Benedetto Vigna highlights Ferrari’s fighting spirit: “Competition is part of the DNA of the company”
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Ferrari's Charles Leclerc after the Bahrain GP win
Ferrari were at rock bottom in 2020, but since then they have recovered admirably. From finishing sixth in 2020, they halved that in 2021, finishing third. Now, they are in the fight for the championship, with them arguably having a faster car than the Red Bull, as of now. There had been very few occasions for joy for the Tifosi since Sebastian Vettel took the chequered flag in Singapore (which was rather controversial with his teammate) back in 2019.
For a whole 910 days between 22 September 2019 in Singapore, and 20th March this year, no Ferrari driver had stood on the top step. After the hardships of the previous 2 years, to take victory in the first race of the season? There would have been no fans that were not screaming for joy when Charles Leclerc took the chequered flag, and Carlos Sainz finished just behind.
The Tifosi are well known to be the most passionate group of fans in Formula 1. It remains to be seen if Ferrari can finish the season on top once again, as they had done for the last time in 2007 when Kimi Raikkonen had won his first and only World Drivers’ Championship. The future looks bright. For the company, Benedetto Vigna was appointed as the CEO so the future remains bright and the company moves along well in the technological aspects.
Competition is in Ferrari’s DNA
Ferrari would consider their last two weekends to be lukewarm, even disappointing. They had looked the faster car on both occasions, only for reliability, or as in Monaco, strategy, to snatch victory from the jaws of Charles Leclerc. Both have been overtaken by their championship rivals, Red Bull and Max Verstappen.
But if a weekend where one driver finished fourth, and in the second one where one finishes second and the other fourth, is definitely a sign of how far they have come from the trenches in 2020. In fact, Charles Leclerc already has around 72.3 percent of his points from last season, all in seven races. Surely, they will win again soon, barring any catastrophe.
Benedetto Vigna became the chief executive at the Maranello team last year, and he admits, that he also had a great passion for racing. In fact, he made a round trip of almost 1000 miles to go and see the San Marino Grand Prix when he was 14, without informing his parents.
Ferrari is a grand institution. The most successful Formula 1 constructor of all time, and most likely the most iconic racing team of all time. As such, they also have an incredibly large fanbase, and with that comes their own traditions. According to Vigna, one of them is:
“Here, in Maranello, when we win on Sunday the local church rings the bell and all the people come out of their homes.”
“And I can tell you that, on Monday morning, when you’re in the office, if you win the race, you can smell and taste the sense of pride of all the people. It means a lot. Competition is part of the DNA of this company.”
Ferrari will be competing in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on the 12th of June, where they will hope they can stop Red Bull’s four-strong streak of wins. They would want the church bells to ring again.
Also Read: How can Ferrari and Charles Leclerc stop Red Bull juggernaut in Baku?
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