"They lost certain opportunities"- Former team principal rates Ferrari's 2022 F1 season

Ferrari have been under a lot of scrutiny this season. The Italian powerhouse has arguably the best cars on the grid. They have started on pole 10 times this season, twice more than Red Bull, but have won only four times in 16 races.

Jean Todt, former Ferrari team principal and FIA president, recently shared his views on the Maranello outfit. Speaking on how the team fumbled this year, he said:

"Ferrari, at one point, had the best car in the championship. Then he missed certain opportunities, I think of strategy, of a Safety Car that entered at the wrong time, of reliability problems. Several episodes that have had in cost. We need to reflect on this to prevent them from happening again. Never leave anything taken for granted. And if you can not leave anything for granted, then there will be all the ingredients to be champions."

Jean Todt was the team principal of the Ferrari team that won five consecutive drivers and constructors championships from 2000 to 2004. He managed legendary drivers like Michael Schumacher and Kimi Raikkonen. He was also the ninth president of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), holding the post from 2009 to 2021.

At an event at the Sala Depero, he spoke about how managing the team was the best chapter of his life. He said:

"Ferrari was the most beautiful chapter of my career. But today, I live things differently. I have a lot of respect for the excellent work that other teams also do. It was difficult, but it was nice. And for me, difficult and beautiful are concepts that go together, because the beautiful depends very much on the difficulty of what you have done. And this is how satisfaction is generated."

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Ferrari never had number one and number two driver: Jean Todt

Jean Todt also talked about how the Italian team did not have a fixed number one or number two driver. The French executive said:

"In the Schumacher era, there was no number one or two driver. He and Irvine, he and Barrichello, he and Massa always started on an equal footing, with the same treatment. Then after four, five races, the results were talking."

The Italian outfit can only hope to keep their second position in the championship with six races to go. Mercedes are closing in on them with only 35 points separating the two teams. Similar to the Mercedes brand itself, the Silver Arrows' machinery has been extraordinarily reliable this season.