Formula 1: Have Ferrari finally figured out their plan isn’t working?

Following a disastrous first three races of the 2019 Formula 1 season, have Ferrari finally figured out that their plan in regard to team orders isn’t working?

Through the first three races of the 21-race 2019 Formula 1 season, Scuderia Ferrari have issued three team orders, one in each race. All three of these team orders have been in favor of Sebastian Vettel as opposed to Charles Leclerc, the driver who replace Kimi Raikkonen as Vettel’s teammate ahead of the 2019 season.

With Leclerc charging hard at the end of the season opener, the Australian Grand Prix, Ferrari ordered him not to pass Vettel for fourth place even though he was clearly the quicker of the two drivers, and they refused to let him pit for new tires in an attempt to record the race’s fastest lap and gain one bonus point as a result of it even though the driver in sixth, Rich Energy Haas’ Kevin Magnussen, was not a threat to pass him for fifth even if he made a pit stop.

After relinquishing the lead to Vettel from the pole position at the start of the season’s second race, the Bahrain Grand Prix, and even falling back to third place behind Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport’s Valtteri Bottas, Leclerc was ordered not to pass Vettel for the lead of the race after he rebounded from his poor start, retook second from Bottas and quickly ran down the 31-year-old German.

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After taking third place from Vettel at the start of the season’s third race, the Chinese Grand Prix, Leclerc was ordered to let Vettel pass him despite the fact that he was maintaining a steady gap ahead of him.

Additionally, Ferrari did not have Vettel and Leclerc switch back positions even after it became clear that neither driver had any real chance to challenge Bottas for second place, much less his teammate, Lewis Hamilton, for the lead of the race.

Yet despite the fact that three team orders have been issued in favor of Vettel as well as the fact that an engine issue robbed Leclerc of a seemingly guaranteed victory in the Bahrain Grand Prix and the fact that Leclerc was relegated to fifth place in the Chinese Grand Prix as opposed to fourth due to a terrible tire strategy after being ordered to let Vettel pass him, Vettel leads Leclerc by just one point in the driver standings.

Through the season’s first three races, here are the top five in the driver standings.

Rank – Driver, Team: Points (Behind)
1st – Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes: 68 (0)
2nd – Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes: 62 (-6)
3rd – Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing: 39 (-29)
4th – Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari: 37 (-31)
5th – Charles Leclerc, Ferrari: 36 (-32)

Have Ferrari finally learned that their plan in regard to team orders to prioritize Vettel over Leclerc isn’t working?

Here is what Binotto had to say after the Chinese Grand Prix indicated that they very well may have, according to WTF1.

"“I think if Charles is upset, he’s right to be upset, and we should accept it. I think it’s a shame for him, and next time maybe it will be to his advantage.”"

Ferrari did claim that they would let their drivers race throughout the 2019 season before the 2019 season started, and they proceeded to order Leclerc not to pass Vettel in the Australian Grand Prix. They then made a similar claim specifically about the Bahrain Grand Prix before, once again, ordering Leclerc not to pass Vettel.

But ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix, they stated that they would continue to prioritize Vettel, and they did. So is it possible that Binotto is telling the truth when it comes to the idea of team orders perhaps being issued in Leclerc’s favor in the future?

Only time will tell, but given how things have gone so far this season for the team, it would not be shocking if this is the case. Then again, it also would not be shocking if they continue to prioritize Vettel no matter how much better Leclerc is at any point in time.

When Sebastian Vettel was given priority over Kimi Raikkonen during their four Formula 1 seasons together as teammates at Ferrari from 2015 to 2018, it was because Vettel was clearly the driver who had a better chance to win them what would have been their first driver championship since Raikkonen, ironically, won it in the 2007 season.

So far this season, Charles Leclerc has clearly been the team’s faster driver, and it is beginning to appear as though they might just finally be catching onto that.