F1, Ferrari: why Maranello team has to avoid irrational ambitions to fuel long-term certainties

Scuderia Ferrari’s hard work in the last few months is reward with a splendid one-two finish in the third round of the 2024 Formula 1 season, at the 5.278-kilometre Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne. The performance in the Australian weekend comes in a technical context of absolute domination by Red Bull. At the end of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix two weeks ago, even the incurable optimists would not have leaned towards such a result in Melbourne, overall superior to the one secured two years ago in the British Grand Prix at the Silverstone circuit, when Carlos Sainz was experiencing his worst period of tenure at Ferrari.

Last Sunday, the Prancing Horse’s single-seater, in addition to confirming itself as the absolute second force in this start of the 2024 Formula 1 championship, showed that under certain circumstances it can fight with the world champions from Milton Keynes. Of course, Max Verstappen’s early retirement due to problems with the right rear brake did not give the specific weight to the remarkable achievement of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc. Objectively, Sergio Perez too often has been an unreliable reference regarding the potential of the Austrian single-seaters.

The feeling is that probably even with Max Verstappen on track, the SF-24 had the credentials to beat the Austrian powerhouse. Credit goes to a layout suitable for the characteristics of the 676 project and from an excellent management of tire degradation which was clear ever since the first free practice session at the Albert Park circuit. Carlos Sainz took the Maranello team on his shoulders last weekend and, despite not being in perfect physical condition, was impeccable both in the qualifying session and in the race on Sunday.

We are talking about a driver still without a contract for the coming Formula 1 seasons who is expressing the best of himself, probably because he is mentally free and consequently must showcase his abilities in order to continue his high-level professional journey in Formula 1. Charles Leclerc completed the one-two finish on a memorable Sunday for the Maranello team in Melbourne, but on an individual level he will certainly regret paying a high price for a qualifying performance not up to his potential, a result which forced him to follow strategic plans that allowed him to overtake the McLaren cars, but at the same time meant he lost the opportunity to fight for the race victory.

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Especially in the most troubled phases in the history of the Scuderia, victories have fueled excessive expectations. Last year’s success at the Marina Bay Street Circuit in Singapore came at the end of a Formula 1 season dominated far and wide by Red Bull. The result clearly did not have the power to create any vain illusions at that moment. Now the general public, reading the drivers and constructors’ standings, might think that the Maranello team is in a position of technical parity with the Austrian team. Numbers are always important to understand the dynamics of a sport, even if under certain circumstances, last weekend being one of them, they can be misleading.

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The Max Verstappen / Red Bull duo remains the benchmark of Formula 1 and will continue to be so at least for the near future. By a strange twist of fate, just like last year, after the first victory of a Ferrari, the series will make a stop in Japan at the splendid Suzuka International Racing Course. A few months ago, the reigning world champion team, after the poor performance in Singapore, hit back with rage and taught a humiliating lesson to the competition, this despite having frozen the development of the Red Bull RB19 car for a long time, asserting their clear superiority on the splendid Japanese race track.

At this particular moment of the 2024 Formula 1 season, Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur will have to play the novel role of a firefighter, to try to extinguish a justified enthusiasm which, considering the values on the field, could still turn out to be a highly harmful boomerang. That historical bipolar tendency capable of shifting in the blink of an eye from euphoria to depression. Logic suggests that there will still be bitter defeats for the Scuderia in this competitive campaign, but it’s possible to start working on numerous certainties.

F1: The Certainties on Which to Fuel Scuderia Ferrari’s Ambitions

After a one-two finish, it might seem trivial, but in terms of standings, the Ferrari driver pair is currently the best on the field. A factor not to be taken for granted as Carlos Sainz is in his last season in red before handing over the seat to seven-time Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton. The motivation of the Spanish driver, as well as his self-esteem having to race with this burden on his shoulder, could obviously be questioned. Instead, the son of the two-time World Rally Champion is behaving impeccably. Hats off to Carlos!

As a smart guy, he understood that only by showing the best version of himself could he aspire to a steering wheel of a top team at the end of the experience with the Italian side. Charles Leclerc is the certainty of the present and future of the Prancing Horse. The indefinite extension of his contract is tangible proof of that. Finally, an encouraging observation regarding the SF-24 car, a project on which it will finally be possible to work in an evolutionary rather than corrective manner: the 676 project has a healthy basis design and allows drivers to be more aggressive thanks to predictable behavior.

To conclude with, it’s worth pointing out another aspect: the external feeling is that of a team reactive in the area of track operations. The strategies as well as the pit stops have been impeccable so far and not a lot of people have highlighted. In short, it seems like the days when Carlos Sainz, addressing towards the Ferrari pit wall, cursed the two words “stop inventing” for their poor suggestion in Silverstone are far behind.

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