Verstappen domination poses title questions for Ferrari
Red Bull’s Formula 1 fightback was always likely to come sooner rather than later, but it was unfortunate for Ferrari and its fans that the blue team’s first 1-2 for six years should arrive on Italian soil last weekend.
As Matt Kew shows in our race report on page 14, Red Bull had a small but significant edge at Imola, while a few Ferrari slips – most notably Charles Leclerc’s first big error of the year – made it an emphatic success. Max Verstappen’s maximum haul of 34 points puts him where the performance has always been this year – up near the top of the table battling Leclerc. Ferrari now has to respond, which will be the true test of the team’s championship mettle.
One thing Ferrari shouldn’t be criticised for is giving Leclerc a second pitstop. It was clear he wasn’t going to beat Sergio Perez as things stood. Fresh rubber gave him the chance of fastest lap, a potential advantage if a safety car was called, and asked Red Bull a question. That Leclerc then went off is, as the Monegasque knows, entirely down to him and is something he must not repeat. That was the sort of race where Verstappen or Lewis Hamilton would have perhaps snatched a second, or at least bagged third, during their epic 2021 title tussle.
An equally exciting (possibly!) championship contest kicked off at Donington Park last weekend. The new British Touring Car era got going with some close racing, intra-team fighting and three different winners. Marcus Simmons explains all on p36.