Take your mind all the way back to March; pre-season testing has just concluded in Catalunya and the only thing that the entire motorsports community seem to be interested to speak about is Ferrari. For the last few years, the Scuderia have played second fiddle to the dominant Mercedes team and for the first time in five years, you can see any team other than Mercedes heading into the season as favourites! Amazing times, right? The buzz and optimism surrounding Scuderia Ferrari during the lead up to Melbourne was palpable and finally, after years of despair, the Tifosi headed into the new season with hope, hope of toppling the German geniuses at Mercedes to add yet another championship to their tally.
It has been quite the trainwreck since then hasn’t it?
From being just not quick enough to making absurd strategy calls with poor reliability in the middle, Ferrari mastered the art of finding a plethora of reasons for not winning the race. Not so long ago, there was a running joke that regardless of the circumstances, Ferrari would battle the odds and find a way to choke. Try speaking to any Ferrari fan about this, the results won’t be pretty.
The 2019 season hasn’t been very kind to Scuderia Ferrari
Keeping all their promise from pre-season aside, you have got to admit that Ferrari haven’t performed to the level of the expectations pinned upon them. Indeed, expectations can be cruel but you do anticipate better results if you spend the most money on development among all the teams. That said, while most Ferrari fans figured out that lowering the expectations and considering Red Bull’s Max Verstappen as their chief rival would bring about a sense of joy more often, there was always a feeling that Ferrari would win somewhere down the line this season. From the technical side of things, all roads to success pointed towards Spa and Monza.
The reasons behind the recent success
Ferrari’s aerodynamic profiling is quite interesting; at the start of the season Ferrari were confident of a fairly balanced package but as time rolled on, everyone discovered that while they had managed to cut down on drag, they weren’t able to fill up their pockets with downforce.
This, clubbed with the gigantic power advantage of the updated Ferrari power unit made Ferrari the definitive favourites for the first two races after the arduous summer break and finally, the mysterious Prancing Horse has delivered when it mattered.
Ferrari have won two races out of two since the end of the summer break
While a certain Sebastian Vettel may be facing a long climb up the mountain to reach his peak performance, the Tifosi have found a new hero in Charles Leclerc as the amicable Monegasque became the Ferrari driver to win at Monza since Fernando Alonso won nearly a decade ago. Once again, you can see the smiles back at Ferrari. The vibrate vibe full of passion that Ferrari are synonymous with has started to return and you can feel the confidence within the zealous Tifosi and everyone within the team (bar a four-time Formula One World Champion). It feels almost as if Ferrari has been reborn into a more focused and determined team – Ferrari 2.0 perhaps.
This is where the going gets rough
Although everything seems to be fairly rosey at the moment, beware, for the latter part of the season is bound to bring along a new, harder set of challenges for Scuderia Ferrari. Vettel’s evident struggles are alarming, but they are not the biggest problem that Mattia Binotto has to deal with on track. Mercedes have a reputation of dominating the development war; while the championship may be out of reach, Ferrari would want to accumulate a few more race wins. In their way would be an ever-improving Mercedes W09, with new updates coming in almost every weekend. A tough few races await them.
The next few races appear to be challenging for Scuderia Ferrari. Do they have what it takes to get a few more race wins?
As if that isn’t enough of a problem, none of the circuits left in the 2019 calendar bar COTA and Abu Dhabhi seem to suit the moody nature of the SF90. The next race, Singapore, could be quite a scrap for them. Moreover, Alex Albon has shown promise in his first couple of races with Red Bull. Could it be two Red Bulls now fighting with Ferrari instead of the solitary one of Verstappen?
Whether Scuderia Ferrari will be able to keep hold of their newfound confidence will be quite an interesting thing to see. Realistically, you can’t help but admit that the championship aspirations have faded away into obscurity. However, a couple of race wins towards the end of the season will be a good momentum booster heading into what promises to be a challenging winter break. If there is one thing that’s for sure, its that Ferrari won’t be having it as easy as they did in Spa or Monza. The Prancing Horse is in for a proper slog and it will take some effort for them to end the season on a relative high.
None of the media used in this article belongs to me. Credits to the rightful owners.
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