Ferrari: how 2023 season ranks in history of recent difficult starts

The 2023 Formula 1 season started a month ago but the first verdicts have already arrived and they express a clear idea of what the values are on track. Over the three races that have taken place so far, Red Bull dominated every round with Max Verstappen winning in Bahrain and Australia, while Sergio Perez triumphed in Saudi Arabia. And Scuderia Ferrari? Not even one podium finish for the Maranello team.

The RB19 single-seater, at the moment, represents aerodynamic and chassis perfection, as also demonstrated by the three pole positions scored by the Anglo-Austrian car. Behind it, Aston Martin has made almost miraculous technical progress considering where it was twelve months ago and is contending for the role of third force with Mercedes and Ferrari. Of the three, the Prancing Horse looked the least fit with the worst start to the season in 13 years.

Since the new scoring system was introduced back in 2010, the Maranello team has never had a worse start than this year’s in terms of points collected after three rounds of the championship. However, the most worrying aspect is that it is not the first time the Prancing Horse has started the season far below expectations. Let’s analyze the history of the last 13 years to get a clearer picture of the situation.

Ferrari: 2011 with zero podiums
In 2010, the year of Fernando Alonso’s arrival in Maranello alongside Felipe Massa, the season began with a one-two finish in Bahrain, with the Spanish driver taking the race win in his first event for the Italian side in red and the third place for the Brazilian in Australia. In Malaysia, the South American driver finished in the points, while the sister car was forced to retire due to an engine failure. The outcome of that weekend was marked by the exclusion of both Ferrari cars in Q1, as well as the McLarens, due to a wrong strategic choice in a rain-affected qualifying session.

In 2011 there was a situation similar to the current one, with zero podiums at the end of the first three stages of the season. Only in the fourth race did Fernando Alonso finish third, in Türkiye. In 2012, the Spanish world champion achieved an extraordinary success at the Sepang International Circuit, driving perfectly in critical track conditions throughout the race. It was more his success rather than that of the F2012, so much so that Sergio Perez’s Sauber proved to be a faster car.

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In 2013, the double world champion finished in second place in the inaugural round at the Albert Park Circuit and dominated at the Shanghai International Circuit with extraordinary tire management thanks also to the initial competitiveness of the F138. In 2014, a historic year due to the start of the turbo-hybrid era with the new power units, Scuderia Ferrari struggled considerably due to the F14 challenger and once again only in the fourth round did the two-time world champion reach the podium, with a third place finish in China.

In 2015 Sebastian Vettel replaced Fernando Alonso and, after the podium on his debut in Australia, he triumphed in Sepang beating the Mercedes. Sebastian Vettel also secured a podium in the following stage, in China, finishing third. In 2016 the German finished third again in Australia, the same position as Kimi Raikkonen for the following appointment, in Bahrain. In Shanghai he finished second behind the winner Nico Rosberg.

Ferrari: 2017-2018 two-year period with two victories
In 2017, the year started in the best possible way, with Sebastian Vettel who won in Melbourne, finished second in Shanghai and triumphed again in Sakhir. Two victories in the first three world championship appointments, with the same performance that was repeated in 2018 on the same tracks with the addition of the third place conquered by Kimi Raikkonen at the Shanghai International Circuit.

In 2019, Charles Leclerc took over from Kimi Raikkonen. In Australia, four-time Formula 1 world champion Sebastian Vettel finished fourth ahead of the Monegasque, while in Bahrain Charles Leclerc finished third, which probably would have been a first place if he hadn’t had a power unit problem while leading the race. The following stage in China was marked by the same result, scored by his teammate. In 2020, the Monegasque finished in second place in the opening stage, in Austria, in a year deeply marked by the lack of competitiveness of the SF1000.

Ferrari: 2022 and 2023 at opposite ends
In 2021, Carlos Sainz replaced Sebastian Vettel, but, although the SF21 was a clear improvement compared to its progenitor, only in the sixth round of the world championship did the Spaniard take his first podium finish in red, thanks to a P2 on the streets of Monte Carlo in the Monaco Grand Prix. In 2022, Ferrari was the protagonist of a breathtaking start: a one-two finish in Bahrain with Charles Leclerc winning ahead of his Maranello teammate Carlos Sainz, a double podium in Saudi Arabia behind Max Verstappen and a triumph by a wide margin for the Monegasque in Australia.

In 2023 the situation turned out to be completely the opposite of the brilliant start that had occurred only twelve months earlier. The 2017 Formula 2 champion was not able to see the checkered flag in Sakhir and Melbourne; the Spaniard finished fourth in the opening stage and twelfth after the penalty in the last race held.

In Saudi Arabia both SF-23s scored points, with a sixth and a seventh place definitely below expectations. The points total ahead of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix is only 26, never so low since 2010 up until now.