The Losail race has put Ferrari in a strong position – which should become an arithmetic certainty in Jeddah – of finishing the 2021 Formula One season in third place in the constructors’ championship. A result that until a couple of years ago would have been almost disappointing, but which instead seemed anything but obvious at the end of last year’s disastrous campaign. Ferrari has a 39.5 point margin over McLaren and it seems difficult to think that in the last two races the team from Woking – which in the last three GPs scored just four points – could recover such a gap. However, the Maranello team’s result Losail International Circuit, apart from a small gain over McLaren, certainly cannot be defined as satisfactory.
Ferrari finished the race in seventh and eighth place, clearly beaten by inferior teams such as Alpine and Aston Martin. Not only that: the Maranello team’s drivers have practically never had the opportunity to push, finding themselves dealing with extremely fragile tires. With the race of the Charles Leclerc – Carlos Sainz duo focused on fifth place in the drivers’ standings, currently occupied by Lando Norris, the interest of Ferrari for this final part of the season seem now to be over. A thought shared by Mattia Binotto himself who, as reported by Italian daily newspaper Corriere dello Sport, confirmed he is looking forward to the end of this long championship.
“What we had to learn we have learned – said the Ferrari team principal – we are no longer developing anything and inevitably we are eager to open a different chapter with a new car next season. I say this with sincerity: we can’t take it anymore. We can’t wait for this season to end”. – the Ferrari boss admitted.
The 2022 Formula 1 championship promises to be the season of truth for the Maranello team and for Mattia Binotto himself. With the advent of the new regulations, the Italian side will have to be able to fight on a constant basis for podiums and victories, Sunday after Sunday. Anything less than this could only be considered a failure.
