| NOVEMBER 2000 |
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Formula 1: Ferrari also wins the world carmaker's title It always ends in this way. When a triumph finally comes after waiting too many years, it is easy to forget some small details that previously seemed insurmountable obstacles. After Ferrari won the world pilot title, after 21 years of waiting, it seemed almost normal to its supporters that it also won the carmaker's title.
But it should not be forgotten that McLaren's supremacy in the previous years has obscured Ferrari myth also with regard to the team play, which has always been the strong point of the Maranello-based carmaker.
Given that Ferrari did not manage to win the pilot title, the fact that it struggled to win the carmaker title was finally seen by followers as a cold comfort. And the fact that Ferrari even did not manage to reach this target only contributed to worsening the psychological malaise linked to the impossibility to break up McLaren superiority.
On the contrary, in this season Ferrari supporters have savoured a double joy, maybe enjoying more the first triumph, the one achieved by Schumacher, rather than the second success, which was achieved by the whole team and which came after the last Malaysia GP, which was once again won by the German pilot.
It was thus a total victory for Ferrari, which won a world title it seemed to have already won at the beginning of the season, but that was compromised in the middle of the season and that Ferrari finally managed to win with an impressing final rush.
But now the Formula 1 world has two contrasting elements on which it should make its future calculations. If on one hand Ferrari success is undoubtedly a positive thing for the car industry, given the new image built up by Ferrari and a resulting probable increased interest by sponsors, on the other a worrying fact should be emphasized, i.e. the duopoly Ferrari and McLaren have established in the racing car world.
In fact, out of 17 Grand Prix races, Ferrari has won 10 and McLaren 7. Behind them, no other brand has managed to win. Even the second pilots, Barrichello and Coulthard, have left a deep rift between them and the first pilots driving the other cars.
For the last 5 years, we have been watching an exclusive duel between Ferrari and McLaren, and therefore there is the risk that the interest for Formula 1 diminishes.
If on one hand investing on the two protagonists means a certain success, what will be left, if not some crumbs, to those other carmakers that start the championship being certain to be defeated?
The comparison, in the football world, with the "six sisters" in line for winning the championship won't stand. With football there are more possibilities of alternatives and surprises, also considering the fact that the favourite teams are also engaged in other European tournaments.
On the contrary, Ferrari and McLaren start the Formula 1 championship having the same target. And currently, except the case when all the four pilots fail, it is almost impossible for the other pilots to win a race. It is thus time, speaking from the viewpoint of TV audience, to create the third or even fourth "pole", otherwise Formula 1 runs the risk of turning into a competition with only two challengers and with rest of pilots being isolated in a sort of second category.Paolo Ghisoni
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