Ferrari set to flop?

Sir,

Was it a coincidence that your February issue contained a feature on why Ferrari must become a championship force in Formula One again this year and another on heroic Grand Prix failures?

It must be said that Ferrari’s performance in the middle of the 1996 Formula One World Championship was well short of parlous. In the Canadian, French and then British Grands Prix, their cars were the laughing stock of the field as they fell by the wayside. And this with a budget that is one of the largest around.

However, despite cutting their losses and openly concentrating more last autumn on developing their 1997 challenger, things just haven’t gone right in pre-season testing. The world-beating Michael Schumacher’s powers of diplomacy have been tested to the limit as the F310B suffers failure after failure. And the rivals have been pounding around Europe’s tracks, honing their cars into race winners.

Then, to cap it all, designer John Barnard was shown the door at the start of February. This is no way to prepare for a campaign that was supposed to be the once-great team’s tilt at the title.

Perhaps you had better start preparing a further chapter on heroic Grand Prix failures?

AJL Field, London W6.