Ferrari F1 chief Maurizio Arrivabene admires the manner in which Mercedes have turned winning grand prix races into a habit while admitting that he envies the way the German team is organised and points this out as the strength he wants for the Reds.
Speaking to Speedweek, Arrivabene said, “For Mercedes, winning is not an event it is a habit. That’s how it has to be for Ferrari in the future.”
Statistics show that Ferrari won five times in 2017, but Mercedes were better with 12 wins and as a result, dominated the F1 constructors’ championship.
Arrivabene was brutally honest looking back on a season that promised so much for the Italian team but in the end, they ran out of firepower after the mid-season break after which Mercedes raised the bar.
Nevertheless, by the end of the season, Ferrari found some handy pace and with it won the penultimate race in Brazil.
“We can look forward to the uptrend,” said Arrivabene. “But the fact remains that we were not good enough to win the world championship and we missed both titles. So we have to work harder. We know what we need to do in the future.”
His admiration for Mercedes is obvious, “If you do not respect a team that has won four consecutive world titles, who will? For me, their greatest strength lies in the organisation of the team.”
“Maybe it’s the habit of winning that makes the difference. Sometimes you get a pole position and that becomes a big deal, but pole positions should become a habit. To be in front, in the final practice as well as in the race, that should be the natural result of our work.”
“I see the past season like a glass of water. By the middle of the season, the glass was half full of success. Unfortunately, at the end of the season, we used the remaining water to dissolve the headache tablets!”
“We worked well. We never gave up. These are positive aspects for me, but circumstances did not favour our team. Mercedes deserved to win,” added Arrivabene.
Big Question: What do Ferrari need to do to beat Mercedes?