It almost sounds like a bankruptcy declaration: Ferrari points out in his press release after Japan’s Grand Prix that Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton scored their best season result with 18 points. It was not mentioned that McLaren, Red Bull and Mercedes before the fourth Grand Prix of the season in Bahrain in Bahrain (5 p.m. CEST in F.A.Z.-LiveTicker for Formula 1 and at Sky). Auto.Ferrari relies on the team with the greatest experience. Leclerc and Hamilton together have 509 Grand Prix starts in their vita. The SCUDERIA, WM second of 2024, went as a secret favorite this year after the strong second half of the season and the spectacular commitment of record winner Hamilton. In addition, it seemed as if the engineers had understood this so delicate generation of vehicle: the car not only makes more downforce faster, but often leads to braking side effects. Despite the knowledge, the problems remained. The Ferrari SF-25 is only the fourth force. It is more and more difficult to find the location of Schöndenda’s races in Suzuka offered a rather precise proof of performance how good the cars are in the field. Because of the unusually low tire wear, the drivers were able to drive over the entire racing distance at the limit. After 53 laps, Leclerc was missing for 16 seconds to winners. That is 0.33 seconds per round. Team boss Frédéric Vasseur prefers to speak of “two to three tenths” because it is easier to blame more certain circumstances. The Frenchman currently has enough to do with protecting powder barrel in Maranello from exploding. The strategy errors at the start of the season in Melbourne, the double disqualification in Shanghai, now the significant loss of time in Suzuka: it is becoming increasingly difficult to talk the situation. Vasseur still tries it: “Last year we lacked six tenths at the same time. We still thrown the rudder around.” Leclerc also repeats perseverance every weekend. The potential in the car is available, you just have to study the data carefully, then the answers could already be found. Everyone pulls together, prays the Monegasse, work incredibly hard, and in the end you come back more. Hamilton also exudes optimism of purpose: “If everything fits, we drive into the top three.” The 40 -year -old Englishman also takes on himself. Despite all his experience, he is far from being on you and you: “I experience a lot for the first time: in Melbourne my first rain race with Ferrari. In Shanghai my first real racing distance.” This results in errors. “I developed the car in the wrong direction after my sprint in China. At the moment I am not able to give the engineers a lot of help at the setup. I am in the phase in which I write down everything that is new to me.” The victory of Hamilton when sprinting in Shanghai appears as Ferrari’s only hopeful shimmer. Leclerc does not want to overestimate the result: “Lewis has set the car optimally, and all others were not yet properly woken up. With the bonus of the tour, he made the car look better than it is. That was his personal victory. Later, when everyone could correct their votes, we fell back to normal. Vasseur does not determine: “There is no miracle cure with which the gap can be evaporated at once. Ten points have to go together. That will happen step by step.” The presumptions circulate that the new Ferrari cannot be driven in the “window” by being fast, otherwise he threatened the disqualification. There is more indications for this. Ferrari had to raise ground clearance before qualifying to be on the safe side before qualification. Suddenly the lap time increased massively. The team took too much risk in Shanghai. After 56 rounds, the fastening screws of the protective scale in the rear were sanded too much by 0.5 millimeters. In Suzuka, Hamilton mentioned that the vehicle height was too limited. His team boss gives way: “Everyone wants to drive as deep as possible,” says Vasseur, “because this is faster with these cars.” If the dependence on ground clearance is so big, it will be difficult to find a solution. That would mean interventions in the concept. In a season, no one can afford it in a season before the greatest standard reform in history.
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