Formula 1: Once again, Ferrari blow their biggest opportunity of 2019
By Asher Fair
Two 1-2 sweeps and a 1-3 finish in three practice sessions for the German Grand Prix gave Ferrari their best chance to win a race in the 2019 Formula 1 season. That translated to a 10-20 effort in qualifying and yet another blown opportunity.
Scuderia Ferrari have blown several great opportunities through the first 10 races of the 21-race 2019 Formula 1 season, and whenever it seems like they are safe from doing so again, they leave everybody scratching their heads wondering how they can possible squander so many amazing chances to finally break through this year.
While they have not won a single race and Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport have won nine races and Aston Martin Red Bull Racing have won one, the Italian team have rarely been off the pace throughout the entirety of a race weekend.
But despite all of their previous blown opportunities this season, perhaps nothing can match what happened in the qualifying session for the season’s 11th race, the German Grand Prix, at Hockenheimring.
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The lowest position for either of the two Ferrari drivers, Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel, in the three practice sessions for this 67-lap race around the 16-turn, 2.842-mile (4.574-kilometer) Hockenheimring road course in Am Motodrom, Hockenheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany was third place.
Vettel topped the speed chart in the first practice session for this race while Leclerc finished in second place. In the second practice session, they switched positions, and in the third and final practice session, Leclerc topped the speed chart while Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen finished in second ahead of Vettel in third.
So how will they line up on the starting grid for tomorrow’s race?
In a race weekend during which both of the Ferrari drivers appeared to have the field covered, they were both eliminated in the qualifying session due to mechanical issues and unable to unleash their true potential.
Vettel was unable to complete a lap in the first round of qualifying for the race while Leclerc was able to advance to the second and third rounds of qualifying, but he was unable to complete a lap in the third and final round.
It seems like every race weekend, everyone thinks it can’t get any worse for the Scuderia, but then during and/or after the weekend, we are left laughing at ourselves wondering why we possibly thought it couldn’t get any worse.
Meanwhile, Mercedes secured a 1-3 start, with Lewis Hamilton taking the pole position and Valtteri Bottas qualifying in third place. Verstappen is set to start alongside Hamilton on the front row.
Hamilton’s lap time of 71.767 seconds (142.561 miles per hour) likely would have been competitive for the front row if not the pole position even had Leclerc and Vettel both advanced to and recorded lap times in the third and final round of qualifying for this race, but Ferrari still would have undoubtedly had the best odds to take that pole position.
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Will Ferrari bounce back from a disastrous qualifying effort for the German Grand Prix in the race itself tomorrow? Tune in to ESPN for the live broadcast of the 2019 Formula 1 season’s 11th race tomorrow morning at 9:05 a.m. ET.