Ferrari too easily slips into a "crisis" that it then finds difficult to escape from.
That is the view of former top Ferrari engineer Toni Cuquerella, as he assessed the recent collapse of Sebastian Vettel’s 2017 title challenge.
"Ferrari were much more competitive than in previous years," he wrote in El Pais newspaper.
"Ferrari had a better car than Mercedes in five of the 18 grands prix," Cuquerella added.
"It was a good year and they should be happy. But as ever at Ferrari, two races with poor results meant the beginning of a crisis. And Mercedes took great advantage of that," he said.
Cuquerella thinks the challenge for Ferrari now is to put the ’crisis’ behind it and come out with a strong package from the beginning in 2018.
However, "Ferrari struggles to get out of its crises," said the Spaniard. "Meanwhile, others like Red Bull or McLaren can get to that level of solidarity and confidence next year.
"This year, the fastest team and the fastest driver won, but the trend indicates that this dominance will not necessarily continue.
"The next title could be won by a team that does not always have the best car," he added.