Turini: We were promised another film in Jeddah

The results of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix have inflicted yet another mental trauma on Leo Turini, a veteran Italian racing journalist who certainly expresses the feelings of so many of his compatriots..

These are dark times for Ferrari and passionate fans like me. Obviously I don’t think it’s appropriate to use an insulting tone, there’s no need for that. I suggest talking about specific things.

After the failure in Bahrain, we were told that we would see another film in Jeddah. Maybe not Oscar worthy, but still… And what instead? Instead, in Jeddah, with its endless straight lines, things only got worse.

In Saudi Arabia, the Scuderia was only the fourth most powerful. Okay, Red Bull is out of reach, but Aston Martin? Or even Mercedes, in which they are going to redo the car from scratch.

How did this become possible? Why didn’t tech updates work? How long will the hard rubber problems last? There’s no point in lamenting that the days of endless on-track testing are over. The world has changed. Those who constantly look back doom themselves to an eternal crisis.

The reasons for what is happening, as I understand them, are related to the collapse of the “horizontal bands” model. Whatever the cost, it is imperative that strong technical leaders appear in Maranello – a technical director and a chief designer. You can’t console yourself with the fact that the team has a certain one-man leader.

The Formula 1 team is a team, but it needs strong personalities. Now let’s talk about Frederic Vasseur.

I mentioned earlier that when he came to the Scuderia, the “menu” was already prepared for him. That’s why I’m not going to talk to him about everything, that would be unfair. But Vasser is obliged to tell us the truth. Telling if you can hope for anything, at least for posts. Or will they not even exist?

And because he holds such a high position, he also has to make the necessary decisions. If he does not trust someone, he must intervene in the situation. But this must be done honestly and sensibly.

What you can’t do is repeat the same stories. Even in winter I urged everyone not to fall into euphoria, though in my heart I hoped I was wrong. Tired of all that drumming, slogans like “we’re going to show that to everyone now” and related nonsense.

“The truth will bring you freedom” – these are not my words, it says in the scriptures. So tell us the truth! Unfortunately, we already guessed everything ourselves.