Formula 1: Ferrari blew yet another golden opportunity in Baku qualifying

Ferrari have blow several golden opportunities so far in the 2019 Formula 1 season, and they blew another one in qualifying for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Following a disappointing Australian Grand Prix to open up the 2019 Formula 1 season that resulted in neither one of their two drivers finishing on the podium, Scuderia Ferrari were the heavy favorites to walk away from the season’s second race, the Bahrain Grand Prix, with a dominant victory, perhaps even a 1-2 finish.

Ferrari teammates Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel qualified in first and second place, respectively, for this race and appeared to be slated for a 1-2 finish before the laps really started to wind down.

Vettel spun out and damaged his car after he was passed by Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport’s Lewis Hamilton for second with 20 of the race’s 57 laps remaining, and Leclerc’s engine experienced an issue with 10 laps remaining that dropped him from first to third.

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At the end of the race, Mercedes ended up securing their second consecutive 1-2 finish to open up the season with Hamilton winning and Valtteri Bottas finishing in second place, which was the opposite of where they finished the season opener. Leclerc finished in third while Vettel finished in fifth.

Ferrari were the heavy favorites to win the season’s third race, the Chinese Grand Prix, primarily due to their straight-line speed. But Mercedes locked out the front row for the second time in the season’s first three races, and Ferrari had nothing for Hamilton or Bottas at any point throughout the course of the 56-lap race.

Bottas started the race from the pole position with Hamilton beside him in second place. Hamilton passed his teammate at the start of the race and went on to lead all 56 of its laps. Bottas finished in a comfortable second.

Mercedes’ start to the season marked the first time since the 1992 season that a team started a season by recording three consecutive 1-2 finishes, as Williams started the 1992 season in that manner. Never in Formula 1 history has a season begun with a team recording four consecutive 1-2 finishes.

Following the practice sessions for the season’s fourth race, the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, it appeared that this would not change. The first practice session was effectively canceled, but Leclerc and Vettel finished in first and second place, respectively, in the second and third practice sessions. In fact, they finished over one second ahead of the rest of the field in the third and final session.

It almost looked like the front row for the 51-lap race around the 20-turn, 3.73-mile (6.003-kilometer) Baku City Circuit temporary street circuit in Azadliq Square, Baku, Azerbaijan was guaranteed to be occupied by the two Ferrari teammates, likely with Leclerc on the pole position and Vettel in second place.

However, Mercedes ended up securing their second consecutive front row lockout and their third front row lockout through the season’s first four races. Bottas took the pole position ahead of Hamilton in second place.

In the second round of qualifying for the race, Ferrari made what was seemingly an ill-advised decision to send Leclerc out on medium tires. As a result, Leclerc ended up locking up his brakes heading into the ultra-tight turn eight, and he crashed into the barrier, ending his qualifying session.

While Leclerc called himself “stupid” and there was clearly an element of driver error on the part of the 21-year-old Monegasque when it came to this incident, especially since he could have gone into the runoff area, why he was out on medium tires to begin with, especially after Vettel brushed the wall in that same corner earlier in qualifying, was somewhat puzzling.

But Vettel could not deliver the desired result for Ferrari in the third and final round of qualifying, not even with his expected top challenger sidelined with a wrecked car. The 31-year-old German ended up qualifying in third place behind the Mercedes teammates.

Leclerc, who advanced to the third and final round of qualifying but did not participate in it, was officially scored in 10th place, but he is set to start the race in ninth due to the fact that Alfa Romeo Racing’s Antonio Giovinazzi, who qualified in eighth, was issued a 10-position grid penalty earlier in the week for taking Ferrari’s new spec control electronics (CE). This CE is set to be his third of the season, and drivers are only allowed to take two.

As all Formula 1 fans know, the Azerbaijan Grand Prix tends to be one of the craziest if not the craziest races on the schedule, so all is not lost for Ferrari this weekend. However, this does not change the fact that they had a golden opportunity to assert their dominance in qualifying for the race, and neither Charles Leclerc nor Sebastian Vettel could convert on that golden opportunity.