth and his partner came in second – and then only because he avoided an extra pit stop. He did not follow the team’s instructions, refused to switch to intermediate tires and immediately preferred to use slicks.

“If you look at Ferrari from the side, you get the impression that everyone in the team is under so much pressure that they are trying to make some very right decisions,” said Haug. – Although the solutions should be the most common, and it would be much better.

Absolutely, in Monaco, the Scuderia itself stumbled; her actions turned a virtually guaranteed victory for Leclerc, one of the title contenders, into 4th place. As a result, the team gave Max Verstappen a present, which was completely unnecessary, because in the worst case it could be a decisive factor that will influence the outcome of the championship.

Unfortunately, such mistakes are part of Ferrari’s history, they are repeated over and over again. All this significantly spoils the team’s performance, which could be fine. By the way, in this situation it is hardly worth expecting that the pressure level will decrease in the next race.”