The team that Ferrari fears the most is…Ferrari. Whether its team strategy or reliability, Ferrari has consistently found a way to give away wins this year. Charles Leclerc was leading the race by four seconds when he mysteriously went off the track during lap 18. Right before his spinout into the barrier he complained about the throttle. Apparently, Ferrari failed to identify and fix the issue from last week. Remember, Leclerc struggled with his throttle the last ten laps of the Austrian Grand Prix. Regardless, Leclerc took the blame and said it was his mistake while failing to specifically state what his mistake was. It is obvious that Ferrari does not want him to share that a mechanical issue caused this spinout. The commentators lauding Leclerc’s supposed honesty is misplaced. They should be discussing what a great team player he is.
Red Bull capitalizing on Ferrari mistakes is becoming the theme of the season. Whenever Ferrari has found a way to lose, either Max Verstappen or Sergio Perez is there to take the win. That is not to say Red Bull cannot win on their own because at times they have definitely had the race pace of the day. However, if Ferrari would have avoided so many DNF’s the first half of this season, they would be leading the constructor’s championship.
Ferrari threw away a podium today by ordering Carlos Sainz to box during lap 43. In fact, Ferrari’s incompetence was shown when they ordered him to box during lap 41 when he was in the middle of overtaking Sergio Perez. Sainz was on the money today. He started 19th due to an engine penalty and worked his way up to third place. His concentration was epic. He was able to drive past Russell on a difficult corner while telling Ferrari no to their orders to box. Sadly, his team brought him in thinking the wear on his tires would not last. He also served a 5 second time penalty in the pit lane. To me, it appeared that he had enough tires for 10 laps and that he could have continued to earn seconds towards the end. I might have gambled and pushed for it. It’s hard to tell if the strategy executed was the better one. Maybe he would have finished 4th anyway on a riskier strategy.
The two biggest winners today were Red Bull and Mercedes. Verstappen continued to extend his lead on Leclerc while Perez finished fourth helping the overall team in the Constructors Championship. Lewis Hamilton finished second for the first time this year followed by his teammate George Russell in third. Mercedes had its first double podium finish of the year.
There is one more race before the summer break. Ferrari must scramble to catch Red Bull. The good news is that Ferrari has the better car. If they can get their strategy and reliability in line, then they can overtake Red Bull for the Championship towards the end of the season.
