Formula 1: Has Ferrari’s progress catching Mercedes stalled?
Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas delivered Mercedes their second 1-2 finish of the 2019 Formula 1 season in the season’s second race, the Bahrain Grand Prix, thanks to a pair of blunders by Ferrari.
Ever since Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport dominated the 2016 Formula 1 season, the Formula 1 championships have been all-out wars between the Silver Arrows and Scuderia Ferrari. Of the 43 races that have taken place since the 2016 season ended, 36 have been won by either Mercedes or Ferrari, with Mercedes winning 25 of those 36 races.
Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton has won each of the last two driver championships, and Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel has finished behind him in second place in the driver standings in both the 2017 and 2018 seasons.
The two constructors traded place with Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas finishing in third in the 2017 driver standings before Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen finished in third in the 2018 standings.
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That’s the context under which 21-year-old first-year Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc took the pole position for the Bahrain Grand Prix at Bahrain International Circuit. Vettel, the two-time reigning and four-time overall winner of the race, started in second place, and for more than half of the race, Ferrari were the strongest team. A 1-2 finish, or at the very least a 1-3 finish, looked inevitable.
But then blunder after blunder by Ferrari in the latter half of the race gave Mercedes 1-2 finish in their ongoing and almost one-sided rivalry with the Prancing Horse.
Vettel crumbled under pressure from Hamilton, spun out, lost a front wing and only rebounded for a fifth place finish. Engine problems turned Leclerc’s race from a dream race into a nightmare scenario. He finished in a career-high third and was lucky the race ended under safety car conditions, otherwise he would not have finished on the podium, but he dominated the race and was deserving of the victory.
What more can Ferrari do to chip away at Mercedes’ dominance in Formula 1? They have increased their win total from zero to five to six over the course of the last three seasons, but have they hit a wall?
A Ferrari driver hasn’t stood on top of the podium since Raikkonen, who Leclerc replaced, won the United States Grand Prix last October. The following race, the Mexican Grand Prix, featured Vettel in second place and Raikkonen in third and is the race that resulted in their most recent double podium finish.
Every time it looks like Ferrari have broken through to stay on Mercedes’ level, Hamilton, Bottas and the entire Brackley-based team go on a run to reinforce their home at the top of Formula 1. Hamilton has won three of the last four races dating back to last season, and he and Bottas have finished 1-2 in some order in each of the last two.
Sunday’s Bahrain Grand Prix was yet another gut-wrenching example of the pressure Ferrari are facing. Whether Vettel is pushing his car too hard when he’s getting passed or the team are pushing Leclerc’s car to the point of mechanical failure, it’s always Mercedes picking up the scraps.
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Ferrari are on the cusp of becoming the 1B to Mercedes’ 1A in Formula 1. But is this as close as they can get? Are they at risk of being caught by Aston Martin Red Bull Racing, which have won every race that has not been won by Mercedes or Ferrari since the 2013 season opener?
After all, if not for the late safety car period in the Bahrain Grand Prix, Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen would have finished in third place ahead of both Ferrari drivers once again, just like he did in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.