Christmas in Maranello: Verstappen's name sings around in 'Ferrari-land' too

Many Formula 1 fans who have been to Italy will no doubt know it:as soon as you enter Maranello, you immediately know you are in"Ferrari-land." Wherever you are in the Maranello area, everywhereyou see the prancing horse. Whether things are good or bad for theScuderia, in Maranello the 'Tifosi' will support Ferrari in goodtimes and bad. This year, too, the team experienced a shaky seasonand it was noticeable in the famous village. When having a coffeewith some Italian journalists in one of the many picturesque coffeebars in Maranello, we quickly come into contact with the "real"fans as they are called by the Italian colleagues. The fans knowthe journalists and immediately begin discussions about the pastseason, with the well-known Italian hand gestures of course notmissing. Although the discussions flow delightfully between thefans and journalists, something is missing. By Italian standards,it all seems a bit flat, the passion doesn't shine through and thathas nothing to do with the pride of the Scuderia. As we get intoconversation with the fans, it quickly becomes clear that one isnot from around here. In fact, as members of one of the Ferrari fanclubs, the fans have come to Maranello from both northern andsouthern Italy, and not for the first time this year. The passionis so great that some fans have come all the way from Sicily, onlyto return home the same day. Then we are talking about a singletrip of at least 8 hours and that is "only" for an end-of-yearfactory tour with the other fans! Another example is that Ferrarifans in Italy have enormous passion for their team. Yet asmentioned, this year seems to be a bit flat, the absolute holy fireis a bit missing in the eyes of the fans. Especially the famous'next-year-we'll-be-there' statements that have often passed fromthe Scuderia over the past decade no longer seem to give fansenough confidence. Whereas the 'real' fans as we see them here inMaranello will always know how to find their way to the villagesacred to them, the same is not true for the rest of the countryand Italian F1 fans. Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc In Italy, infact, a lot fewer people watched F1 last year, with Ferrari'slesser performance clearly seeming to play a role. The team'sdrivers, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, can still count on thesupport of the fans, especially the younger fans, but during ourvisit to Maranello, there is no fan willing to venture into thequestion of whether either of these two drivers will give Ferrarithe next world title. Despite the fact that both drivers are alsovery good according to fans in Maranello, it remains to be seenwhether they will join an illustrious list of phenomenal Ferraridrivers. Indeed, if we follow the Italian media, we see the vaunted"Il Principe"-or "the Prince"-expression recurring less and lessoften when trying to describe the Monegasque's class. As we saygoodbye to the fans with many jokes back and forth, a little laterwe walk into the old workshop and house of Enzo Ferrari, where wesee many pictures and props of Michael Schumacher recurring. Agreat champion, difficult for a future Ferrari driver to match atall. In addition to Schumacher, we also see a lot of pictures offounder Enzo Ferrari passing by, and we see that Enzo's love wasmostly for a driver who managed to win only six races, GillesVilleneuve. Wherever you go in Maranello, pictures or drawings ofVilleneuve, often even together with Enzo, are found in everyplace. You can't really find a greater contrast. The outwardlyrational and frequent winner Schumacher, versus the emotional andstatistically unimpressive Villeneuve. Yet in their own way, bothdrivers captured the hearts of the tifosi and Villeneuve inparticular those of founder Enzo Ferrari. The founder died in 1988,and did not live to see the golden days of Schumacher himself.This, of course, immediately raises the question. Will Leclerc orSainz ever be able to become that type of driver? The future willtell. It is often said in this era that without a good car you cannever show it. But is that really true? Wasn't it preciselySchumacher who played a key role in bringing in the right peoplefor Ferrari's resurrection in the mid-1990s? Max Verstappen Afterwe have made our lap around the nostalgic grounds that sometimesstill give you goosebumps, we join the closing media lunchorganized by team boss Fred Vasseur. While enjoying the deliciousItalian food, everyone gets the chance to ask Vasseur his or herlast question of the year. And just at that moment, the name ofthree-time world champion Verstappen finally drops in Maranello.From the Italian media, in fact, comes the question of whetherVerstappen is still not welcome at Ferrari, after he spoke out veryclearly at the end of 2019 about that year's Ferrari engine,illegal or not. In response, then Ferrari president Louis Camilleriat the time let it be known that there would never be room forVerstappen at Ferrari. Asked what Vasseur thinks about it now asteam boss, a smile appears on the Frenchman's face. After thinkingfor a moment, Vasseur replies, "It is not a discussion for now, butnever say never." When Vasseur then rightly points out withadditional political angles and truths that Verstappen is not anoption for now, we still have to conclude that Verstappen's name isalso singing around in Maranello. For now, the chances seem verysmall that the Dutchman will ever choose Ferrari, but somewhere youshould never rule it out. After all, Ferrari will always try to gofor the biggest names in the sport and in Formula 1 things canalways change. As lunch ends and we head back home, an Italiancolleague takes us quickly inside Enzo Ferrari's living room. Therewe also see in his living room yet another beautiful photo of himand Gilles Villeneuve. As we leave the house, the receptionisttells us that the last person to use the house was MichaelSchumacher. The seven-time world champion stayed at Enzo's housewith his family between his many test sessions at the Fioranocircuit. With that great quote in our pocket, we drive back home,with in our minds Ferrari, Schumacher and Villeneuve. Did theItalian media think the same thing when they asked Vasseur aboutVerstappen? The now three-time world champion is currently asdominant or even more dominant than Schumacher ever was and gaveaway shows with both bad and good bolides the way only GillesVilleneuve knew how to emotionalize Enzo Ferrari. Is the Dutchmanthe ideal driver Enzo always envisioned in his mind?