According to the Irishman, after the revolution that took place this winter, the Maranello team may take at least a couple of years to regain competitiveness in terms of the Formula One championship. Here are some of his most important thoughts and comments:

Eddie Irvine: “If you change the structure, you cannot expect immediate progress”

“You cannot change the team structure and expect progress,” says Eddie Irvine when asked about Ferrari’s performance in this early part of the 2023 Formula 1 season. He illustrates his idea with the following analogy: “It’s like cutting down a tree to make it grow bigger and stronger; you have to give it time. I’m not sure if it was the right choice, but once made, you have to wait for the plant to grow back.” – the former Ferrari man pointed out in his interview for La Gazzetta dello Sport.

Having expressed this concept, Irvine also delivers his verdict: “I don’t think Ferrari can return to the top before two or three years.” Therefore, according to Eddie Irvine, it is still impossible to form an opinion on the work of the new team principal, Frederic Vasseur: “It takes at least two years. His work is not assessable after just a few months.” – Eddie Irvine concluded.

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A new season that seems to once again begin with Max Verstappen and Red Bull at the front, just like the duo ended the previous F1campaign. Max Verstappen was the fastest in the winter pre-season testing session and took pole position for the Bahrain Grand Prix. But Ferrari is right up there and will bot give up without a tough challenge. Yes, because, like the RB19, the SF-23 designed in Maranello appeared to be an extremely competitive car, with Charles Leclerc fighting for the pole position in Bahrain. This is crucial for the Prancing Horse’s championship hopes, with the hope of not repeating the mistakes made last season.

But what do ex-Ferraristi man think about the Maranello team’s current situation? Italian daily newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport asked Eddie Irvine for an opinion. Let’s find out what the former Ferrari driver said.

Eddie Irvine’s analysis
First of all, Eddie Irvine was asked if, in his opinion, Max Verstappen will have any rivals in the 2023 Formula One championship. Eddie replied: “Verstappen is the clear favourite: the Dutchman comes after two World title wins and his Red Bull was already a very strong car in 2022. It’s up to his opponents to raise the level of their game and attack him. By winning two titles in a row he has taken all the pressure off his back and is now racing with great peace of mind.” – the ex-Ferrari man added.

Asked to share his thoughts on how things could be going for the Maranello team ahead of the new Formula 1 season, Eddie Irvine explained: “Ferrari has changed a bit: there is a new team principal, Frederic Vasseur, who replaced Mattia Binotto, a few new men at the pit wall, partly even the single-seater. The two drivers are very good indeed, Charles Leclerc is capable of winning a Formula 1 championship and Carlos Sainz is a fantastic number 2 in the team. But Charles has to avoid making mistakes when he is under pressure, I was surprised that he did a few more mistakes than expected a year ago and that disappointed me a little” – Eddie Irvine continued.

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Finally, focusing on “who will be the surprise of the new season”, he concluded: “It is not difficult to predict that the surprise of the season could be represented by the Aston Martin. Apart from Fernando Alonso, who is always motivated, the car seems to have been designed well and in testing left a good impression.” – he concluded.

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He survived an assault from Heinz-Harald Frentzen which left the Sauber driver with a broken front wing, but on lap 35 he was dive-bombed by eventual winner Olivier Panis, who lunged his Ligier down the inside at the hairpin, forcing Eddie into the barriers. After receiving a push from the marshals and bump-starting his engine on the incline down to the harbour-front, he returned to the pits for repairs before rejoining several laps down. On lap 69 he spun at Portier, and was collected by the battling pair of Mika Hakkinen and Mika Salo as he attempted to rejoin, eliminating all three drivers. All were classified, however, as they had completed more than 90% of the race distance, shortened to 75 laps by the two-hour time limit.

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The disappointing defeat in the Principality after having monopolized the entire front row left several internal points to analyze for Ferrari:

The first topic of discussion concerns the management of strategies: Charles Leclerc was understandably furious after last Sunday’s race and, to continue the fight against Red Bull for the world championships, it will be essential not only to avoid such moments – an easy undertaking – but rather to rebuild the Monegasque’s confidence with the pit wall. A process that can only take place by demonstrating that the team has learned from the mistakes made in Monaco.

Another crucial aspect for the future is that of hierarchies: the Scuderia must in fact understand – and clarify – what Carlos Sainz’s role is. Co-captain, and therefore justified in fighting for the victory in every single race, or wingman? In this second case it will be necessary to make the Spaniard accept some sacrifices in the name of the ‘common good’. Italian daily newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport, in an article written by Andrea Cremonesi, tried to discuss these issues with three great former drivers of the Maranello team: Gerhard Berger, Cesare Fiorio and Eddie Irvine:

“[…] On Sunday […] until Sergio Perez’s pit stop the two red cars were in charge easily, the issue was that precious time was lost covering the Mexican from Red Bull […]. On the contrary, Carlos did not make it his own. Because faced with a call from Riccardo Adami, Carlos replied that he preferred to stay on the track and wait for the right moment to mount the dry tires. As he did then. The debate is about the time wasted  […]. Question: Should Sainz’s legitimate hopes of victory have been sacrificed […]?

«It would not have been fair – says Gerhard Berger […] after only seven races Carlos legitimately dreams of being able to win the championship, he is not too far from the top, just don’t hold him back. […] ». […].

“I think Red Bull is generally more able to react during the race – explains Cesare Fiorio […] -, we must remember that the World championship last year in Abu Dhabi it was not Max Verstappen who won but his pit wall by calling him in with the safety car, fitting him with the softer rubber to allow him to attack Hamilton. Christian Horner and his team have something more from this point of view”.

For Eddie Irvine, […] it is easier to get the pit stops right when you are chasing from behind, especially in those particular conditions, while when you are in the lead it is easier to make mistakes. But we must also remember that if Carlos Sainz had not encountered lapped cars […] he would have won the race. I think it was just a matter of bad luck. Of course, what has happened must be carefully analyzed to be sure that it does not happen again. […] »” – Eddie Irvine concluded.

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Eddie Irvine, who during his Ferrari career took four race wins, 23 podium finished and also came close to winning the 1999 Drivers’ Championship, believes that Max Verstappen’s aggressive style means he simply makes too many errors of judgement, while Charles Leclerc is able to better evaluate the situations that occur during the race and capitalize on any opportunity.

The Northern Irishman was asked about what seems to be a thrilling and intense title battle between Scuderia Ferrari Charles Leclerc and 2021 F1 world champion Max Verstappen, backing the young Monegasque driver to win the duel against his illustrious opponent, even if Max Verstappen may even be the quicker of the two.

“I don’t believe anyone is faster than Verstappen, but he still makes a lot of mistakes. Charles Leclerc doesn’t do that,” Eddie Irvine said, in a recent inteview for the Italian publication La Gazzetto dello Sport. When pointed out to him that Charles also made some mistakes during the previous two years, like the crash in the qualifying session for the 2021 Monaco Grand Prix, which prevented him from starting the race on Sunday, Eddie Irvine explained that he was referring more to errors of when to use aggression, rather than a driving mistake for being on the limit especially with an inferior car.

“Having such an incident in qualifying is generally not so relevant,” he explained – “Verstappen makes the mistake of always letting himself be carried away in terms of aggressiveness.”

Eddie Irvine, who after leaving Scuderia Ferrari joined the Jaguar team and raced for three more seasons before retiring from Formula 1, opened up on why he thinks Charles Leclerc is a superior talent to Max Verstappen.

“[Leclerc] is very intelligent, has a personality, and is mature,” Eddie Irvine added – “[In] that way Verstappen seems a bit ‘younger’ to me mentally, but he has been given a lot of talent. Leclerc and Verstappen are both very strong. [Lewis] Hamilton is also exceptional, even though I don’t think he has the same speed as Verstappen. Max reminds me of [Michael] Schumacher. He can keep a great race pace and no one who is driving in the same car comes near him.” – he added.

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Charles Leclerc is in a strong position after three races of the 2022 Formula One championship, as a result of his victories in Bahrain and Australia, alongside the solid second place finish in Saudi Arabia, but Eddie Irvine warns that Scuderia Ferrari has to continue working hard in order to keep a championship challenge over such a long year, especially againt a Red Bull team which is known for being able to strongly develop the car during the season:.

“It’s too early to say and every year that goes by it gets more difficult,” he said – “You have to compete against Red Bull, Verstappen, and Adrian Newey. That is very difficult.” – the former Ferrari driver concluded.

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While Michael Schumacher was brought in as the main driver to help Ferrari regain its past glory, Eddie Irvine was seen as a strong second driver and was appreciated by the Tifosi from the start. In a recent interview, the former racing driver from Northern Ireland described the feeling of joy, but also the difficulties of working alongside the best Formula 1 driver in history: “Being Schumacher’s teammate was amazing in one way because I got to work with who I still believe is the greatest driver of all time. He dominated his team-mates massively.” – Eddie Irvine admitted – “Of course, he started to get older and wasn’t quite as quick but in the early days it was amazing to watch a guy operate at such a high level. So from that point of view it was an honour. Obviously, you never look particularly good when you’re up against someone like Michael Schumacher. But I was lucky in a way because by the time I got there, Schumacher was very much seen as special. The guys that Schumacher came against much earlier in his career got dumped because people didn’t realise how good Michael was at that stage.” – Eddie added, in an interview with Betway.

During his four Formula 1 seasons alongside Scuderia Ferrari, Eddie Irvine scored 22 podium finishes and finished fourth overall in the Drivers standings at the end of the 1999 season. Up to date, he is still the last Formula 1 driver from the United Kingdom to have raced for the Maranello team.

In his last year with Ferrari, Eddie Irvine became the main driver and raced alogside Mika Salo for six Grands Prix, after Michael Schumacher suffered a heavy crash at the Silverstone Circuit due to a brake failure, breaking his leg. It was the Northern Ireland driver’s only chance to fight for the Formula 1 world championship, which he eventually lost to Mika Häkkinen by just a few points, but Ferrari fans still remember the 1999 European Grand Prix, when Eddie was forced to stay in the pits for almost a minute during his tyre change, as the mechanics were not ready for his pit stop and only had three tyres ready for him when he came in. In hindsight, without that unfortunate moment, Irvine would have won the title. However, his strong results that season were enough to help Scuderia Ferrari win the Constructors’ Championship after 16 years.

Eddie recalls the pressure of fighting for a Formula 1 title:

“The pressures of Formula 1 are immense. You’ve got 500 or 600 people working at the factory, and you’re the guy who’s responsible for getting the results at the end. So you have all that pressure on you, plus you want to do a good job because, if you’re in the sport, you take it very seriously. You want to perform at your best. Sometimes a lot of it is out of your control, but you’ve got to give 100 per cent all the time” – he explained – “It was very difficult in ’99 because it was my one chance at the World Championship and we got close, but we didn’t quite pull it off. The fact it was my one shot was an added pressure – it wasn’t like I was in a Williams for three years and had three years to win the championship. It was a lot of pressure, but that’s what we’re paid for.” – the former Ferrari driver admitted.

When asked about his favourite teammate during his Formula One career, Eddie Irvine also points to his time in Ferrari alongside the German driver: “I would have to say Michael because we had a very good working relationship. I never had an issue with him at all. He performed the best he could every weekend, I performed the best I could every weekend. If I had to do something for the team, I had to do something for the team, and that was it. It was very simple.” – he added.

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