How do you solve a problem like Ferrari?

Had the tifosi been in the house for the Italian Grand Prix, they would have been treated to their own national anthem - Il Canto degli Italiani - at the end of the race. Flares, flags and fans alike will have all sprawled across the track in celebration - but without a Ferrari driver to be seen.

Last year, the Italian national anthem rang out in deference to Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and his overwhelmingly popular victory. But this year, it serenaded Pierre Gasly's surprise run to the top step, while Ferrari suffered arguably one of its most miserable, apathetic and downright lacklustre performances of its Formula 1 tenure.

In isolation, Sebastian Vettel's early brake failure and Leclerc's heavy crash at the Parabolica were both bad enough. Ferrari's hopes were dashed by half-distance, and it was a legacy of Leclerc's crash that set Gasly on his course towards a famous and unexpected victory. But Ferrari's rotten performance extended beyond the race; every single session at Monza told a story of toil for the team that had bested its competition last year in swaggering style.

Vettel summed it up best, suggesting that it was probably good that there were no fans in attendance to watch any hopes of Ferrari scraping a few points disappear within the first 23 laps. For months, since the SF1000's shortcomings became all too apparent in testing and in the opening races, the crystal ball had predicted a Ferrari struggle. And lo, a week or so after the Scuderia returned to its homeland after a chastening performance at Spa-Francorchamps, it will now look towards the next race at Mugello after a public shellacking at Monza.

Although Ferrari should be less subdued at Mugello, as its flowing medium-speed corners should give the SF1000 a little more opportunity to prove its worth, the long start-finish straight will still cause problems. The subsequent run-in of Sochi, Nurburgring, Algarve and Imola should also yield better performances, but Bahrain - both on the regular circuit and outer loop - can prey on Ferrari's weaknesses.

Car development for 2021 is also severely limited, meaning that Ferrari will have to limp on into next year with a flawed chassis. The chance of making the same mistakes next year is far too high - and Ferrari can either choose to accept that or wrest control of its own fate.

In other words, how do you solve a problem like Ferrari?

1. Find something from the power unit

Throughout 2019, Ferrari had a phenomenally potent power unit nestled in the back of the SF90 - but couldn't always capitalise as the low-drag philosophy didn't boast quite the same level of downforce as Mercedes.

At Spa and Monza last year, the lower downforce output gave Ferrari plenty of push in a straight line. Although the car was also surprisingly strong at Singapore thanks to a series of upgrades, further development from Mercedes late in the year ended Ferrari's trio of races in the sun and underlined the key areas that it had to work on for 2020.

For this year, Ferrari had focused on tacking more downforce onto its latest chariot, able to accept that it could trade off a little bit more with the strengths of its previous-spec powerplant. Had last year's powertrain made it to the back of this year's car, you'd bet that Vettel and Leclerc would have enjoyed a better run of things. But the FIA's application of new technical directives at the tail end of last year scythed away at Ferrari's advantage and left the team - and customer outfits Haas and Alfa Romeo - with a sudden shortfall. As engines and other power unit components have to be homologated prior to the season, that left Ferrari with no time to make up the deficit.

In the pursuit of more downforce, Ferrari ended up lumbering its latest chariot with a hefty burden of drag

As we've mentioned previously, the technical directives that took aim at Ferrari's design focused on the combustibles in the engine. At Austin, following a Red Bull enquiry, the FIA issued a clarification on fuel-flow regulations as Ferrari had reportedly side-stepped them with a loophole. The fuel-flow sensor, mandated by the FIA at the advent of the turbo-hybrid regulations, measures for the 100kg/h maximum of fuel flow allowed in intervals. The suggestion was that Ferrari was pumping fuel into the engine at a higher rate than that around the intervals, having been able to account for them in the data available.

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Another technical directive was issued in Brazil, explicitly stating that flammable liquids in the ancillary PU components could not be used for combustion - suggesting that Ferrari was leaking flammable oil into the combustion chamber to enrich the fuel injected into each cylinder.

Lastly, Ferrari publicly fell foul of a directive on the fuel declared at the start of each race; Leclerc's car was spot-checked before the season-ending Abu Dhabi GP and was found to have a different level of fuel onboard the car compared to the quantity declared to the FIA pre-race. Leclerc was able to keep his third-place finish, but Ferrari was handed a €50,000 fine post-race for that discrepancy in fuel load.

Ferrari and the FIA reached an undisclosed settlement prior to the start of the 2020 season, to the dismay of the other teams on the grid, with no detail over the rules that Ferrari had broken. But team principal Mattia Binotto has since disclosed that the technical directives had indeed wiped out some of the performance from his team's power unit - and for 2020, the FIA added a secondary, encrypted fuel-flow sensor that teams could not sidestep.

Over the next off-season, Ferrari will have a chance to recover and redesign parts of its powertrain within the FIA's boundaries. The restrictions enforced, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic - have limited Ferrari's options, but it can at least make improvements and hope that the other power unit manufacturers on the grid don't make as many gains heading into 2021.

Where the team is significantly more limited is in the design of its car. In the pursuit of more downforce, Ferrari ended up lumbering its latest chariot with a hefty burden of drag. The aero department will be working to improve the overall efficiency of the car, in a bid to turn down the coefficient of drag figure without losing too much performance.

It's a tight balancing act, but there are options available to Ferrari - and it must pursue all of them.

2. Bolster the team's personnel - and look outside of the family

Binotto had to carry the mantle of both team principal and technical director for 2019, and it was only in August that he revealed that he had stepped down from a technical capacity within the team. Rather than appoint a new technical director figurehead, Ferrari has created a new performance development division within the team - headed by Enrico Cardile, the former head of aero within the team.

Promoting from within is admirable, and it's always great to see new heads of state get a chance to flex their muscles, but it's also hard to see how it represents anything other than the status quo. Using a previous example of the team's troubles, Ferrari was in turmoil at the top of the 1990s.

It wasn't until Jean Todt's installation as team principal in 1993 that the team turned a new leaf; Todt joined the team from Peugeot's sportscar project and, in 1995 with returning president Luca di Montezemolo's blessing, was able to lure Rory Byrne, Ross Brawn and Michael Schumacher from Benetton - laying the foundations for Ferrari's success at the start of the 2000s.

The cost cap will put Ferrari into an even playing field, but on the flip-side, Ferrari has one of F1's biggest expenditures per season - and it needs to ensure that it is reaping a comprehensive bang for its buck with the new rules

Ferrari is, arguably, in a similar pickle today. Sure, Todt's success wasn't instant, but the progression of the team throughout the mid-1990s built up to the crescendo of Schumacher's quintet of title successes. Looking elsewhere on the grid, McLaren brought in James Key and Andreas Seidl to stop the rot at Woking, while Renault also added Pat Fry to the team to give its design department a new direction.

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Can Maranello ring the changes as effectively? The team has already suggested that it wasn't willing to let heads roll in a knee-jerk reaction to 2020's sub-par results, but the team arguably needs a new focal point for 2022 as operational errors and now technical troubles have contrived to stop Ferrari delivering on the promise of the past few seasons.

There are talented individuals both inside and out of F1 who could come in and reinvigorate the team; ex-technical director Aldo Costa, now of Dallara, was touted as an option, and there are many more who would pounce at the romantic notion of leading Ferrari back to the top.

3. Bin 2021's development off early and focus on 2022

When Ferrari rings in the new year, it will be afforded the first day of January to shrug off 2020's colossal hangover. Then, the day after, the team should do what it needs to for 2021 - but put the brunt of its resources into kicking the 2022 project into life.

The complete overhaul of aero regulations will be one of F1's most interesting plotlines throughout the next couple of years, but there will also be changes to the powertrain rules too. Ferrari has to hit the ground running.

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First, the teams will have to get their heads around the simplified aero. There will be no more bargeboard developments to mask any shortfalls in the front wing package, and the technical minds will also have to get their heads around the switch from F1's current flat floors to the Venturi tunnel design that will welcome the return of ground effects after a 40-year hiatus.

This is why Ferrari must push the boat out for top-level new hires, as addressed in Point 2, as they can click straight into place for the wave of development for 2022. The cost cap will put Ferrari into an even playing field, but on the flip-side, Ferrari has one of F1's biggest expenditures per season - and it needs to ensure that it is reaping a comprehensive bang for its buck with the new rules.

Should it continue to sleepwalk down its current path, Ferrari's biggest chance to return to the front of F1's pecking order will have been completely squandered.

4. Keep Leclerc and Sainz happy

Ferrari's new-for-2021 line-up of Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jr is brimming with promise. Two young guns with boatloads of potential will help to improve the mood at the team, but they need the service.

The 2021 season will be a struggle, and Sainz will certainly be left wondering what he's got himself into at times. But if the two remain patient and wait for the rewards that 2022 can offer, then the Leclerc/Sainz pairing could be one of F1's most exciting double-acts yet.

All is not lost for Ferrari. The team, the drivers, and we - the media - have to exercise some patience, and the team can still yet make a recovery from its current doldrums. However, Ferrari must take control of its situation, seize the opportunities it has in the coming years, and capitalise - rather than wait for things to play out. F1, after all, waits for nobody.