Why Ferrari became desperate to ditch Arrivabene

Failure is not an option for Ferrari in Italy. That makes it difficult for team bosses to stay in Maranello for very long. Particularly at the moment, when the team's championship win drought is now more than a decade long.

Ferrari's former technical director Ross Brawn has described it as being "condemned for finishing second, as it's simply not good enough at home" and that a failure to win "becomes almost a national question in Italy".

That question was asked again after Ferrari's 2018 defeat. Apparently the answer - for the third time since earning its last championship success, the 2008 constructors' title - is to dump the team boss.

Maurizio Arrivabene's status at Ferrari dipped dramatically from its starting point, when former chairman and CEO Sergio Marchionne confidently declared he had "the qualities of someone who leads by his strong personal example, his professionalism, and the integrity of his decisions - in short by the type of person he is".

How far Arrivabene had fallen from those standards is probably best highlighted by the fact he was reportedly due to be moved aside before Marchionne's death last summer.

That and the fact he has been axed, supposedly at the behest of Marchionne's successor as Ferrari president John Elkann, despite new Ferrari CEO Louis Camilleri (below) being a friend of Arrivabene's from Philip Morris.

Despite his summer reprieve, in tragic circumstances, Arrivabene had the air of a man on borrowed time.

Having botched a team-orders decision in July's German Grand Prix, Ferrari did the same in Italy - where a passive stance played a considerable role in the team throwing away what was expected to be a one-two.

Another major error occurred in Japan, when the team opted for the wrong tyres in qualifying, and Sebastian Vettel's run of high-profile mistakes also continued. The spotlight turned on Ferrari and Vettel and as the pressure mounted Arrivabene did little to diffuse the situation.

He was already becoming increasingly vocal in the media, having previously deferred responsibility to Marchionne, by the time he went on the offensive - against his own team, in response to its error in Japan.

The only real success with Arrivabene has been the improvement in Ferrari's on-track performances, and he can't even claim the real credit for that

Arrivabene's aggravation did not end there, with more irate appearances in the press to follow.

By the end of the year he seemed to take issue with any question that even sought to gain his point of view, or explanation, on a topic for the first time - responding with at least a hint of aggression as he acted as if he had already been over it before. His stance did not soften.

After the season ended he hit out at reports technical chief Mattia Binotto was set to exit amid suggestions of an ongoing disagreement: "Let's make it clear once and for all. The rumours about Mattia are a fake news, put around to create instability in the team.

"It is an attempt to try to create problems where there are no problems, and I do not want to comment on false rumours anymore.

"During this season there have been many attempts at destabilisation, sometimes with stories about the drivers, others about the technicians. My position? Ask Camilleri."

Ultimately the question about Arrivabene's position was asked at the highest level and answered in a resounding fashion: he's no longer the man for the job. But, really, was he ever?

A long-time Ferrari ally as part of his role with key sponsor Philip Morris, and well known to F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone for that very reason, Arrivabene was viewed as a no-nonsense operator who was well-versed in the mechanisms of F1.

He had sat on the F1 Commission for a long time and was viewed as the perfect puppet for Marchionne to use to re-establish Ferrari's political influence. It would prove the wrong decision.

The only real success with Arrivabene has been the improvement in Ferrari's on-track performances, and he can't even claim the real credit for that.

After a disappointing slump in 2016, the behind-the-scenes changes implemented on Arrivabene's watch were key to thrusting Ferrari into nearly-but-not-quite title contender status in '17 and '18.

But that series of changes was orchestrated by Marchionne, in a similar fashion to what he had planned for last summer - when Binotto was initially slated to take over from Arrivabene. What Marchionne wanted, he usually got.

Even beyond the grave that still seems to be the case, first with Charles Leclerc's promotion and now Arrivabene's exit and replacement.

Marchionne's 2016 shake-up placed Binotto, a man who has a significant calming effect within Ferrari as well as detailed knowledge of how it operates and how to get the best from it, into the role of technical chief and that sparked Ferrari's turnaround.

Arrivabene's contribution was to make sure it was a stuttering, nervous race team with a star driver crumbling

The irony is the overhaul that left Arrivabene spearheading Ferrari's best season in a decade is what ultimately allowed Ferrari to dump him.

Ferrari's most impressive season in a decade counted for little. Arrivabene had played no significant role in either design or execution of the grand plan that gave Ferrari arguably 2018's best car.

His contribution was to make sure it was a stuttering, nervous race team with a star driver crumbling under pressure and expectation.

He is the latest Ferrari chief who failed to produce, which means the team has just one championship success to show for the 11 seasons and three different team bosses since Jean Todt officially stepped down from the role for 2008.

In reality, though, Arrivabene never developed beyond Marchionne's pawn.

When Arrivabene saw an opportunity to do so, under new Ferrari overall leadership, he fell short of the qualities required to be an effective F1 team leader.

It's no surprise that Arrivabene failed at Ferrari at a time when Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is celebrating five straight title doubles.

Like Arrivabene, Wolff is a man with no notable motorsport background - beyond stakes in HWA and Williams before his move to Mercedes as executive director and subsequently overall motorsport boss.

Where Arrivabene created a blame culture, Wolff has been praised from many directions for his man-management.

While there is always a political game at play in the background, his ability to motivate an all-conquering team to new heights, against greater challenges, is the foundation of what will be a phenomenal F1 legacy whenever he moves on.

Arrivabene was not capable of replicating that at Ferrari, and that is why it became a matter of urgency to put someone in place who is.

And in Binotto, Ferrari has the antithesis of the man who got it so badly wrong.

This time Ferrari has entrusted its fortunes in a man who cares little for political gamesmanship, but knows an awful lot about what makes a good F1 car and how to put together the team to produce it.

That's why Binotto threatens to be a genuinely valid response to Italy's 'national question' - one Arrivabene never really looked like being the answer to.