Formula 1: Here’s how terrible Ferrari’s 2020 season was
By Asher Fair
Ferrari’s 2020 Formula 1 season was their worst in several decades, and Sebastian Vettel’s final season with the team was the same.
What was a nightmare of a 2020 Formula 1 season for Ferrari, which entered the year having finished in second place in the constructor standings behind Mercedes in each of the last three seasons, is finally over.
The highlights of their season were few and far between. Charles Leclerc’s runner-up finish in the crazy season-opening Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring turned out to be one of only three podium finishes for the team all year.
Leclerc also finished in third place in the British Grand Prix at Silverstone Circuit while Sebastian Vettel, whose six-year run with the team is officially complete as he makes his way to Aston Martin for 2021, finished in third in the Turkish Grand Prix at Intercity Istanbul Park.
When the dust finally settled, much to their relief, the coronavirus pandemic-shortened 17-race 2020 season ended up being the worst for Ferrari in decades.
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They dropped four positions in the constructor standings to finish in sixth place, marking their lowest finish since they finished all the way down in 10th four decades ago in 1980.
While Leclerc was in the mix for fourth place in the driver standings throughout much of the season thanks to making the most out of what was a tractor of a SF1000, he ultimately finished down in eighth. But even that was somewhat of a positive considering where Vettel finished.
The four-time world champion, who scored nearly half of his 2020 points via that lone podium finish, finished in 13th place in the driver standings, marking the worst finish for a Ferrari driver since Didier Pironi finished in 13th back in 1981.
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Will Ferrari be back to running at the front in 2021, with Leclerc set to return and Carlos Sainz Jr. set to leave McLaren and join him as Vettel’s replacement, or will it be more of the same for the Scuderia next year before the new cars are introduced in 2022?