"Much worse than expected"- F1 journalist feels Ferrari's performance has not met the pre-season expectations

Italian F1 journalist Roberto Chinchero recently explained what the atmosphere is like in Italy after Ferrari's poor start to the 2023 F1 season. The Italian outfit is followed by millions of passionate fans and is considered a religion in Italy. So following their mediocre start in 2023, there was turmoil and heat in the Italian media.

Speaking on the F1 Nation podcast, Chinchero explained how the scenario in Italy after the start of the season was quite complicated. This was particularly the case because the feedback from the Bahrain testing was not as positive as fans were expecting it to be.

Chinchero also pointed out how there was extra heat in the media since Ferrari recently appointed a new team principal, Frederic Vasseur, after removing Italian Mattia Binotto. He said:

"It's, it's quite complicated scenario because every year in February there are a great expectation and this year were particularly optimistic but were enough the feedback coming from the Bahrain test. They have revealed that problematic and troubling scenario, and probably it's worse than expected — much worse than expected, especially at the start of the year.

"The people are comparing the start of 23 with the start of 22. That is completely different. So there was, especially after the first two to three races, a very strong media because, of course, there was a new team principal."

Roberto Chinchero concluded that although this is a complicated time for Ferrari, he is hopeful about the new upgrades turning the team's fortunes around. He added:

"So it's a quite complicated scenario. At the same time there is now small optimistic about the updates. So there are a lot of hoping the new update."

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Enzo Ferrari's son feels Fred Vasseur needs time to push the team forward

Piero Ferrari, Enzo Ferrari's second and only living son, feels the new team principal needs time and trust from the board and everyone around him to push the Italian F1 giant forward.

Along with that, Piero also points out that Ferrari needs to improve its staff by bringing in more talented personnel from other teams. He told AutoSprint:

"We have to give him time to get his hands into problems. He is a person who knows racing well, has been in the environment for years, deserves trust. We need people from different experiences. If we go back in history, when we made real changes in the organization, introducing staff from other teams, the results were seen. We are good at doing certain things, but for others we need specialists who must be taken from outside".

As of now, the Ferrari sits in fourth place after Mercedes, Aston Martin, and reigning world champions Red Bull. The Italian team has taken a huge step back from the 2022 F1 season, where it finished second in the constructors' championship.