The statistics that highlight Ferrari SF1000’s poor reliability. Breakdown of 2020 F1 statistics.

Here is a curious ranking that highlights data that is not at all obvious: if it was obvious to think that Mercedes was the team that covered the most km (10,241 km) in the last championship, no one could imagine that Alfa Romeo would emerge behind the black arrows. The C39 proved surprisingly reliable even if not very fast. Ferrari was only eighth in this special ranking: the SF1000 was not only slow.

Sometimes watching the… numbers can be used to frame certain situations that are not at all obvious. That Mercedes, among the countless records it has signed in the 2020 season, can also take into account having been the team that covered the greatest distance during the 17 GPs which made up last year’s calendar. Lewis Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas and George Russell covered 10,241km.

And so far we are not finding anything strange since the W11 in addition to being very competitive had also proved to be particularly reliable, but it is certainly interesting to look at who has finished behind the black arrows last year: who expected to find Red Bull is wrong because the Milton Keynes team finished only seventh in this special ranking.

If Alexander Albon is third among the drivers behind Lando Norris and Kimi Raikkonen, only 17th place is recorded by Max Verstappen who, with 4,158 km, covered only 79.49% of the distance, while his Anglo-Thai teammate which was replaced at the end of the year had managed to overcome the 5,000 km wall with 95.85% of the distance covered.

It is surprising, therefore, that the place of honor behind the Mercedes is the prerogative of Alfa Romeo: the team from Hinwil follows the Mercedes with 9,513 km, ahead of McLaren and Renault, respectively third and fifth in the Constructors’ championship, while the Maranello team did not go beyond a disappointing eighth place finish, ahead of Haas and Williams.

The table that we publish below becomes an example to explain some situations: the C39 appeared to be a very reliable car, but just as low in performance (penalized in particular by a “deflated” Ferrari power unit in terms of power).

Kimi Raikkonen arrived just 17 km from Lando Norris who put together 5,119 (equal to 97.86%). The Finn, on the other hand, is the driver who has come the longest in the history of F1’s 70 years with 87,341 km and precedes Fernando Alonso who plans to continue his tally which has reached 83,846 km with the return to the Alpine Renault.

The two accidents in which Antonio Giovinazzi was involved in Spa-Francorchamps and Mugello weigh on the balance of the team from Hinwil (the Italian is 11th in the ranking with 4,411 km equal to 84.32%).

Our analysis cannot fail to take into account Ferrari’s eighth place: the SF1000 was a disappointment from all points of view. Poor performance, and unfortunately everyone had understood this, but it also proved to be unreliable with moments that should not happen to a top team.

Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel put together only 8,941 km: Ferrari, together with Racing Point and Haas, was the only team not to have broken through the 9,000 kilometer barrier. A bad sign that unequivocally explains the disastrous season of the Italian side.

The table also explains why Racing Point, with a single-seater copy of the Mercedes W10, failed to hit third place in the team ranking: the controversial RP20 collected only 8,869 km with Lance Stroll who is only in 20th place among the drivers with 3,931 km, while Sergio Perez is 14th with 4,322 km. Both drivers had to miss two GPs due to Covid and, in fact, Nico Hulkenberg has added 611 km in his four “token” appearances.