Scuderia Ferrari was heading to a one-two finish at the Red Bull Ring in Austria last Sunday, until a power unit failure for Carlos Sainz meant the Spanish driver had to retire, losing 18 points in the process. The only somewhat positive aspect of the unfortunate outcome in Austria is that a difficult decision becomes easier to make for the Maranello team in the second half of the 2022 Formula 1 season.
After Carlos Sainz’s DNF in Spielberg, missing out on what could have been an easy second place finish given how much faster he was running in the final stages of the race as compared to Max Verstappen, several pundits feel the retirement may in fact be the line in the sand for Carlos Sainz’s title hopes in the 2022 Formula 1 championship.
The Spanish driver was just 11 11 points behind his Maranello team-mate Charles Leclerc ahead of last weekend’s race in Austria thanks to the victory at the Silverstone circuit, but due to the engine issue at the Red Bull Ring he is now 36 points adrift of the Monegasque driver and 74 behind championship leader Max Verstappen.
As we have reached the halfway point of the 2022 Formula 1 campaign, the engine failure may determine Ferrari to finally begin imposing team orders in the second part of the championship in order to maximise Charles Leclerc’s chances of recovering the gap to Max Verstappen in the standings, after Ferrari preferred a ‘let them race’ policy until now.
In an interview for the BBC Chequered Flag podcast, British racing driver who races for Jenner Racing in the W Series, Jamie Chadwick, joined BBC journalist Andrew Benson and host Jack Nicholls, as they talked about Ferrari’s race last weekend:
“One of the most striking things for me after Sainz’s retirement was Mattia Binotto on the pit wall – the camera showed him with his head in his hands,” Jack Nicholls said when asked about the Ferrari team principal’s reaction to the techincal issue – “He’s got black curly hair and his fingernails were scraping through it in that frustrated manner. And when he lifted his head up again, the colour was indistinguishable from his T-shirt, like it was really a pained situation for Binotto. Because not only has this happened and cost them second place and a 1-2, this will hurt Sainz further down the road. Leclerc has already had to take an engine penalty, surely this will affect Sainz on that front too.” – he added.
Given the fact that Charles Leclerc already had to take a power unit penalty in Canada due to Ferrari’s reliability problems on the engine side so far in 2022, Andrew Benson explained Carlos Sainz will also have to deal with a similar situation soon:
“So we are now at the halfway point of the season and he’s certainly got one engine penalty looming pretty soon. It looks like both he and Leclerc will have another engine penalty beyond that, given their engine usage at the moment. I’ve not heard Ferrari have a fix for this problem yet – they are managing their engines. So I think Sainz could even have an engine penalty at the next race in France. That’s a real blow for his title hopes, which he thought he was in with a shot at after winning at Silverstone.” – he continued.
Given the situation, BBC journalist Andrew Benson thinks the moment could prove to be a catalyst in how the title duel continues in the second part of the championship: “But actually, paradoxically, in terms of the championship, it actually gives them a clearer picture from now on at the halfway point in the season. Leclerc now has quite a decisive advantage over Sainz. It might make their life a bit easier in terms of making Leclerc their definitive number one.”
Jamie Chadwick feels that while Scuderia Ferrari could make such a decision, the Spanish driver may not be ready to accept it easily.
“Maybe from a team point of view but from Carlos’ point of view, it will probably have the opposite effect. He will be even more frustrated by the situation and even more out for himself. Especially off the back of that win at Silverstone, which I think he would have felt was overdue. He will be very frustrated. He wants to prove he isn’t number two to Leclerc because in his mind, he isn’t. But of course the facts and race results and qualifying results and what-have-you show he has been second fiddle in pace, generally speaking. But if you try to tell him that, he won’t take it for a second.” – he explained.
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Andrew Benson’s reply was that taking into consideration the two power unit failures which made Charles Leclerc lose 50 points for what could have been two victories in Baku and Spain, as well as the Monegasque’s consistent pace and performance, Carlos Sainz should understand the situation:
“Leclerc has been definitively faster than him pretty much all year. So Sainz couldn’t really have too many complaints, given the championship picture, if Ferrari turned around and said ‘Carlos, we really have to do that now’. I’m not sure they will because Binotto has been so definitive in his position about saying the drivers can race each other and as long as they maximise their points, they are not each other’s competition. But that philosophy only works if you are actually beating Red Bull. But if you’re facing a rival as imposing as Red Bull and Verstappen, I think they really have to start maybe thinking about whether they have to make that decision now.” – he concluded.
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