Ferrari in crisis as Formula One season heads to Canada

By Sports Desk June 15, 2022

Ferrari's recent issues with reliability have put a major dent in their driver's and constructor's title hopes, but they will need to quickly bounce back at this weekend's Canadian Grand Prix.

It was a painful day for the Scuderia at the Azerbaijan GP on Sunday, with both cars retiring due to technical issues.

For Charles Leclerc, it was the second time in three races he was forced out because of a power unit problem while leading, and the fourth consecutive race where he failed to convert pole position into a race win.

Sergio Perez took full advantage in Baku, moving ahead of Leclerc in the driver's standings with his win, with Max Verstappen opening up a 34-point gap to the Ferrari driver.

With two retirements sandwiching Ferrari's strategic blunder at his home race in Monaco, the Monegasque moves to four wins from 15 pole positions, with only Jarno Trulli holding a lower conversion rate (25 per cent) among winning drivers in the history F1.

Meanwhile, only Michael Schumacher (+23) and Alain Prost (+18) have a higher differential between race wins and pole positions than Max Verstappen, who has claimed 25 and 14 respectively.

Verstappen will already be making his 150th GP appearance at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, looking for his sixth win of the season out of nine starts.

It would provide little solace to the 24-year-old but he has been in supreme form on the Saturday, claiming six poles out of eight this season, and could match his highest tally in a single season from 2019.

Pole position is not essential but it has proved to be convenient in recent years, with each of the past five winners in Montreal coming from the front of grid on the Saturday, the longest such streak in F1.

Since the opening race of the season in Bahrain, Ferrari remain one more one-two finish away from surpassing Mercedes for the most all-time in F1, with both on 82.

Ferrari customers facing similar strife

Problems have persisted for the factory team and Ferrari power unit customers since the first upgrade at the Miami Grand Prix, where Zhou Guanyu retired.

Both he and Leclerc then retired from the Spanish GP, after Valtteri Bottas was forced out of FP2 in the other Alfa Romeo due to an engine failure.

Both Mick Schumacher and Kevin Magnussen experienced MGU-K failures in Monaco, before Leclerc, Magnussen and Zhou had power unit-related DNFs in Baku.

Red Bull in control

After rectifying their own reliability issues at the start of the season, Red Bull have picked up the pieces and are now in control of both championships.

Red Bull drivers have finished on the podium in 11 of their 13 finished races, securing the one-two in three of the last five Grands Prix and are one more from securing the highest tally in a single season.

The last time the team had six wins in the opening eight races of the season was when Sebastian Vettel coasted his way to the driver's title in 2011.

CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

Drivers

1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 150
2. Sergio Perez (Red Bull) 129
3. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) 116
4. George Russell (Mercedes) 99
5. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) 83

Constructors

1. Red Bull 279
2. Ferrari 199
3. Mercedes 161
4. McLaren 65
5. Alpine 47

Related items

  • 'You cannot switch off for one second' - Silva rues late West Ham equaliser 'You cannot switch off for one second' - Silva rues late West Ham equaliser

    Marco Silva conceded Fulham "cannot switch off for one second" in the Premier League, after Danny Ings' last-gasp equaliser denied the Cottagers all three points against West Ham.

    The hosts appeared on course to take the spoils in the London derby at Craven Cottage, where Raul Jimenez put them in front after 24 minutes.

    However, the visitors snatched a dramatic equaliser in the fifth minute of stoppage time, when substitute Ings fired past Fulham goalkeeper Bernd Leno.

    And Silva acknowledged his side's brief lapse in concentration proved costly.

    "It just shows that in this Premier League, you cannot switch off for one second," he told BBC Sport. "We are aware of the quick throws, and we have to keep focus and concentration.

    "A big frustration for us because, before that, it was a good performance. It was clear we were the best team on the pitch. They did not have one shot [on target] in the first half.

    "We should have won this game. It was not a game where West Ham pushed us back. The goal came after we switched off. It just shows you have to keep focus until the last second."

    Silva also felt Fulham should have been awarded a first-half penalty when Adama Traore was challenged by Max Kilman.

    "It was a clear, clear, penalty in my opinion," he added. "It's difficult to understand why it was not a penalty in that situation. I don't even want to say anything more about it."

    Meanwhile, West Ham boss paid tribute to Ings, who was making only his second Premier League appearance of the season - with both coming as a late substitute.

    "It was a very 'Danny Ings' goal!", Lopetegui told West Ham's official website. "He is always agile in those kinds of actions, and he took his chance very well.

    "I'm really happy for him, because he hasn't played much up until now, but he is always ready to go. He is a really good example to all of his team-mates, and it's great to see his work pay off.

    "As a player, it can be hard when you don't know when the coach is going to call you. The important thing is to try and always be ready, because you are going to be needed at some point.

    "Scoring in the last minute today is important, because he's shown everyone that you have to believe until the end. Even though there were things we could do better today, we kept going, and we got something out of the game."

  • Fulham 1-1 West Ham: Ings' last-gasp leveller denies Cottagers Fulham 1-1 West Ham: Ings' last-gasp leveller denies Cottagers

    Danny Ings' stoppage-time strike rescued a point for West Ham as they drew 1-1 with Fulham at Craven Cottage.

    Ings cancelled out Raul Jimenez's first-half goal as local bragging rights were shared in this London derby.

    Fulham should have broken the deadlock in the 23rd minute, but Adama Traore headed Alex Iwobi's inviting cross wide from six yards out.

    But the hosts were not to be denied just 60 seconds later. Smith Rowe beat the offside trap to latch onto Andreas Pereira's throughball, before crossing for Jimenez to tuck away.

    West Ham went close to equalising on the hour mark when Jarrod Bowen brilliantly controlled Mohammed Kudus' cross, but was thwarted by Bernd Leno's smart reflex save.

    The Hammers looked set to leave the Cottage empty-handed until the fourth minute of stoppage time, when substitute Ings took Bowen's centre into his stride before Leno could only help the fierce drive into the net.

    Data Debrief: Jimenez continues to be scourge of Hammers

    Jimenez continued his impressive scoring record against West Ham. The Mexican found the net against them in the Premier League for the sixth time; more than he has managed against any other side.

    However, his efforts ultimately proved in vain. Despite an xG of just 0.53 - compared to Fulham's 1.61 - the Hammers struck with one of the last kicks of the game to prevent a third defeat in four matches.

    It was Ings' first Premier League away goal since November 2022, while it was the latest West Ham have scored that gained points in the Premier League.

  • Leclerc continues Baku love affair as Norris' title hopes dented Leclerc continues Baku love affair as Norris' title hopes dented

    Ferrari's Charles Leclerc is the Azerbaijan Grand Prix pole-sitter for the fourth year in a row after a stunning showing on the streets of Baku. 

    Leclerc, who emerged victorious in Monza last time out, is in a good position to close the gap to both Lando Norris and Max Verstappen in the drivers' championship. 

    Norris will need an unlikely turn of events to close his 62-point gap to the Dutchman as he encountered yellow flags on his final lap in the first session and will start Sunday's race in 17th. 

    Verstappen, meanwhile, will start in sixth after being outqualified by team-mate Sergio Perez, who finished fourth, with Mercedes' George Russell sandwiched in between.

    Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso came next, with Williams producing an excellent display with drives from Franco Colapinto and Alex Albon to complete the top 10. 

    Leclerc's performance saw him record the best pole streak for a Ferrari driver in a Grand Prix since Michael Schumacher in Spain from 2000 to 2004 (five). 

    Speaking after qualifying, the Monegasque was confident about his chances of becoming the first driver since Felipe Massa to achieve consecutive victories on at least two occasions. 

    “It’s one of my favourite tracks of the season, I really like it, it hasn’t been an easy weekend because of the crash in FP1," Leclerc said.  

    "It didn’t make me lose confidence as I knew that the pace was there, but you’ve got to be back up to speed.

    “In Q3 and qualifying it was all about trying to stay as far as possible from the walls and on the last lap I went for it a bit more and the lap time came very nicely.

    “The car felt really good and everything felt great, so it’s amazing to be on pole."

    Norris was on course to make it through into the second session comfortably but a yellow flag as he approached the final straight saw his flying lap ruined. 

    “The lap was easily good enough, but there was a yellow flag so I had to back off," Norris said. 

    “Following is pretty much impossible around here and overtaking is a lot worse than everyone thinks.

    “I am not expecting much from 17th, but we will put in a good plan tonight and do our best of course.

    "I have been wrong, and I hope there are plenty of chances, but I’m not expecting so.”

    But when asked, McLaren team-mate Piastri was confident that the team have the pace to score some big points in the race for the constructors' championship. 

    "I think from where we are starting, yes," Piastri said.

    But following around here is really tough, we saw yesterday, it was pretty tough once you get behind someone, hopefully get some clean air, which will be good.

    "We'll see what we can do. I think our race pace is good, but again, the Ferraris are certainly not slow.

    Qualifying results

    1. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)

    2. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)

    3. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)

    4. Sergio Perez (Red Bull)

    5. George Russell (Mercedes)

    6. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)

    7. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)

    8. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) 

    9. Franco Colapinto (Williams)

    10. Alex Albon (Williams)

© 2024 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.