Two poles certainly do not make spring. Even if it was certainly not a lucky performance for Ferrari during the last two qualifying seasons, certainly not a pole position so randomly, let alone two, it is also true that before being able to aspire to certain results in the race there is still a lot to improve. If in Monaco the Maranello team had really wasted the chance to win the race, here in Baku, we can safely say that a podium was very difficult to achieve.
At least with the car put on track Sunday it was impossible. Of course, the team decided on Saturday to focus on a lighter set-up so as to be faster in the straights and in qualifying, but focusing, for example, on a more charged wing could have brought about benefits, yes on the race pace, but it would have further reduced top speed on the straight. The Ferrari rear wing was really very short and if they decided to make such choices, it was because they considered the overall best.
The fact is that with the package available, the strategy implemented was the best that could be done. After a good start, Charles Leclerc suffered a sudden drop in performance due to overheating the Soft compounds too much. It was useless at that point to stay out one more lap. Subsequently, Charles found the opposite problem on the Hard tyres, failing to get the compounds up to temperature quickly. The lack of initial rhythm prevents him from maintaining contact with Pierre Gasly’s AlphaTauri, who managed to overtake him thanks to an excellent overcut, but then found consistency and maintaining his position against Sebastian Vettel did not seem to be a problem.
Charles Leclerc’s plans were ruined by the Safety Car: tire temperatures drop again, Vettel manages them better, so much better that at the restart he is to overtake the Ferrari and Gasly’s AT02 in a few corners. Charles Leclerc will then try to get the podium during the short final GP on Soft tires, but Pierre, albeit with some engine problems, manages to keep up with Charles and thus obtain the third position. In addition to tire management, the fact of not being able to rely on a PU at the level of competitors undoubtedly influenced the result of the Monegasque.
Similar race for Carlos Sainz Jr, further complicated by the error in Turn 8, as the Spanish driver misjudges the braking due to the problems encountered in getting the new Hard tyres up to temperature (11th lap). Episode that forces him to have to recover in the rankings from 14th position. Carlos will be able to fight back by getting past Antonio Giovinazzi and Fernando Alonso soon, to get P9 by overtaking Ricciardo and Bottas at the restart. He would eventually finish 8th taking advantage of Verstappen’s retirement and Hamilton’s mistake, but being passed by Fernando Alonso during the start of the final ultra-mini-GP.
Leave a Reply