Ferrari defeat chills partisan media in Italy

Ferrari's underperformance in Sunday's British GP did not go down well with the tifosi and Italy's partisan media.

The Scuderia was nowhere near Mercedes at Silverstone, clearly outpaced  all weekend by the Silver Arrows and trounced in the closing stages of the race as tyre failures took hold.

"Ferrari's defeat was the worst this season," said the authoritative La Gazzetta dello Sport.

"Ferrari returns home with concern the British grand prix was perhaps the turning point in favour of Mercedes. The last three races were difficult but now the worries are bigger."

Corriere dello Sport agreed: "Ferrari is not going through a good phase.

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"Mercedes has overcome its troubles while Ferrari's performance has gradually weakened. Maranello has to start from scratch again." 

In the German camp, Mercedes non-executive chairman Niki Lauda suggested that Ferrari had dropped the ball as it gambled on a tyre strategy that ultimately failed in a big way. 

"They paid for deciding to go to the end with those tyres," Lauda told Ilta Sanomat.

"It could have been foreseen that it would not work. This was the turning point for me. We have worked and worked and worked."

But team boss Toto Wolff urges caution, knowing all too well that the tables can turn on a whim when everyone sees a team as the favourite.

"The moment you say that, you go to the next race and get a shock," he said.

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