[ad_1]
The money reign of terror is really on us. Mercedes enjoys a period of unprecedented domination in Formula 1, and it is clear that Ferrari has too many problems to compete. Red Bull could?
Verstappen and co. While the Ferraris are their worst enemy and they stumble constantly, Red Bull has at least one driver exceeding his goals. If you encounter every problem that Ferrari suffers individually, you will find that Red Bull has no problem of this type. Let's do it.
Strategy
Unless you live under the hammer, you'll know that Ferrari has made many mistakes in strategy.
Last season, they had a pretty good car to beat Mercedes, but they lost several points because of mistakes, like in Singapore where they faced Vettel too early and cost him a win and a chance to win the championship. It's the same old story this season.
They have made dubious tire decisions in almost every race, whether it is to keep Leclerc too long in Baku or put it on hard (?) Barcelona.
Red Bull, on the other hand, has more than compensated for the advent of a slower car by respecting its strategy at each race of the season.
In China, for example, Ferrari was probably quicker, but Verstappen managed to beat Leclerc after having managed to reduce the withdrawal, and was very close to catching Vettel for third place.
If they manage to beat Ferrari with a slower car, we can not imagine what they could if they had more speed.
Team Orders
Ferrari also now has many more problems regarding team orders. When Raikkonen was at Ferrari, he rarely challenged Vettel, and if he was left behind, he would have no problem to step aside.
Now, the team has a driver more than able to match Vettel. The German driver and Leclerc often claimed that the other was holding them up and Ferrari took too long to decide whether to change them or not, which means the two are losing even more time to Mercedes and Verstappen.
It is fair to say that Red Bull has no problem with pilot conflicts. While the fact that Pierre Gasly is so far from Verstappen may be prejudicial to them from the Constructors' point of view, it nevertheless gives their number one driver a chance to get his best results.
Take the last race for example; Gasly may have been languishing in P6, but while the Ferraris were standing together, Verstappen finished in P3, comfortably ahead, without a teammate to complicate matters.
Direction
Maurizio Arrivabene was sacked by Ferrari shortly before the start of the season and replaced by Mattia Binotto. Arrivabene has never been particularly popular nor successful and many hoped that Binotto would make things better. So far, this has not been the case.
The team needs clear direction and philosophy for the season, but the team's leader seems to be changing their minds about each race. Even during races, it may not be clear; in Barcelona, Vettel's engineer thought the two drivers had different strategies, while Leclerc thought they were on the same. This confusion suggests a serious lack of communication and leadership within the team.
Say what you want about Christian Horner, but he certainly does not have these problems. He has been Team Director at Red Bull since its inception in 2005 and has overseen the victories of the team's four Drivers 'Championship and four Constructors' Championships.
Certainly there have been problems (who can forget Multi-21?), But in general, the team has been productive and efficient, making the most of his car. Unlike Binotto and co, Horner and his team are also decisive. Just look when they replaced Kvyat with Verstappen in 2016 – it's fair to say that it worked quite well …
Drivers
Vettel radio post-race team: "I know I'm hurt by this delay but let's remember we're doing something we love … Grazie tutti, Forza Ferrari, Semper."#SpanishGP # Seb5 pic.twitter.com/0F592Eimlj
– Tami. (@Vetteleclerc) May 12, 2019
Forgetting strategy, team orders and any other off-road factor, the two Ferrari drivers have made their mistakes this season. Since the second half of last season, Vettel has never been better.
The German has not won a race for eight months and turns so much, as in Bahrain, that it has become a kind of joke.
As for Leclerc, he was generally impressive but nevertheless made costly mistakes, especially in Baku when he crashed in qualifying, which ruined his weekend.
Verstappen, for its part, is by far the main reason why Red Bull manages to fight Ferrari and is undoubtedly the driver of the season. As Horner himself said, he's been phenomenal since the end of last season.
Last year, he was too aggressive and made too many mistakes, but this year he is showing consistency, discipline and still has an incredible pace. He did not finish lower than his position on the grid since the Hungarian Grand Prix last season and if his car had enough speed, it would undoubtedly be a challenge for the championship.
pace
Unfortunately, it's a big one though. The main reason why the two teams can not compete with Mercedes at the moment is simply because they are too slow. Red Bull and Verstappen are undoubtedly in a better position than their Ferrari counterparts to face Mercedes, but just do not have the time to do it.
Let's hope they can make some serious progress during the season, because let's be honest, we would all have killed to see Hamilton vs Verstappen.
On the positive side, Red Bull has always been strong in Monaco, so maybe we'll have some insight …
Finley Crebolder
Follow us on twitter @ Planet_F1 and as our the Facebook page
[ad_2]
Source link