After a stellar run at the Australian GP back in April, Ferrari entered a spiral of errors and problems that seemed endless. So much so that it took seven races to win again in Formula 1 – two victories in early July put the Italian team on the ground again, but still reticent. Although he showed strength in the Red Bull ring with a victory over Charles Leclerc, the celebration could not be over. The feeling is that the Italians missed another opportunity to turn the game around, it was a kind of ‘tie’ at the opponent’s home. Carlos Sainz’s break, when he was already moving into a potential second place, was painful and allowed the Taurus rival to lose a bit in a home defeat scenario.
And that’s because the team still has the necessary edges to be trimmed, despite the developments done in various parts of the F1-75. Although Ferrari made clumsy decisions in the pit wall, as was the case in Monaco and England, for example, where strategists prevented Leclerc from winning, retirement was more expensive in the first half of the season due to mechanical problems. It is also a matter of concern to understand that this damage affects the power unit more – it is true that the Italians invested a lot in engines to counter the high straight speed of Red Bull and were successful, but it is worth saying that It is only fair that it was priced very high at a time when the development of the parts was halted. The good news is that the regulations allow for changes to improve reliability, and that’s what Maranello’s engineers are working on.
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The matter is that Leclerc and Sainz have been forced to leave the race twice in 2022 due to engine problems. Monegasque retired in Spain and Azerbaijan. The Spaniard was out of contention in Baku and more recently in Austria. On all these occasions Red Bull won. This balance weighs on the following point: the Taureans also had their headaches, but they were able to make the most of the Italian opponent’s failures.
An example: when he left the Bahrain and Australian GP dispute with problems, Verstappen did not appear and did not even come up with a real chance of victory. Now, on the Ferrari scene, Leclerc was leading the Spanish and Azerbaijani stages. And at least in Barcelona, it repeated the dominance presented in Australia.
Faced with this, the Drivers’ Championship presents Verstappen with 208 points against Leclerc’s 170, but if you consider retirement, Monegasque could be closer to or even ahead of the Dutchman. The same goes for the Constructors’ World Cup. “Ferrari could have done a thing or two here,” said Red Bull team principal Christian Horner after the loss to the Reds in Austria. “And on top of that, it was a successful case for us in limiting the damage.”
In general, championships are designed in a similar way, with Red Bull taking advantage of the opponent’s ills. However, it is fair to say that the Austrians are still doing a solid job, especially when it comes to world champions.
And as nonsense as a little misfortune is, Ferrari is again faced with a dilemma. It is understood that Sainz’s blown engine at the Red Bull Ring suffered the same failure as Leclerc’s unit at the Azerbaijan GP – shortly after, back in Canada, the Italians made a complete switch to the fourth edition. which was implied in a punishment. Perhaps now the same will happen to the Madrid native. “It is possible that the fault is similar to Leclerc’s engine in Baku. In Austria, we could have scored a couple more and we did not. This is proof that we are still not protected from reliability problems, We still have to work on it.” More on that. Now we’re going to analyze what happened to Carlos and we’re going to try to understand to find a short-term solution”, said boss Mattia Binotto.
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Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto has admitted concerns about an engine failure in 2022 (Photo: Ferrari)
Yes this is it. Ferrari needs a quick solution because it has a very fast car on its hands that can match the strength of the competition with what it already has an important ally: great tire management. This aspect was fundamental in last Sunday’s win. So while Ferrari has a rocket in its garage, it celebrates and fears the worst. “As far as the engine is concerned, we are facing some reliability issues, it is just that it is a frozen engine for the next few seasons, but we can fix the reliability. We’ve put a lot of pressure on performance over the last few months. It’s a concern,” the manager explained.
“I don’t feel like pointing a finger at anyone, on the contrary. We’re going to work on improving the reliability, and I think we’ve already managed to do some of that. Many times there’s no solution in the engine.” There are some parts to be modified, redesigned, produced and homogenized. The process is long. But we also have an excellent foundation for the next season, and that’s very important. “, They said.
In fact, Ferrari has all the elements, but it is running out of time.
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