Italian press sees Ferrari in 'crisis' again

Jul.12 (GMM) The Italian press thinks Ferrari has entered another period of "crisis".

Despite earlier looking a likely title challenger for Mercedes in 2016, the Maranello team has fallen clearly behind Red Bull in both performance and reliability.

It has left the partisan Italian media wondering what has gone wrong.

"One wonders if hasty decisions such as the dismissal of the great aerodynamics expert Nicholas Tombazis were correct," La Gazzetta dello Sport mused.

Corriere dello Sport added: "Vettel cannot do much with a slow car."

And La Repubblica said: "The Ferrari crisis is deepening as even Red Bull now sails past. Maranello's performance was as grey as the sky above Silverstone."

But Sebastian Vettel urged against panicking, while boss Maurizio Arrivabene indicated that Ferrari's performance simply looked worse on the British layout.

"We came knowing that we would not find an easy track for the characteristics of our car, although we know that to be at the top you may not have difficult circuits," he added.

There has also been criticism about Ferrari's vision when it comes to the driver lineup, with younger talents like Sergio Perez overlooked in favour of sticking with Kimi Raikkonen for another year.

"Yes, it is a shame none of the youngsters are getting a chance but we know why, don't we?" a source close to Arrivabene told The Times newspaper. "Sebastian is the reason why."