Formula 1: Ferrari not as bad as they seem through four races in 2019

Scuderia Ferrari have not been as bad as they have seemed through the first four races of the 21-race 2019 Formula 1 season.

Four races into the 21-race 2019 Formula 1 season, Scuderia Ferrari already find themselves in a hole when it comes to the constructor and driver championship battles with Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport.

To be more accurate, they find themselves in a deep ditch. They trail the Silver Arrows by 74 points (173 to 99) in second place in the constructor standings, and neither one of their drivers is within one race’s worth of points of either of the Mercedes teammates in the driver standings.

But in reality, Ferrari have not been as bad as they have seemed so far this season.

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Mercedes dominated the season opener, the Australian Grand Prix, by locking out the front row on the starting grid with Lewis Hamilton on the pole and Valtteri Bottas in second place while Ferrari teammates Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc started in third and fifth, respectively.

Bottas passed Hamilton heading into the first turn on the first lap of the race, and he went on to dominate it over his teammate in second place. Vettel ended up finishing in fourth while Leclerc finished behind him in fifth after being instructed not to pass his clearly slower teammate as the laps wound down.

Ferrari then dominated the season’s second race, the Bahrain Grand Prix, as Leclerc took the first pole position of his Formula 1 career and Vettel qualified in second place, giving Ferrari a front row lockout. After Vettel took the lead and Leclerc fell back to third at the start of the race, Leclerc battled back and retook the lead even after Ferrari told him not to pass his teammate once again.

Leclerc went on to dominate the race before an engine issue with 10 laps remaining turned what would have been a comfortable victory into a third place finish, at which point Vettel had already surrendered what would have been a comfortably podium finish by spinning out. Hamilton ended up winning the race ahead of Bottas in second.

Mercedes had Ferrari’s number in the season’s third race, the Chinese Grand Prix, as they locked out the front row once again, this time with Bottas on pole and Hamilton in second place. Vettel and Leclerc qualified in third and fourth, respectively.

Hamilton passed Bottas in the first turn on the first lap of the race and went on to lead every lap. Bottas finished in second ahead of Vettel in third and Leclerc, who was ordered to give up third to Vettel after passing him at the start of the race, in fifth.

Ferrari appeared to be the team to beat in the season’s fourth race, the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, as both of their drivers finished at least one second ahead of each and every one of the other 18 drivers in the field in the third and final practice session for this race.

But Leclerc crashed in qualifying and Vettel was unable to prevent yet another Mercedes front row lockout by qualifying in third place. Bottas started the race from the pole position alongside of Hamilton in second, and he went on to win it over Hamilton in second. Vettel finished in third while Leclerc recovered from a ninth place starting position to finish in fifth.

With all things considered, Mercedes have been the stronger of the two teams in two of the four races that have been contested so far this season while Ferrari have been the stronger of the two teams in the other two.

But Mercedes have capitalized on Ferrari’s errors, many of which self-induced, to open up a gigantic lead in the constructor standings and to become the first team in Formula 1 history to open up a season with four consecutive 1-2 finishes.

Will the tides turn in the battle between Mercedes and Ferrari in the 2019 Formula 1 season’s fifth race, the Spanish Grand Prix, this Sunday, May 12? This race is set to be broadcast live on ESPN2 from Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya beginning at 9:10 a.m. ET, so be sure not to miss it.