Jacky X: Both in my time and now, Ferrari is influenced by politics

Jacqui Ickx, the famous Belgian driver who finished the World Championship as vice-champion twice in the past and also won the 24 Hours of Le Mans six times, still follows the events in the world of Formula 1 closely and makes himself particularly worried about Ferrari, as he spent most of his career playing for the team from Maranello.

During the interview with Gazzetta de la Sport, he was asked: can he name some of the youngest drivers in Scuderia history?

‘Me and Chris Amon? Real? Well I’m happy! Even if I don’t really want to remember the past,” replied X, who celebrated his 78th birthday this year. – In life you need to think about today and about what will happen tomorrow. When I was in Formula 1, everything was different, also the mentality we had was different. To us, the world was divided into races and everything else. But now I prefer to look to the future and I like the current generation of riders.

Unfortunately, Ferrari’s results leave much to be desired. And I can confirm that there is a certain resemblance between the modern Scuderia and what this team was like 50 years ago. And then, and now it is strongly influenced by politics, and all kinds of contradictions are associated with it. Perhaps this has something to do with the genetic predisposition of Italians! (laughs)

As a Ferrari driver you are always in the spotlight, whether you are good or bad. In recent years, the team’s problems have been associated with failed tactics, but nevertheless Mattia Binotto had one quality that I really liked: he always took responsibility for all failures. He did it to keep the morale of the team up, and it was great.

If we talk about Frederic Vasser, he is a very experienced specialist, but it will take him time – if only to get to know everyone in the team normally. I wish him luck, because all Italians put their hopes in him. They want to see Ferrari win – when that happens, all Italians smile on Monday. And I”.

When Jacky Ickx was asked to imagine having the chance to choose which car to drive in the 2024 World Championship, but not for Red Bull, he said: “My choice will be made on an emotional level because I have been driving for Ferrari for a long time. But it’s great that Scuderia, Mercedes and Aston Martin are now competing on an equal footing. That’s why it’s interesting for the public to watch the races, and this is the most important thing.

At the same time, I don’t think Verstappen’s wins kill the intrigue, because Sergio Perez has already won two races. But Max is really one of those racers who have special championship qualities – like Senna, Fangio, Schumacher. Hamilton is like that too, I generally consider him an alien. Potentially, Charles Leclerc can also join this company, but so far he has not had the chance to prove it.”

When asked if Ferrari should try to lure Lewis Hamilton, Jacky Ickx gave a categorical answer: “I don’t see any serious reasons for this. When I talk about this, I think of a serious problem that exists in modern society. When you hear news, you don’t know if you can trust it, and generally it’s not clear who you can trust.”