A winless decade, can Carlos Sainz change Ferrari’s fortunes?
Success is a word that has been missing from Scuderia Ferrari’s dictionary for more than a decade in Formula 1. 12 years have passed since the team last won the constructors’ championship & 13 years since a Ferrari driver last won the drivers’ championship.
When the competition is tight, there is a much better chance of a driver winning the drivers’ title, than the team winning the constructors’ title. The latter requires a near-perfect car for both drivers (Mercedes-AMG nailed it). The former requires exquisite strategies, fast decision making & a decent driver who can perfectly manage an average F1 car.
A quick glimpse into the post-Schumacher era, Kimi Räikkönen clinched the 2007 championship by 1 point from McLaren’s antagonistic teammates Alonso & Hamilton.
2008, Felipe Massa fans, we’re sorry to bring this back… Massa lost the title that year at the last corner of a dramatic final race in Brazil! 2009, Ferrari was nowhere to be seen as Brawn GP & Jenson Button surprisingly dominated that year’s championship. 2010, Tifosi have their hopes back up as Ferrari signs the driver who ended Schumacher’s streak, Fernando Alonso. The two-time world champion puts Ferrari back in front during the 2010 & 2012 seasons, pushing the car beyond its limit & outshining his teammate Massa. Sadly, strategic errors combined with unfortunate incidents meant Alonso had lost the 2010 & 2012 championships by 4 & 3 points respectively from Sebastian Vettel, the Red Bull star.
As the 2013 season ended with Ferrari unable to challenge Red Bull, Ferrari signs back Räikkönen for the 2014 season as Felipe Massa desired a new challenge & leaves the Italian team for Williams. After 5 seasons wearing red, Alonso had lost faith in the car & leaves; it was Ferrari's first winless season since 1993. Once again, they sign another German world champion, Vettel, in an effort to bring back the glory days. As most of us know by now, it was only just the start of the Mercedes-era! AMG proved to have a brilliant team with the perfect car.
From 2015 onwards, a series of strategic errors & driver mistakes helped Mercedes assert their domination. Something had to change within Ferrari. In September 2018, it was announced Charles Leclerc would become the first academy member to graduate to Ferrari in 2019, replacing Kimi Räikkönen for the 2019 season, and what a signing it was!
The 22 years old proved to be fast enough to challenge for the top step of the podium as he was comfortable driving the Ferrari. Despite several unfortunate events (Bahrain-Monaco-Baku-Brazil), the Tifosi finally had hope, especially after Leclerc’s 2 race wins, Monza being the famous one.
Sebastian Vettel, after 5 seasons with Ferrari (could be 6 if the 2020 season takes place), decides to leave the team after his contract negotiations with them were unsuccessful… another world champion who couldn’t achieve his dream of winning the title wearing red.
Photo: Planet F1
For the 2021 season, Ferrari is throwing everything they’ve got, as Carlos Sainz Jr. will be joining Charles Leclerc, supposedly as the #2 driver. The two sides agreed to a two year contract (2021/2022), thus making the Leclerc-Sainz pairing Ferrari’s youngest in Formula 1 for the past 50 years! This gives us, the Tifosi, an interesting season to look forward to in 2021! With fresh, young & passionate drivers, will Ferrari deliver a car that’s fast & consistent enough to challenge for the championship? Will the team learn from their past strategic mistakes?