I think that once upon the time, Ferrari was seen as the underdog, the small company that fought against rather faceless giants. They had a racing soul. They kept it up for a long time by the rather excentric Enzo Ferrari and I think Gilles Villenueve did a lot to keep that image alive into modern times. Then came the cold era. Schumi and Todt did not do much for the emtions, you had to either love Ferrari or simply love winners for your heart to be with the red team. For quite a while now Ferrari have been the giant with more resources and more support from Bernie and FiA than any other team. Situation reversed.
Maybe they think they are invincible, that people will love them whatever they do. I think it is not so. The "Fernando. Is. Faster. Than. You" was a late reminder that nothing has changed since Todt, and Schumi, left. Kimi, who is obviously very popular, not only on this board, was, at least for a distant spectator, treated badly. Massa is the new Rubens and not many believes he will ever get a chance to fight Alonso for a win.
In many ways I understand Ferrari, they need to win, both races and championships, and they focus on maximizing those chanses. It is the smart thing to do. But the smart does not come from the heart. There is no love in smart.
But Ferrari fans should not dispair, there is forums specially for tifosi that is almost as big as this one, maybe even bigger, and a poll there would give a different result. There is probably quite a few Autosport forumers, Ferrari supporters, that has started to feel cold in here and moved elsewhere, to rooms frequented by people who share their love. For each one that jump this ship, it will be a bit colder for the ones left behind.
Edited by ardbeg, 08 May 2013 - 22:48.