Spineless, ridiculous, pointless: these are some of the several unkind adjectives that have been used to describe Ferrari’s performance in the Formula One this season. The Italian carmakers had managed only four podium finishes in the first six races of the season; trailing rivals Mercedes by over 100 points in the Constructor’s Standings.
However, the Canadian Grand Prix has seemingly changed the status quo, at least in terms of making an impression. Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel finished the race first but unfortunately ended up on the second place in the podium due to a five-second penalty that was imposed on him due to an unsafe manoeuvre. The other Ferrari racer, Charles Leclerc came third. Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton ended up on the first spot, but the results clearly showed that Ferrari can still make a comeback, of sorts this season.
What went right for Ferrari in Canada?
Ferrari has been slowly challenging Mercedes over the past few years, and the Montreal circuit was one which played right to their strengths. According to Hamilton, Ferrari’s engine mode combined with their straight-line speed was so good that he was simply not able to challenge Vettel on the track. That showed during the race as well, as Vettel not only took the pole but also led for the vast majority of the race.
What do the pros say?
Defending world champion Lewis Hamilton said,” I hope this is a turning point for them and this is going to be very close from now on and we get to have a really serious battle throughout the season. That'd be fantastic."
Ferrari’s team principal, Mattia Binotto, was however not that optimistic. He was weary of predicting a comeback that might not come to fruition. He was quoted saying,” It is very difficult to judge and forecast the performance but it is a circuit which is power sensitive and rear limited so not the same as Barcelona which is front limited. It is more similar to Bahrain rather than Barcelona. We knew coming [to Canada] we could be closer to Mercedes, how close, I don't think we had any clue before coming. The car is exactly the same as we had in Spain, no upgrades from then, so let's say our weaknesses we have still on the car. It is as simple as that.”
He further added, "We need to work, try to improve as there will be other races that are not like Canada so we need to keep fighting and challenging them”.
Author’s take…
Ferrari may still be 123 points behind Mercedes, but the Scuederia finally have some momentum to chase the Silver Arrows. Given the manner in which Vettel dominated the race, won it and how he was penalized for what many pundits considered a non-punishable crime, there should be major confidence for everyone at Maranello. The season is not done and duted yet, and Ferrari needs to cash in their new-found morale and try to extract the very best out of their SF90.
