Describing Ferrari’s Chinese language GP as disastrous is, with out exaggeration, essentially the most applicable method to put it. A weekend that was supposed to offer solutions after the disappointing Australian GP solely partially achieved that purpose—till the Dash Race, the place there was a quick phantasm that the Melbourne debacle was merely an remoted occasion reasonably than a design flaw. The hope was that the engineers merely hadn’t but unlocked the SF-25’s full potential. That phantasm was short-lived, with Lewis Hamilton’s Dash win providing a glimmer of hope for a turnaround, nevertheless it rapidly light as Ferrari struggled as soon as once more, proving to be the fourth-best workforce on the grid, considerably slower than its direct rivals. In brief, the pace seen within the knowledge isn’t translating to the monitor, which means the engineers should analyze the gathered data and work onerous to regain misplaced floor.
A brand new low in China
The weekend ended with Ferrari ending fifth and sixth on monitor, by no means really within the combat for the rostrum after a promising begin. Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc may solely watch as their rivals pulled away. This was compounded by a double disqualification: Leclerc was excluded from the classification as a result of his automobile was 1 kg below the minimal weight restrict, whereas Hamilton’s SF-25 was disqualified as a consequence of extreme plank put on. This marked an unlucky first for Ferrari—by no means earlier than in its historical past had each automobiles been disqualified from the identical race. Hamilton’s exclusion may need some mitigating components, because it stemmed from incorrect setup decisions attributable to a lack of knowledge of the automobile and unpredictable habits, particularly relating to experience top. Nonetheless, the identical can’t be mentioned for Charles Leclerc’s disqualification. In keeping with sources near Ferrari, the difficulty with automobile quantity 16 was as a consequence of a workforce error within the weight calibration earlier than the race.
Leo Turrini speaks out
The three days in Shanghai will go down in F1 and Ferrari historical past for all of the flawed causes. The workforce has by no means hit such a low, going through a crushing disappointment far worse than even essentially the most pessimistic pre-season predictions. Journalist Leo Turrini addressed this tough second on his weblog, Profondo Rosso, brazenly discussing the deep frustration inside the workforce.
“At Ferrari, everybody—completely everybody—from prime administration to Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, together with Fred Vasseur, considers the ends in Australia and China to be disheartening. Except for the Shanghai Dash Race, the flop was obvious. And including to the distress was a double disqualification, unprecedented in Ferrari’s historical past. Interval. Stubbornly denying the plain doesn’t make one a real Ferrari fan. And even when, as all of us hope, the remainder of the season performs out in another way, this horrible begin will stay on report.”
Let different Scuderia Followers learn about us
