the 2022 season, that of the regulatory changes so that the races were more uniformstarted with a domain of ferrari which has thrilled even the most aseptic fans. It wasn’t until May 22, two months and two days after the first race, that the reigning two-time champion Max Verstappen took the lead that finally sealed the title at Suzuka a month ago.
Until that Spanish Grand Prix, Ferrari seemed destined to do so break the 15-year drought without titles. But he didn’t make it and, with two races in a World Championship already defined, the year can end even worse: Losing second place among the Constructors for an incredible comeback from Mercedesfrom which it separates only 40 points with two Grands Prix and a Sprint Race (this Saturday in Brazil) dispute.
“It is very clear what our internal goal is. We are here to finish second in the championshipand every race where we can close the points gap is a success, “he said. Giacomo Votesthe engineer of a German team who has not yet won in 2022 but who has been on the podium in 13 out of 20 races, with the exception of Saudi Arabia (date 2), Imola (4), Miami (5), Monaco (7), Belgium (14), Singapore (17) and Japan (18) ).
In the last race, the Mexican GP, Lewis Hamilton (2nd) and George Russell (4th) finished ahead of Carlos Sainz (5th) and Charles Leclerc (6th) – down to third place in the Drivers’ Championship -, then Mercedes cut 13 points the distance to get closer to that second place.
“There are still 40 to go for two races. Thankfully, one of those (Brazil) is a Sprint race. 40 points is a tremendous challenge. It will be necessary for us to do everything perfectly, everything well, and perhaps Ferrari will give us the opportunity to open the door to finish second.. What I can say is that we will not give up until the checkered flag in Abu Dhabi, “added Vowles.
Mercedes already knows what was wrong: the floor and the height of the car
If you could go back in time to last year, maybe Mercedes wouldn’t be lost. his incredible streak of eight consecutive constructors’ titles. But it is useless to think about why Red Bull He has already won that trophy two dates before the end of the championship.
However, toto wolff he reflected on it and shared his analysis in an interview with Sky Sports: “We thought we could run on the ground, but we can’t!” “I think now we understand better where we went wrong with the car. We can almost go back to a decision made in October last year“, advance.
Andrea Shovlinthe team’s technical manager explained: “I guess (Toto Wolff) was referring to the fact that we did a lot of experiments and tried things over the race weekends to learn and refine our development direction for the future.”
“We are returning to the beginning of the season, when the car was not turning a wheel. If we went back 12 months, we would be much wiser and better informed about the type of car we want to develop.and I think it was referring to the fact that learning helped us to clarify and understand what we should have done a year ago, ”Shovlin said.
In the last few races we saw another Mercedes, a faster one. The rebound that Hamilton seemed unable to cope with at the start of the season is no longer evident and that has improved the car’s performance. Just when Ferrari has made more mistakes.
Ferrari’s “suicide” in Brazil 2019
This year Ferrari suffered the pressure of the title fight, even though both Verstappen and Red Bull had taken a distance from Leclerc and the Italian team that was impossible to close.
However, the appointments in Brazil and Abu Dhabi, over the next two weekends, do not present themselves as minor challenges for the squadthat Mercedes has with his breath on his neck and can’t go wrongeven less with the fresh memory of what happened on this stage in 2019.
Three years ago Ferrari arrived at Interlagos with two riders facing each other: Sebastian Vettelwho came from second place in the previous season, and Charles Leclerc, who was then only 22 years old and had the ambition to be the number 1 driver in a team that had never defined him and, on the contrary, allowed the two to fight. In the end, that wrestling was his “suicide” in that Brazilian GP.
What happened? The Monegasque had started 14th and was in full swing when Valtteri Bottas broke the engine causing the safety car which Leclerc took full advantage of. He stopped in the pits and changed the tires with new soft ones to stay behind Vettel and Alex Albon, who had stopped a few laps earlier.
In the relaunch, then, the 22-year-old overtook Vettel inside Turn 1 to get a fourth place that could become a podium, because Hamilton was second on heavily used medium tires.
The German didn’t back down, he attacked in the second DRS zone and, on the straight before braking to tackle Turn 4, he shifted his Ferrari slightly to the left and overtook him. but touching Leclerc’s right front wheel with his left rear wheel, he exploded.
The shock caused the abandonment of both on lap 66which proved to be the first pointless race for Ferrari since the 2017 Singapore GP.
The anger soon became evident in the radio communications of both of them with their engineers. “What the hell happened!”shouted the Monegasque. “Prick, what the fuck is he doing!”questioned the four-time world champion ma responsible for an accident which generated the repudiation of Mattia Binotto’s strategy of not defining leadership in Ferrari.
Under the cars and in front of the press microphones, the pilots gave what to talk about a relationship that was faltering and that in Brazil broke completely.
“I’m not angry, but I’m disappointed for the team because both cars are out. I can’t get anything positive. I made a clear overtake on Turn 1 and I knew he would come and get me. He tried to shut me up a bit and we touched, ”Leclerc said.
“They’ve already seen it,” Vettel held him responsible. And he added: “What matters is that neither of us finished the race and this is bad for the team.”
His partner, on the other hand, tried to reconstruct the situation between the two, at least outside the doors: “This will not compromise our relationship, we are both mature and must continue for the team. The fans are part of the team and support us. I think I put on a good show starting from 14th place, but I would have liked to give them something more. “
As soon as that Brazilian GP finished, Binotto said: “I don’t want to say who was the culprit now. We have to analyze video and data and I don’t want to do it hot. We will solve it internally. It’s very disappointing for the team, but it happened again. The pilots are free to fight and a little touch had a huge consequence. I am disappointed”.
But it wasn’t the first scandal of the season; just the opposite. In Singapore, the Monegasque had complained about the strategy of getting the German to stop first so that Ferrari get the 1-2 at the cost of his victory. The following Sunday, in Sochi, the younger of the two was again injured when – by order of the team – he gave up the position to Vettel to prevent Hamilton from overtaking but the German never returned it.
In spite of everything, there was no sanction, even if there was a resolution foreseen. While Vettel fulfilled his contract until the end of the 2020 season and left for Aston Martin, Leclerc became the obvious leader of a team that let go of a four-time champion to add another youngster like Carlos Sainz.
Source: Clarin
