There’s no doubt that Ferrari have a pretty impressive history behind them. With 15 Drivers’ Championships and 16 Constructors’ Championships under their belt, they’ve firmly established themselves as one of the most celebrated and storied dynasties not only in Formula One but all sports. However, there’s only so much time that you can live off past successes before people begin asking questions. And the fact is that it’s been some time since Ferrari last lifted a championship — indeed, the fifteen-year anniversary of their last major victory is just around the corner. But there’s reason to be hopeful, and ongoing improvements the team is making to the vehicle mean many fans will consider using an introductory betting offer to back young Leclerc to overcome Verstappen and win his first Championship in 2023.
Not that it’ll be easy; they still face significant hurdles. But there’s a sense that things are moving in the right direction. In this blog, we’ll take a close look at what the future may bring for the world’s most iconic motorsports team.
The Immediate Future Belongs to Red Bull
But before we get onto Ferrari’s prospects, we need to talk about the elephant in the room. For all the good that Ferrari may do on the track, there’s one team that is already performing exceptionally well — and won’t be eager to give up their mantle anytime soon. Red Bull have been brutally ruthless this season, amassing a number of points that all but guarantees that Verstappen will win the Championship again. And that’s with a bunch of races still to take place. It’s mathematically possible that Leclerc can overcome Verstappen, but it would take a series of extremely unlikely events in order for that to become a reality.
This, of course, is no tragedy. Red Bull undoubtedly deserves to win the Championship this year. But their sheer domination of the season will be a bitter pill for the Ferrari team to swallow, especially since things were looking so promising in the early stages of the campaign.
2023: A Good Opportunity
The good news is that you can only win the Championship once in a single year. Red Bull have been exceptionally good, sure, but they’ll still be well behind Ferrari in the total number of championships.
And there’s every chance that Ferrari will come back stronger next year than this year, and that’s all due to one big reason: the regulations are staying more or less the same in 2023 as they were in 2022. That’s significant because it’s clear that Ferrari’s car was dangerous. There were times when it was the best car on the track, bar none. Alas, while it could perform well on its day, it couldn’t perform reliably — and if that happens, then there’s no chance of glory. The season runs for 20+ races, after all. Dominating the competition is no use if you only do so in a handful of races and fail to turn up for the others.
New Developments
Of course, Ferrari will make improvements to their car. What they have now is a very good car that requires some modifications in order for it to become a brilliant car. And happily, for Ferrari fans, those modifications are already in development.
In early September, Ferrari announced that work on their 2023 car was already at an advanced stage. The problems with the vehicle were well-known to just about everyone, and the team seem to have come up with a solution.
That’s not to say that those car improvements will instantly translate to race points. After all, the car wasn’t the only factor at play. There were some strategic errors made by the Ferrari team that will have to be undone. The good news is that teams only tend to make mistakes once, so there’s every chance that they’ve gotten all of their critical errors out of the way in a single season.
Leclerc: Coming Of Age
People have been talking about Charles Leclerc for a long time. But in the past, most of the conversations surrounding the young Monégasque driver revolved around his potential for greatness. We’re finally reaching the point when potential turns into victories.
There won’t be many people that disagree with the view that Leclerc has the same level of talent and speed as Hamilton or Verstappen. Unfortunately, up until this point, he also has something that those two famous drivers got rid of years ago: mistakes.
If Leclerc is to win a championship with Ferrari, then he needs to cut out the mistakes that have cost him some serious points this year. At 24, now is the time for him to grow into a driver that wins championships. The encouraging news for Leclerc and Ferrari is that he’s pretty much following the same trajectory as Hamilton and Verstappen, indeed, he’s more or less making the same mistakes. A championship is in his future, there’s no doubt about it, and if Ferrari can fix their car, then it could well be in 2023.
Who Stands In the Way?
However, if Leclerc is going to get his maiden Championship, then he’ll need to find a way to stop Verstappen and Hamilton. Red Bull have crushed this season, and it would be naïve to think that they’ll simply fade away next year. They’ll be favorites going into the new season. Hamilton has, of course, been way off the pace in 2022. But it’s unlikely that he’ll stay quiet going into 2023.
The End of the Schumacher Line?
In other news: one person who is unlikely to be part of Ferrari’s future is Mick Schumacher, son of Michael. Though it hasn’t yet been confirmed, rumors are circulating that Ferrari will cut ties with Schumacher at the end of this year, bringing an end to the Schumacher line at Ferrari (for now). There had been hopes that Schumacher may one day drive for Ferrari, but in the current situation, it remains unclear where the young driver will compete in Formula One for any team, let alone Ferrari.
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