Ferrari have two of the best drivers on the grid. Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz. Two young, exciting drivers that have the potential to win championships individually. So, put them together and you’d assume Ferrari are in a good position to win the constructers championship, right? Nope, they’re currently sitting second (at time of writing). But only 82 points off the leaders – Red Bull. This is despite having multiple DNFs. Let’s break down where thinks went wrong.
First things first, Leclerc is no angel. He’s at fault for multiple of his DNF’s so far this season (before Hungary). Our aim here however is to evaluate if Ferrari are letting him down or is it all just bad luck.
Bahrain
Opening race, all things looked good. Red Bull and Mercedes seemed to be struggling. The latter just don’t have the pace and both Red Bull drivers ended up retiring. Ferrari finished with a perfect top two finish and Leclerc got the fastest lap. You couldn’t ask for a better start.
Saudi Arabia
The arrival of the next generation. Verstappen came back fighting and secured a race win by a mere 0.549 seconds. Leclerc took a frustrating second, and Sainz a third. Not an ideal race for Ferrari but not bad by any means. Especially because it looked like Leclerc was going to catch Verstappen if he had more track. Things look good.
Australia
No eyebrows raised yet. Another dominant display from Leclerc who achieved a Grand Slam (Pole Position + Race Win + Fastest Lap + Every Lap Led). A truly special display from Leclerc. Aided slightly by Verstappen and Sainz’s retirement. He still proved that he has all the talent in the world.
Emilia Romagna (Ferrari’s Home Race)
“Anything you can do, I can do better”. This time round, it was Verstappen’s turn to take a Grand Slam and get his redemption from the previous race. This is where the problems started occurring for Leclerc and Ferrari.
Ferrari were already down a car due to Sainz’s early retirement. Then the unthinkable happened. Leclerc made a mistake. In P3 on fresher tyres, he was gaining on Perez in P2. Leclerc pushed too hard, resulting in him riding a kerb at turn 14 which spun him into the barriers causing front wing damage. Initially, Leclerc only lost one position, but the resulting pit-stop caused him to drop to P9. He made somewhat of a recovery with the end of the race, finishing P6, but the damage was already done. A dismal day for Ferrari, this time, it was out of their control, Leclerc was at fault.
Miami
Red Bull were just better. It was clear and obvious. The Red Bull car had far superior straight-line speed. Both Ferrari cars struggled to keep up. However, this is not due to the engine. Its due to the set-up of the cars. Leclerc went for a higher downforce setup meaning there would be greater drag on his car which would help him in the first and third sectors.
Usually, this is an ideal setup, but not for Miami which has multiple straight lines. Sector 2 is basically one long piece of track. Not only did they get the setup wrong. It was clear that the cars and drivers were severely hindered by tyre degradation. Ferrari have to hold their hands up; they got it wrong. The problems continue.
Spain
Leclerc was dominating the 2022 Spanish GP. By Lap 26, Leclerc had a 12.6 second lead. However, in Lap 27, his engine lost power and he was forced to retire from the race. Ferrari claim that this was just a one off, the MGU-H and Turbo failed. However, Alfa Romeo Ferrari driver Zhou Guanyu also had to retire due to an engine fault. Another Ferrari engine. You would’ve thought Leclerc had the win in a bag here, unfortunately for him, this was the second race in a row where things were out of his control.
Monaco (Home Race for Leclerc)
The problems didn’t stop at Monaco. Ferrari messed up. Multiple times.
Leclerc started on pole and led for the first 17 laps of the race. In Lap 18, he pitted and came out a few seconds behind Sergio Perez who pitted two laps before him. Mistake #1.
There was still time for Leclerc to recover the lead. Sainz was going to pit and come on to dry tyres. Once he did, Leclerc would be P2 or P3 depending on the Sainz pit stop. Lap 21, only a few laps since Leclerc's last pit stop. Ferrari accidentally called Leclerc into the pits the same time as they called Sainz. Not only did Leclerc loose time because Ferrari had a double stack but he also pitted too early. Verstappen and Perez pitted a lap later and came out ahead of Leclerc. Another disastrous day for Leclerc, once again, no fault of his own.
Azerbaijan
A double Ferrari DNF. Mechanical failures forced both cars to retire. Not only that but four out of the six cars that have Ferrari engines retired. A horrific day for Ferrari. Short and sweet, but not much more to say.
Canada
This race was almost a write-off for Leclerc who started at the back of the Grid due to penalties from having new power unit elements. Although very unlikely Leclerc was going to be able to win this race. We were treated to a display of his raw talents as he managed to finish an impressive P5.
Britain
This British GP will forever be remembered for Zhou’s horrific crash. A high-speed barrel roll sent the Chinese man flying off the track. Thankfully, he was okay. Another example of the halo coming to the rescue.
Sainz won the British GP, with Leclerc finishing P2. On the face of it you’d say it was a good day for Ferrari. However, the Scuderari made a huge strategy mistake yet again. Leclerc was in P2 and once again, dominating. He was fast, very fast. So fast that Ferrari agreed to swap his and Sainz’s positions. This put Leclerc in the lead after Hamilton had pitted.
Things looked good until Ocon’s car broke down resulting in a safety car. You don’t have to be new to the sport to realise that when there’s a safety car, it’s a good opportunity to pit your drivers.
Most of the field did this, including Ferrari. However, they only did this with Sainz. So, Leclerc was stuck on old hard tyres whereas the rest of the field, including his teammate were on new soft tyres. Leclerc was a sitting duck.
Ferrari came out and said that they didn’t want a double stack, similar to what happened in Monaco. However, Ferrari didn’t pit Leclerc at all. Bizarre on all accounts.
Now, Ferrari did end up winning the race, but Leclerc was clearly the faster driver and is higher up in the standings. It would’ve made more sense to give him a proper strategy instead of leaving him out to dry. Yet again, Ferrari were at fault.
Austria
Leclerc finally wins again! A bittersweet day for Ferrari as Sainz’s DNF resulted in another mechanical failure. Sainz looked prime to take P2 as well before his car caught fire on Lap 57. This time, Leclerc wasn’t the one let down by Ferrari.
France
This time, it was Leclerc’s fault. The Monegasque man made a critical mistake crashed out after 17 laps and was forced to retire. This left Verstappen to stroll to victory. A positive for Ferrari was that Carlos Sainz had one hell of a race. However, Sainz had to correct Ferrari on their own strategy for him, and not for the first time. There may have been some audio delay, but Sainz’s engineer called him into pit as he was midway through overtaking Perez. Yet again, bizarre strategy by Ferrari.
In our opinion. Ferrari have to take a large part of the blame so far this season. Yes, Leclerc has made a few mistakes. Every driver has. In the spirit of fairness, we can let Ferrari off the hook for a few too. Nobody’s perfect.
However, it’s growing increasingly more frustrating watching Ferrari screw up time and time again. They have two of the best drivers on the grid. The least you can do as a constructer, is put them in the best position to win or to get on to the podium. Many of these mistakes could’ve been avoided and if they were, Ferrari would be much closer to Red Bull right now in the Constructers Championship.
As fans, we want competitive, exciting racing. If Ferrari don’t start to sort out their strategies soon, Red Bull are going to run away with this. Take nothing away from Red Bull, they’ve been fantastic and have barely placed a foot wrong. If Ferrari want to compete, they need to do the same.
It’s difficult not to feel sorry for Leclerc looking back on what’s happened this season. He’s a professional, and he will bounce back, especially after France.
It’s hard to imagine, but it’s about that time that the rumours start circling. Could we potentially see Leclerc with another team if his frustrations start growing?
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