Due to a recent confluence of engine issues, strategy mistakes, and driver errors, the Maranello team and its early title leader Charles Leclerc have found themselves severely behind.
Max Verstappen was able to win yet another race as a result of Leclerc’s most recent error, spinning out of the lead during the French Grand Prix.
Due to his victory, the Dutchman now leads the drivers’ standings by 63 points, and his Red Bull team leads the constructors’ standings by 82 points.
The distance may appear large, but it is not insurmountable. According to Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto, all that remains for his team to do is aim for victory in each of the remaining races.
Binotto pondered whether the Italian team’s title prospects now depended on Red Bull faltering “I have no idea since I don’t keep score. Before this race, if you had questioned me about the distance between Red Bull and Max, I couldn’t have responded since I wasn’t looking.
“We are aiming to attend every race and obtain the best results possible, so that is our main goal. Although it didn’t occur here at Paul Ricard, I believe our attention is already on Hungary and our upcoming trip there for a 1-2.
“Every race, in my opinion, counts equally with the others. We will calculate the results at the end of the campaign, so let’s see how we did.”
Leclerc appears to be on track to win in France, and Ferrari’s vehicle has shown to be incredibly quick, according to Binotto, giving the team the impression that they may put together an impressive run.
“I believe the good package is what’s more important to view,” he said. “From here until the conclusion, there is no reason why you shouldn’t win 10 races.
“I believe that a positive perspective is the best course of action, and I enjoy maintaining my optimism. Could Max and Red Bull experience some sort of calamity? They experienced the same thing as we did. Maybe that also occurs.
“However, I’m not relying on it. I believe that we should put ourselves first and work hard.”
While Binotto is convinced that the Monegasque’s pace is such that things might change very rapidly, Leclerc was left reckoning the cost for the error that cost him the French GP.
Charles has heard me say that although things are more challenging, they are still manageable. “And if we succeed in turning it into a victory in the end, we will simply enjoy it more.
“In every race, we need to maintain our concentration. We always had a lot of promise, if I go back on the most recent races. Although the results weren’t the best in terms of championship points, there is now no reason why it cannot happen in the next ten races.
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Leclerc and Ferrari have received the necessary reset.
After Silverstone, Leclerc took a well-publicized sabbatical and traveled back to his home in Monaco to “disconnect,” while Ferrari seemed to have changed its weekend plan.
Ferrari made sure that straight-line speed and race performance were at the forefront of its set-up this weekend since it is obvious that it has realized it would not win this world championship even with the fastest one-lap pace.
Leclerc’s self-assurance following the sprint race was well-founded, and he undoubtedly understood that Ferrari could defeat Red Bull in the long run in a manner similar to how Red Bull has done so frequently in 2022, even when it didn’t start with the track position.
Can Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton defeat a struggling Ferrari in Formula 1 in 2022?
Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton are entering the summer vacation on a high after a challenging start to the 2022 Formula One season. They have cut the distance to competitors Red Bull and Ferrari.
Mercedes is moving closer to being in the ideal position to compete for race victories in 2022, and the W13 displayed further encouraging competitive indicators during the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Despite not being able to hold on for his first victory, George Russell earned his first F1 pole position, and Mercedes celebrated their second consecutive double-podium finish.
On the same strategy, Hamilton was able to catch and pass Carlos Sainz of Ferrari thanks to his outstanding racing pace. His late assault to second place was completed when he passed George Russell of the Mercedes squad.
Given the year we’ve had, and certainly to see the development we’ve begun to make, it’s a terrific feeling for us, Hamilton said following the race in Hungary.
“Last week [in France], just having the second position last week was big for us already, and now that George and I have shared the podium for two races in a straight, it’s amazing for the team in terms of points.
Given the pace the Ferraris had, it means a lot for us that we both finished ahead of them. And coming up here for me is definitely a big recovery after starting the race in seventh place.
Given the difficulties we encountered over the weekend, I believe that demonstrates our incredibly fast speed.
Only Max Verstappen, who is currently leading the championship with 133 points over the previous six races, has accrued more points than Hamilton, who is currently sixth in the drivers’ standings and only 12 points back of Russell in fourth.
In the meantime, Mercedes’ consistency and a run of strategic and mechanical Ferrari mishaps have allowed the German manufacturer to close the distance to second place to only 30 points in the constructors’ championship.
Given Mercedes’ recent advancements, there is a real possibility that they could pass Ferrari over the season’s final nine races.
When asked if there is a potential for Mercedes to surpass Ferrari for second place in the constructors’ standings, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff responded, “Second – first loser.”
“For me personally, finishing second or third in the constructors’ world championship is less important than really competing and grabbing the lead.
Rather than genuinely caring about the championship standings, we are improving the car so that we can win races on merit, defeat Ferraris and Red Bulls, and get ready for the following year.
Russell now trails Leclerc in the drivers’ title by just 20 points, while Hamilton is 32 points further back.
By the end of the season, the Mercedes drivers might finish second and third (in any order) in the championship, based on their present performance and momentum.
Sainz: Ferrari’s 2022 F1 title challenge need unreliable Red Bull.
Carlos Sainz acknowledges that if Ferrari wants to contend for the Formula 1 championship this year, it will probably require a shoddy Red Bull vehicle.
Red Bull has recently closed a sizable gap in both the Drivers’ and Constructors’ tables, putting Ferrari’s chances of winning the championship in jeopardy.
The last two grand prix have been won by Red Bull, while Ferrari has had troubled races. Charles Leclerc crashed out of the lead in France, and in Hungary, he was forced to use a subpar strategy from the front of the pack.
Red Bull experienced reliability problems at the beginning of the 2022 campaign, but these problems haven’t been as severe recently.
Sainz argues that Ferrari won’t give up on the championship until it is mathematically impossible, but he also suggested that Red Bull might be needed in order for Ferrari to succeed before the Hungary GP.
What makes Ferrari so successful in 2022?
Can Ferrari compete for the championship? Ferrari spent the previous two years in the midfield, which is one reason why it has started the 2022 season so successfully.
F1 2022: Can Mercedes win?
Mercedes hasn’t won a race yet in 2022 despite dominating F1’s turbo hybrid era since 2014 due to difficulty controlling its W13 vehicle.
It struggled for months to control the excessive porpoising that was impeding Lewis Hamilton and George Russell’s advancement, but lately saw an improvement in performance after finding a constructive development path.
The Brackley-based team acknowledges that the beginning of the year was difficult to handle, but like other difficult times it has faced and overcome, like Singapore 2015, the team finds value in these situations.
Having a totally different challenge is fun, he remarked. Early on in the year, there were undoubtedly some unpleasant moments as well as fairly difficult and demanding circumstances for the crew.
But in reality, engineers enjoy solving difficulties. Additionally, there were times when we dominated and there wasn’t much close competition, which caused it to get a little boring and predictable.
“So all these difficulties actually assist to stretch you. We are now developing at a good pace.
“And I believe the team will regain its confidence if we can work our way back to the front. But thus far this year, it has just been a matter of helping a team that was really strong but had experienced a little shock to regain its confidence. Thus, it has been a challenging yet worthwhile endeavor for us.
Shovlin agrees that the kind of turnaround the team aims to replicate is how Mercedes recovered from their Singapore setback in 2015 to win at the Marina Bay track a year later.
If you ask many of the engineers on the team, “What are your highlights? “, they will respond, “You talk about dips like Singapore. It was the task we completed after Singapore, he claimed.
“After that, returning the following year and dominating. It’s the manner in which the group came together to address some of those egregious problems.
“There are a few things that caught us off guard [this year], but I believe the team’s greatest asset is its members.
“This has been incredibly difficult. And as a result of it, we are all smarter and more experienced. I therefore believe that this won’t affect the team in the long run.
Although the club has learned from its struggles, manager Toto Wolff is fully aware of how challenging the 2022 season has been so far.
When asked if the squad had benefited in any way from the difficulties, he replied, “I’d rather not have been there.
“We were able to change it, but certain things are less important than you might believe. We lack the other items that were necessary to stop the porpoising today.
“From an engineering perspective, that was unquestionably helpful. But from a human and professional perspective, it was really challenging for all of us to deal with. Because it’s difficult if the best engineers don’t fully get why the facts don’t match reality.
When asked if the team ever got lost, he replied, “Yeah, you’re lost. It’s not the sensation of being totally lost. But how long will it take me to understand this, you wonder. because the upcoming season is important.
This year, how strong is Ferrari?
For Ferrari, the 2020 season was a complete failure. Ferrari had their lowest season in forty years in 2020, placing sixth in the constructors’ title following the well reported dispute surrounding their 2019 power unit and their subsequent interactions with the FIA to address legality concerns.