Tag: scuderia ferrari

F1 2022: Bahrain Gp Review – Out with the old, in with Ferrari?

Despite introducing a completely new era of Formula 1 racing the season-opener in Bahrain has simply picked up where the drama left off in 2021. In a triumphant return to form Ferrari reigned supreme with a brilliant one-two finish for Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz.

Throughout pre-season testing the Ferrari had looked good and allegedly on the pace of the quickest cars. It looked supple and easy to drive but still the hesitation lingered in deeming the Italians back in position to mix it at the sharp end of the grid. But in emphatic fashion Ferrari has announced itself with dazzling display of speed and performance in the first race of 2022.

On Saturday Charles Leclerc snatched pole by a tenth of a second from Red Bull’s Max Verstappen while teammate Sainz qualified third fastest. As Lewis Hamilton and George Russell could only manage fifth and ninth it looked set to be a battle between Ferrari and Red Bull. And a battle it was. Leclerc led cleanly away from pole with Verstappen in relatively close attendance. However, before long the Red Bull driver was told to cool his brakes and he fell three seconds behind the Ferrari. The first round of stops came around soon enough with Verstappen heading to pitlane first. Despite pitting only one lap later, Leclerc nearly lost P1 to a charging Verstappen. The lead of the race swopped dramatically between the pair for a few laps before Verstappen locked up into turn 1 and seemed to lose some pace. Wily as ever, Leclerc saw off the threat from Verstappen and eased the gap back out to three-odd seconds with Sainz trailing a further 10 seconds behind, in third, with fourth-placed Checo Perez threatening to close him down. What was especially good about the Leclerc/Verstappen duel, besides the intense wheel-to-wheel racing, was the confirmation that the new era of F1 cars are able follow each other much more closely.

For those who may have thought that Mercedes was sandbagging in pre-season testing, and even in free practice, it was unfortunately not the case. At least in Bahrain the Mercedes W13 was significantly off Ferrari and Red Bull pace. A glance at the results does not tell the full story. Although Hamilton and Russell will be happy to have come home in third and fourth there are serious questions that are going to be asked at Mercedes. What will be especially worrying for Mercedes is the fact that after 40-odd laps of the race Hamilton was already more than half a minute behind the race leader Leclerc and second-placed Verstappen. What’s more is that on-board footage from practice still shows the Merc porpoising (bouncing) in the straits which clearly effects the driver’s confidence on the brakes. Case in point is Hamilton’s inability to overtake Perez despite being well within the DRS range for a handful of laps.

As it turns out neither Red Bull reached the chequered flag. First Verstappen noted an issue with the power steering of his car, which he at least appeared to be able to handle, no pun intended. And in the closing stages of the race Pierre Gasly’s car seemed to catch fire which brought out the safety car towards the end of the race. It seemed Verstappen’s best chance of challenging Leclerc. But soon after the Safety-car pulled in Verstappen was on the radio and reporting a loss of battery charge. Moments after that the Dutchman slowed dramatically and promptly retired from the race. A few laps later Perez’s engine seemingly switched off and pitched his car into a spin in turn 1. In matter of minutes Red Bull went from sitting with the potential of two cars on the podium to a double retirement. This elevated Hamilton onto the podium in third and Russell to fourth overall. Red Bull, through Helmut Marko, identified the problem being an inability of getting enough fuel to the engine and that Verstappen’s power steering issue may have been caused by the jack, which lifts the car, during a pit stop.

Leclerc delivered a stunning weekend to score pole, fastest lap, and a much-deserved race win. But the driver of the day must be Kevin Magnussen. Drafted in as a late replacement at Haas the Danish driver produced a stunning drive to finish P5. Valtteri Bottas won’t be dissatisfied with his first race for Alfa Romeo in P6 while Esteban Ocon and Yuki Tsunoda finished 7^th and 8^th respectively. Fernando Alonso was 9^th overall ahead of the only rookie in the field Zhou Guanyu who scored the final point in 10^th for Alfa Romeo. Mick Schumacher just missed out on scoring his first points in 11^th.While Gasly clearly experienced a distressing end to his race it was probably as dreadful a day for McLaren with Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris finishing a wretched 14^thand 15^th overall.

For the first time since the 2019 Singapore grand prix Ferrari has stood on top of the podium. It is apparent that Maranello has not only produced a very good power unit but perhaps even a car to go along with it. But this is only the beginning of F1 2022 and there is still some way to go. There are 22 more races in a season that has started in spectacular fashion. And the next of those is this weekend’s Saudi Arabian grand prix.

All images courtesy of Pirelli Motorsport

March 21, 2022
F12020: Why Ferrari Chose Sainz over Ricciardo

Ferrari and Sebastian Vettel have jointly announced that after the conclusion of the 2020 season, assuming it actually gets underway, they will no longer be partners.

If you’d cared to look for it the writing has been on the wall for some time. Yes, hindsight and all that but Vettel just hasn’t seemed to be as in love with Formula 1 as he had been in his Red Bull heyday and even his early years at Ferrari. Vettel and Ferrari’s story is a romantic one that the four-time champion had been dreaming of since the days of watching his hero Michael Schumacher win five consecutive titles for the Prancing Horse. A title with the famed Italian team was always Vettel’s ambition but it simply hasn’t come to fruition, for a number of reasons. There is still a chance for Vettel if things get underway in 2020 and Ferrari can get their act together.

Little time was wasted in announcing Vettel’s replacement. In fact, a mere 48 hours after the Ferrari/Vettel statement was released it was revealed, via press release, that Carlos Sainz would be a Ferrari driver in 2021. It wasn’t much of a surprise given that most of the smart money was on Sainz to join the Scuderia. The other driver believed to be a serious consideration for the seat was Daniel Ricciardo. Neverthelesss, Sainz got the nod and has put pen to paper in what is the biggest move of his career.

Why exactly did Ferrari choose Sainz over Ricciardo? Let’s break it down. Sainz is quick, he’s consistent, and he’s only 25. Carlos Sainz has all the attributes that will be attractive to Ferrari and five seasons under his belt to boot. He appears, from what we’ve seen so far, to be a fairly low maintenance driver who gets on with the job. This is important for Ferrari. Fernando Alonso is brilliant racing driver but too demanding and political for his own good. His time at Ferrari yielded some memorable race wins and nearly a title or two but his time in red is also blighted by tension in the garage and on the pitwall.

Similarly, the fractious relationship between Vettel and Charles Leclerc may have been consigned to the second half of 2019 but it caused unnecessary distraction. Sainz’s demeanour doesn’t seem to lend itself to a potentially explosive relationship with Leclerc. What’s more, the Spaniard isn’t yet a championship contender so he wont necessarily have this expectation from day one. In many ways Ferrari will be able to groom Sainz much in the same way that they did Leclerc.

Sainz is hungry too. Even though its years behind him now he was left behind in the Max Verstappen promotion to Red Bull saga. He felt he was overlooked and could have dropped his head and easily morphed into an also-ran. But he rebounded incredibly well and finished best-of-the-rest in 2019. This shows a deep-rooted determination on top of what is already impressive speed and race craft.

Why not Ricciardo? The Aussie has been a fan-favourite from day one and would undoubtedly have been embraced by the Tifosi. He’s a proven race winner and a dynamite overtaker. He would’ve joined Ferrari as a bonafide championship contender from day one, should the machinery suffice.

BUT. No matter what he may say he left Red Bull because Max Verstappen was clearly the top dog. And he did so because he wants to be at a team where he would be considered the number one driver. At Ferrari he would’ve been coming into Leclerc’s team. As much as he may be assured of equal status within the team it is never a seamless process. No matter what they may say in the press the team will inevitably lean towards Leclerc because there is already a level of comfort and familiarity between the two. And, as previously mentioned, Ferrari want to avoid a war between its drivers.

It’s not all lost for Ricciardo who has inked a deal to join McLaren for 2021. It is an tacit admission from the Australian driver that he’d made a mistake to leave Red Bull. While Verstappen was racking up wins and podiums it never really came together for Ricciardo at Renault. And if he was truly convinced and believed in the French team’s potential he would’ve stuck around for it. Nevertheless, he could be playing a crafty long game by joining McLaren. Lest we forget they are retuning to Mercedes power in 2021 and sooner rather than later there will be a seat available at the works team and it could very well have Daniel Ricciardo’s name on it.

For now, Ferrari are unquestionably entering an thrilling period. For the first time since 2007 Ferrari will start a season without a champion in its line up. But they’re going to field one of the most exciting driver pairings in Sainz and Leclerc. If they can produce a car capable of consistently fighting for wins it is bound to be an explosive season for the Scuderia.

May 25, 2020
End of the Road for Vettel and Ferrari

It’s the end of the road for Sebastian Vettel and the Ferrari Formula 1.

The romance started in 2015 where Vettel enjoyed some success with a newly invigorated Ferrari team after the arrival of Maurizio Arrivabene. Over the course of Vettel’s Ferrari career, he’s collected 14 victories for the Scuderia and he finished runner up twice in the driver’s championship in 2017 and 2018.

Ferrari says that the two parties had mutually agreed to the separation.

“This is a decision taken jointly by ourselves and Sebastian, one which both parties feel is for the best. It was not an easy decision to reach, given Sebastian’s worth as a driver and as a person,” said Ferrari Team Principal Mattia Binotto.

“There was no specific reason that led to this decision, apart from the common and amicable belief that the time had come to go our separate ways in order to reach our respective objectives.

“On behalf of everyone at Ferrari, I want to thank Sebastian for his great professionalism and the human qualities he has displayed over these five years, during which we shared so many great moments. We have not yet managed to win a world title together, which would be a fifth for him, but we believe that we can still get a lot out of this unusual 2020 season.”

Sebastian Vettel: “My relationship with Scuderia Ferrari will finish at the end of 2020. In order to get the best possible results in this sport, it’s vital for all parties to work in perfect harmony.

The team and I have realised that there is no longer a common desire to stay together beyond the end of this season.

Financial matters have played no part in this joint decision. That’s not the way I think when it comes to making certain choices and it never will be.

What’s been happening in these past few months has led many of us to reflect on what are our real priorities in life. One needs to use one’s imagination and to adopt a new approach to a situation that has changed. I myself will take the time I need to reflect on what really matters when it comes to my future.

Scuderia Ferrari occupies a special place in Formula 1 and I hope it gets all the success it deserves. Finally, I want to thank the whole Ferrari family and above all its “tifosi” all around the world, for the support they have given me over the years. My immediate goal is to finish my long stint with Ferrari, in the hope of sharing some more beautiful moments together, to add to all those we have enjoyed so far.”

There is word that Vettel might make a move to McLaren or Renault. At this point, it’s just wild speculation. He may just quit the sport altogether and retire.

Rumours circulating last season when his performances were trumped by his teammate Charles Leclerc that the German has fell out of love with the sport and that Ferrari has given Leclerc preference over himself. This may have lead to him making his final decision.

The 2020 season has not yet begun and by the look of it, there might not be many races this season. It will be interesting to see how things play out over the rest of the year.

Lewis Hamilton is another driver out of contract at the end of the season and is expected to carry on racing with Mercedes. Mercedes has been the team with the best car since the hybrid era in Formula 1 began and have won the Drivers Championship and Constructors Championship since 2014. Hamilton has a good chance of beating Michael Schumacher’s 7-world titles at Mercedes.

May 12, 2020
F1 2019: Ferrari – Gamble or Guile?

Much has been written about Ferrari’s drafting youngster Charles Leclerc into one of the most coveted seats in Formula 1. While expectations are exceedingly high for the young Monegasque driver there are other quite significant changes that have been made at Ferrari for the 2019 season.

The sudden death of Sergio Marchionne was a big blow for Ferrari. As the architect and saviour of Ferrari Marchionne was a tremendously important figure for the company and the F1 team. It’s no surprise that, internally, his loss was felt in a big way. A new CEO was announced in the form of Louis Camilleri, the former boss of Phillip Morris International and Ferrari board member. He immediately walked back Marchionne’s threats of quitting F1 and vowed to work in favour of keeping the iconic team in the world’s premier racing series.

Camilleri also stated that there was no need for him to intervene or make any changes to the team given its positive performance. However, it wasn’t too long before he began to ring the changes. First, it was Charles Leclerc in for Kimi Raikkonen followed by an announcement that team principal Maurizio Arrivabene would be replaced by technical chief Mattia Binnoto. Rumours swirled throughout the season of unease between Arrivabene and Binnoto, which, at the time, were dismissed as untrue by Ferrari. However, the rumours sustained and grew to include several suspicions that the relationship between Sebastian Vettel and Arrivabene too wasn’t in a good way.

Binnoto’s new role as team principal will mean that the technical department must be restructured too. After all, Binnoto can hardly be expected to wear both caps of team principal and technical chief at the same time. As team principal of Ferrari he will be tasked with and face an inordinate amount of pressure. First, he’ll be responsible for heading a team with a brand-new driver in the line-up. If, according to many expectations, Leclerc pushes teammate Vettel, ala Hamilton and Alonso in 2007, all the way he’ll have quite a job on his hands to contain such a situation. There is no doubt that as Ferrari team principal he will face relentless and unforgiving pressure to guide the famed team to championship success which has eluded them for a decade.

It is curious however to know why Ferrari has chosen to restructure in this manner, as it isn’t a recipe followed by other front-running teams. At Mercedes it has been stability that has been one of its major strengths. As team manager Toto Wolff has James Allison, formerly of Ferrari, overseeing the technical side of the team while Christian Horner relies on Adrian Newey to keep his hand over the technical side of Red Bull. Even at Williams Claire Williams has Paddy Lowe at the helm of the technical department.

The restructuring at Ferrari signals intent from the Italian team. But equally it reveals that they are still playing catch up with the likes of Mercedes and are yet to hit on an efficient method of running a cohesive team that can execute at the highest level week in and week out. The expectation will be that this reorganizing, across several departments, is the catalyst for finally getting the team onto the front foot from day one.

January 28, 2019
Watch: Felipe Massa’s retirement message

After 15 years in Formula One Grand Prix racing, Felipe Massa has announced that he will retire from the sport at the end of the 2016 season. Mobil 1 The Grid spoke to the Brazilian as he reflects on an illustrious career in F1 which saw him win 11 races with Scuderia Ferrari after making his debut with Sauber, and which will end with Williams Martini Racing.

September 5, 2016
Veteran F1 designer Rory Byrne back at Ferrari

The legendary F1 designer Rory Byrne, who is one of the major figureheads in Ferrari’s Formula One dominance during the early 2000s has returned to the Scuderia to work closely with, and as a mentor to, Ferrari’s chief designer Simone Resta.

Byrne worked as the design chief for Ferrari at the start of the 2000s and, together with Ross Brawn, Michael Schumacher and Jean Todt, helped the Scuderia win six constructors’ and five drivers’ titles in only six years.

2014 was the Ferrari’s first winless season since 1993 and triggered a massive uphill climb along with loads of changes and shuffling around within the team and its management.

The team faced no less than three team principal changes during the course of the year as well as the departures of high-profile staff members like Nick Fry, and then president Luca di Montezemolo.

In November 2014, Maurizio Arrivabene took over from Marco Mattiacci as team principal and confirmed during the second Barcelona test that the semi-retired Byrne is back at the team.

“I have to tell you something funny,” Arrivavene told the media at the test in Barcelona. “I spoke with Rory, I’ve known him for a long time. I asked him ‘are you keen to work together with us, with your success, in the future to be a bit more involved?’ Without taking anything away from Simone Resta, who is our chief designer.

“And you know, I saw in Rory a kind of light. It’s unbelievable, a guy like this of his age, and he’s still enthusiastic like a baby. I was really surprised. One night near to Christmas I went to a restaurant and I found Rory, who was eating very, very quickly, and I said ‘Rory, calm down, where do you have to run!?’ He had to run immediately back to the factory for a meeting with Resta.”

Arrivabene explained that Byrne will be working with Simone Resta as a mentor due to his extensive experience and will be working on some tricky details of the new car. He went on to explain that Byrne’s experience of winning was something invaluable to Ferrari, who have not won a title since 2008.

“Rory is working with Simone, he’s giving to Simone as a mentor because of his experience and he’s working on some detail of the car. Most people might think Rory is part of history, I don’t think so. We are talking about the chief designer guru all the time but Rory isn’t one of the guys who didn’t win, he’s one of the guys who won a lot.

“Having a father or mentor for Simone is not a bad thing especially not when his enthusiasm is going up to the sky. I was talking to James [Allison] about it and he said ‘why not?’. Rory has my utmost respect, especially for that night I saw him eating with the light inside his eyes.”

February 23, 2015
Marussia statement asks for patience on Jules Bianchi updates

The Marussia F1 Team has asked Formula One fans and members of the media for patience regarding updates on the condition of Jules Bianchi, who sustained severe head injuries at Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix.

Bianchi crashed into a recovery vehicle which had been deployed to recover the Sauber of Adrian Sutil who had crashed in the same spot just minutes earlier. Bianchi was taken to Mie General Hospital where emergency surgery was performed for a ‘severe head injury’.

The Marussia F1 Team released the first official statement since the FIA’s last communication on Sunday evening which confirmed that Bianchi had undergone the operation and had been moved to intensive care.

The following is the full statement from the Marussia F1 Team:

“Following the accident involving Jules Bianchi during yesterday’s 2014 Formula One Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka Circuit, the Marussia F1 Team would like to acknowledge the huge outpouring of support and affection for Jules and the team at this very difficult time,” read a statement from the squad.

“With regard to the communication of information concerning Jules’ medical condition, we will respect, and be guided by, the wishes of the Bianchi family. Together with Jules’ care, they will remain our highest priority.

“Therefore, we would ask for patience and understanding with regard to further medical updates, which will be communicated in conjunction with the Mie General Medical Center in Yokkaichi, where Jules is being treated, when they feel it is appropriate.

“Representatives of the Marussia F1 Team and Scuderia Ferrari will remain at the hospital to support Jules and the Bianchi family.”

The F1 Madness team continues to keep Jules Bianchi, his family, friends and colleagues in our thoughts and prayers during this critical time. #ForzaJules

October 6, 2014
Marussia F1 Announce New Engine Deal With Scuderia Ferrari

The Marussia F1 team announced their new engine partnership with Scuderia Ferrari on Tuesday.

The deal will see the Marussia team running the 1.6l turbo charged engines from Ferrari for the 2014 Formula 1 season. The deal also includes, together with the engine, the gearbox, the Energy Recovery System (ERS) and all other additional components.

The full statement from the CEO of the Marussia F1 team, Andy Webb, is included below:

“The Marussia F1 Team is delighted to be entering into a technical partnership with Scuderia Ferrari for the supply of a full powertrain from 2014. The importance of this development to our Team cannot be overstated. Not only will we benefit from a customer supply from the most successful engine manufacturer in Formula One’s history, but this also provides further confirmation, if it were needed, of our commitment to the sport and determination to maintain our progression towards our long-term ambitions. The new powertrain regulations being introduced next year represent the most substantial engine development within the sport since the introduction of the V8 formula and are all the more significant for the increased contribution of the Energy Recovery System. We look forward to working with Scuderia Ferrari during this exciting new era of Formula One competition. We would also like to take this opportunity to thank Cosworth, with whom we have partnered since our debut season in 2010. We have shared an important part of our Team’s journey together and Cosworth have been an integral part of our clear progression. We will continue to work together during the latter half of the season to ensure we all achieve our combined objectives before Cosworth leave the sport.”

July 16, 2013