Ferrari need to win for the good of Formula 1 - Pirelli

Ferrari

Ferrari need to win for the good of F1 - Pirelli

Neutrality not withstanding...

Martin Macdonald

Tuesday 18 June 2019 16:45

Pirelli chief executive Marco Tronchetti Provera says that Formula 1 needs a “competitive” Ferrari to be winning races and standing up against Mercedes, as the sport ultimately loses its appeal if the Prancing Horse are not firing on all cylinders.

The Italian outfit are the most historical and successful team in the history of the sport, winning 16 championships. However, success has been harder to come by in more recent years as they haven’t won the title in a decade, with Mercedes dominating the sport in the V6 turbo-hybrid engine era.

Mercedes’ dominance has never been more evident than in the current season, as they have won seven straight races, albeit with their last victory coming due to a penalty applied to Sebastian Vettel in Canada, who surrendered his win to Lewis Hamilton.

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#FrenchGP memories ❤️ Three consecutive wins with three different drivers
🏆 Schumacher 🇩🇪 - 2006
🏆 Raikkonen 🇫🇮 - 2007
🏆 Massa 🇧🇷 - 2008#essereFerrari 🔴 pic.twitter.com/AHtlKQmMVG
— Scuderia Ferrari (@ScuderiaFerrari) June 18, 2019

Although disappointing, their performance in Montreal showed that they have the power on the straights to compete with the Silver Arrows, and Pirelli, who provide tyres to both teams, thinks it is vital that Ferrari improve enough so that they can begin winning races again.

“Ferrari victories in Formula 1 are good for everyone,” Provera told Italian radio Rai.

“A Formula 1 without a competitive Ferrari loses its appeal. I know that I should be neutral, but a victorious Ferrari generates a completely different dynamic in Formula 1.

“And then I am also Italian, so a Ferrari victory is simply close to my heart.”

After the opening seven Grands Prix in 2019, Ferrari are 123 points adrift of Mercedes in the constructors’ championship.