Three races have been raced, Mercedes are leading, Ferrari are 57 points behind them in second place. But after an incredible winter testing for Ferrari, even their rival team Mercedes wouldn't believe this to be the case... So what has happened to Ferrari?
Ferrari are a force to be reckoned with, but in the past few years they have failed to secure either constructors or driver's championship. It was over ten years ago when Ferrari were dominating: 2007 saw Kimi Raikkonen crowned Ferrari World Champion whilst, the following year Ferrari secured the constructors championship. But that was all a decade ago... So what went wrong? Many factors have played a part, but this year seemingly the most prominent is strategy.
Strategy is an essential part in racing, but recently it has shown to be Ferrari's Achilles heel. The last few races have shown Ferrari to favour Sebastian Vettel, four time world champion, over newbie, Charles Leclerc which may be seen as understandable seeing as the German has proven himself since joining the red team in 2015. However, when team orders allow for valuable points to be gifted to rival teams, should Ferrari bite the bullet and think about the end goal? Or do they risk it all to keep one man happy?
Mercedes are one team who have implemented team orders in previous years; Russia last year is a clear example in which Valtteri Bottas, the race leader, was told to move over to protect Lewis Hamilton who was in the championship fight. But there is the clear difference, neither Vettel nor Leclerc have the prominent point lead over one another to state that they are the championship leader. Therefore starting team orders in such early stages of the season may open up a can of worms that Mattia Binotto may want to shut quite quickly.
The previous races have shown the fastest car to be released in front, but when this call begins to be claimed throughout the races from either driver, what should the team do? China is a prime example, Leclerc let Vettel through which quite clearly compromised the Monegasques' race to see him finishing fifth rather than fourth...
Will Ferrari continue throwing away points? Or has the tide turned?
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