It has become something of a cliché in Formula One circles to say that the sport needs Ferrari to be quick, usually just after four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel has been left facing the wrong way at Turn Three with little firepower to fight back up the field.
It was only 15 years ago when Michael Schumacher’s red car was a dot on the horizon for the chasing pack and most observers claimed that the uber-dominant Ferrari had made F1 unwatchable.
The tables are now turned. The dice remains loaded in Ferrari’s favour; they receive extra prize money, a “legacy payment”, just for being Ferrari and they have a right to veto rule changes that other teams must simply accept.
Austrian Grand Prix 2020 – result
1st: Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes)
2nd: Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
3rd: Lando Norris (McLaren) (Fastest lap)
4th: Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
5th: Carlos Sainz (McLaren)
6th: Sergio Perez (Racing Point)
7th: Pierre Gasly (Alpha Tauri)
8th: Esteban Ocon (Renault)
9th: Antonio Giovinazzi (Alfa Romeo)
10th: Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari)
11th: Nicolas Latifi (Williams)DNF: Daniil Kvyat (AlphaTauri), Alexander Albon (Red Bull), Kimi Raikkonen (Alfa Romeo), George Russell (Williams), Romain Grojean (Haas), Kevin Magnussen (Haas), Lance Stroll (Racing Point), Daniel Ricciardo (Renault), Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
Yet for all their strength in the boardroom and the bank, their influence on the racetrack is diminishing. They have finished a distant second to Mercedes in each of the last three seasons. Ferrari remain the most recognisable team on the grid and their absence from the front of it does not serve the sport well – their last constructors’ triumph came courtesy of Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa in 2008.
That wait looks like it will go on after a disappointing pre-season in Spain in March followed by an admission by team boss Mattia Binotto this week that they had changed direction entirely on development after realising they were very much going the wrong way round.
He hinted after Sunday’s race that they might bring the odd upgrade to the Styrian Grand Prix, the second part of the double-header in Austria, but the likelihood is that they will field the same car that was so slow four months ago in Spain in a week’s time and that qualified seventh and 11th on Saturday.
Had Binotto not been wearing a mask during his post-race interview, you might have noticed a rather surprised smile, although the likeable Ferrari boss was candid enough to admit that the performance had not been particularly impressive.
Charles Leclerc stood on the second step of a socially distant podium thanks to an incident-strewn race that saw the safety car mobilised three times and Lewis Hamilton demoted below him from second to fourth at the end of the race.
“I didn’t expect it. It was a huge surprise but a good one,” Leclerc said. “We did everything perfect to get second and we were lucky with Lewis’ penalty, but I am extremely satisfied.”
In the early stages of the race, each Ferrari found themselves behind a McLaren and a Racing Point, teams whose budgets are dwarfed by the Italian giants and who were a long way behind them 12 months ago.
Leclerc himself was lapping more than a second slower than winner Valtteri Bottas. The gap to the leaders seems irrelevant for Ferrari at the moment, losing seven tenths of a second per lap on the straights alone to Mercedes. In F1 terms, that is a gap of about 60 metres being opened up, every lap. Over a 71-lap race, that’s more than four kilometres. Ferrari are literally miles behind.
This was a manic race, with their disadvantage to the leaders cancelled out three times by the safety car. Next week, they may not be so fortunate and the reality of the situation may be laid bare. Then the questions will start to be asked with rather a lot more urgency.
Analysis: Engine change killed progress
The 2019 season saw something unusual from Ferrari: an engine advantage. Mercedes have dominated the hybrid era for the most part thanks to their superior power unit, but on the straights last year Ferrari appeared to have found some extra horsepower.
It gave them a significant edge, particularly in qualifying, but one that vanished at the US Grand Prix, following a technical directive from the FIA concerning the subverting of the fuel flow sensors, which enforce the regulations regarding rate of fuel consumption.
There was no explanation given or clarification of whether Ferrari had been in breach of any rules – until months later in Barcelona at testing, when a somewhat obfuscatory statement that F1 and Ferrari had “reached a settlement” and “agreed to a number of technical commitments that will improve the monitoring of all Formula One power units”.
Legal action was threatened by all the other teams (barring those supplied with Ferrari engines) but the impact of the investigation had already been felt.
Ferrari are losing serious time on the straights and their previous progress appears to have been wiped out.
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from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/2Z0STNx
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