Scuderia Ferrari and Mclaren Racing. Two names, one guarantee: rivalry. In the past, they challenged each other to get first place. Now they are battling for the last spot on the podium, but whenever these historical teams clash it’s pure ecstasy for the fans. Accustomed to seeing these two teams battle for higher positions, it’s a little hurtful seeing them in the middle of the grid. But they are both climbing the mountain to come back where they belong. Next year should be the comeback year. Hopefully.
Going back to February, at the beginning of the season, from day one both Mclaren and Ferrari have shown a very clear goal: be the best of the rest, behind Mercedes and RedBull.
Already after the first few races, it was clear that the two teams would be close all season. When we said goodbye for summer break, both teams were surprisingly on 163 points each. Then in Monza, with that memorable race from Mclaren, the papayas had the opportunity to extend the gap with the Scuderia. But from the Turkish GP on, the Italian team showed consistency collecting 81 points, reaching and overtaking the brits.
With two races to go, Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi, Ferrari is 39.5 points ahead of the team from Woking. Everything can change with a good result from the orange cars. However, McLaren boss Andreas Seidl has recently said that his team has to “face the reality” and accept that it may lose third place in the Formula 1 world championship to Ferrari.
Ferrari Resurgence
After last years disastrous season, no one expected Ferrari to be in the top half of the grid, let alone be ranked third in the constructor championship in November. The team from Maranello worked hard during the offseason to improve and maximize the well know SF1000’s car features, which resulted in a fairly competitive car. They didn’t change too many parts, but these new elements are making a huge difference.
Recently Mattia Binotto, Ferrari’s Team Principal has affirmed that during this season, the team has never touched the car. The chassis and components haven’t been improved. The only fundamental change, the reason why the Scuderia has been having a successful end of the season, is the new engine update. This makes us wonder what could have happened if they had a good engine from day one. Above all, what happened in 2019? Was that engine illegal? For now, no answer has been released.
What we do know is that this new power unit is a big step forward considering that it will be the starting point of 2022 and that has reduced the gap with Mercedes in terms of engine performance compared to last year.
Mattia Binotto has repeatedly affirmed during this year, that the teams ultimate purpose is to be ready and competitive for next season when the new regulations will enter into force. Next year the podium should be a habit. With the talent of Charles Leclerc and the charismatic spirit of Carlos Sainz, the Italian team has found new stability, one of the main reasons for this new promising and challenging chapter.