Homecoming blues for Ferrari
It wasn’t the homecoming Ferrari was expecting but the Italian team is still in control of both championships despite a late-race crash after an aggressive strategy move cost Charles Leclerc a podium in Imola.
Ferrari hadn’t arrived in Italy leading both championships since its heady days of domination way back in 2004. A hero’s welcome was on the cards from the sold-out crowd, and with the car competitive, title leader Leclerc in a rich vein of form and Red Bull Racing on the brink of a reliability crisis, all signs pointed to a big weekend for world motorsport’s most famous team.
But when things seem too good to be true, they probably are – especially if you’re a modern Ferrari fan.
Red Bull, equipped with a reliability and aerodynamic upgrade and having taken a course of weight saving, dominated the weekend from start to finish. Max Verstappen took pole on Friday, beat Leclerc to victory in the Saturday sprint and commanded the Sunday grand prix, leading every lap and setting the fastest lap to score maximum points for his second career grand slam.
Ferrari’s weekend couldn’t have contrasted more starkly with Carlos Sainz crashing out of both qualifying and the main race and Leclerc, biting the kerb after attempting a rare overtaking manoeuvre, hitting the barriers at Variante Alta. He was lucky to emerge with only minor damage, and after a pit stop for repairs he could continue to a subdued sixth-place finish.
It was the kind of error that characterised his early years in F1, when his phenomenal speed wasn’t matched by his machinery, often prompting him to overdrive and crash.
But this year it’s not a matter of the same desperation. In 2022 he clearly has the car beneath him to contend for wins and the championship. Instead it’s a more philosophical question for the Monegasque and his Italian team to answer: how much do they want to risk?
Leclerc still comfortably leads Verstappen in the title standings with a 27-point advantage, albeit down from 46, but the season is long and the gap is bridgeable.
Leclerc noted after the race that he might miss the seven points he lost late in the race, but it might be equally true that come November he’ll miss the additional seven points he came so close to snatch from second-place Perez. It’s too soon to play the numbers game; he must make hay while the sun shines.
In its first legitimate title campaign in years, Ferrari is choosing to go bold – it has to if it wants to beat the experienced Red Bull Racing team. But it’ll have to learn its limits first if it wants to pull it off.