Whilst Ferrari are the most iconic Formula One team with the most success in the 75 years history of the sport, their lack of trophies for nigh on two decades is stark. Yet in recent times the Maranello based team’s incoherent stagey calls have come to define the modern image of the team and once again in Baku this foolishness was again on display.
In Friday afternoon’s practice the team flattered to deceive as Lewis Hamilton topped the time sheets in the afternoon session with team mate Charles Leclerc a close second. Yet once again when the business end of the weekend was to come around, Ferrari were to be found wanting in a chaotic qualifying session which saw a record six red flags thrown.
Whilst Hamilton and Leclerc cruised through into Q2 it was then the weekend would start to unravel. The teams and drivers came to realise that a single push lap was not the way to go so they fuelled the cars for several laps, sending the drivers out on the medium tyre. Not so for Hamilton.
Qualifying judgement errors
The team decided to fuel Lewis for five laps even though the time remaining suggested he may have time for one more. He was then sent out on the soft tyre whilst the rest were on the medium, something Hamilton complained about after the session.
“We should have used a medium in Q2,” he said. “That’s what everyone else did, we knew it was quicker and I can’t tell you why we didn’t end up using it, but we will take it internal, but there has been lots of progress.” The seven times champion driver believed he had a shot at claiming pole position in Baku adding: “I thought I was fighting for the top three, so it’s a big shock.”
Lewis again was out in Q2 as was the case before the summer break in both Spa and Budapest where he disconsolately suggested Ferrari should “replace the driver.” However, the British drivers mood remained positive on the shores of the Caspian Sea believing his race pace would be good and a decent points scoring position was possible.
Charles Leclerc did make it into the top ten shootout, but a mistake from the Monegasque driver saw him put his Ferrari into the wall at turn 15. He would start in P10 with Hamilton right behind him in P12.
Pace lacking for the Ferrari duo
Come Sunday, the tifosi crossed their fingers as the sea of red flooded the grandstands in the Azerbaijani capital. Yet despite early confidence that the head wind on the two kilometre back straight would deliver overtaking opportunities the race was dominated by chains of DRS trains.
Max Verstappen delivered the perfect restart after Piastri’s disastrous lap one crash and within a handful of laps was over the hills and on his way to neighbouring Armenia. Hamilton too made quick progress although unlike his team mate who cleared the sleeping Lando Norris remained pinned to the rear wing of the McLaren.
Yet Lewis who elected to start on the hard tyre as opposed to Leclerc on the medium, would begin to make some progress as those around him pitted for fresh rubber. Frustrated and stuck behind Kimi Antonelli, Ferrari elected to stop Leclerc early in an effort to undercut the rookie Mercedes driver.
Yet poor analysis of where Charles would return to field meant the plan failed and again he was forced to toil away in the midfield. Finally Lewis ran out of rubber and pitted for fresh tyres, coming out behind his team mate who had failed to make progress on Tsunoda and Lawson ahead.
Leclerc moves aside for Lewis
The correct decision was made to ask Leclerc to move aside for Hamilton who was capable of catching those ahead. Yet he too couldn’t find a way through the Lawson, Tsunoda and Lando Norris DRS train and on the last lap of the race the red mist descended in the Ferrari strategy team.
Hamilton was told to give back the place he’d been given by his team mate with the only realistic opportunity being on the 2km long 340kph start finish straight right before the chequered flag had fallen.
The radio instruction from message boy race engineer Riccardo Adami instructed Hamilton: “[Leclerc] one-and-a-half [seconds] behind you. This is the last lap… let him by.” Lewis was also told that Isack Hadjar in the Racing Bull was close behind Leclerc.
The obsessive McLaren-esque call for “fairness” was utterly ridiculous given the Ferrari drivers were in P8 and P9 at the time. Further at such high speed and with Hadjar perilously close to the Ferrari duo, this had the hallmarks of another embarrassing episode for the Scuderia.
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Crazy risk of ‘fairness’ strategy
Hamilton did slow only as the finish line approached in an attempt to ensure Hadjar did not receive an unexpected tow and finish by splitting the Ferrari drivers. He misjudged the tricky manoeuvre and finished ahead of his team mate but by just 0.4 of a second.
Yet the inherent risk in the team order of handing Hadjar P9 was too high and to gain what? Italian publication La Gazzetta described it as a “stupid choice.”
Both drivers addressed the matter after the race with Hamilton explaining: “Firstly, obviously I was quicker [earlier on], but Charles was gracious to let me by. At the end, I got the message really late on, and I was zoned in on the car in front of me, even though there was like a 0.0001 per cent chance of passing, and I was still hopeful, maybe.
“Basically, I did lift on the straight and did actually brake, but I missed it by like four tenths…so I apologise to Charles. At the end of the day, it’s eighth and ninth.”
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Leclerc dismissive of Ferrari plan
Charles was equally dismissive of the incident. ”It’s not the end of the world, let’s talk about an eighth and ninth place, I won’t think about it going home. I’ll rather reflect on the disappointing performance this weekend.”
Such was the calamitous weekend for Ferrari who when McLaren were all at sea should have capitalised on the situation, team boss Fred Vasseur unusually admitted the team had made a serious of errors. “We make wrong choices, we make mistakes and we are unlucky. We are not opportunists and it is the most important aspect in races like these.”
Vasseur had his contract extended before the summer break following immense speculation in Italy he would be sacked given his three year tenure in charge had failed to see the team progress. Maybe the first change the Frenchman needs to make is to remove the hapless race engineers from the pit wall and appoint voices with authority like Bono who worked with Hamilton for years and GP who keeps Max Verstappen in control.
McLaren consider making Piastri No. 1
Prior to the Formula One summer break the driver’s world championship was a foregone conclusion, it would be a McLaren driver taking the title for the first time since Lewis Hamilton in 2008. Yet now the Woking based team are concerned Max Verstappen and Red Bull are once again a real threat.
Verstappen is 94 points behind Piastri and to win the title would be the biggest turnaround in F1 history. Yet the world champion has proven in 2023 when the Red Bull car is right, he has won ten costive races. With eight remaining Grand Prix and three Sprints to boot, the maths is complicated but a record fifth consecutive title is more than just theoretically possible and McLaren have expressed their concern this weekend in Baku…. READ MORE
With over 30 years of experience in Formula 1 as an insider journalist, I have built trusted connections across the paddock, from race engineers and mechanics to senior team figures. At The Judge 13, I and a handful of trusted colleagues share exclusive Formula 1 news, expert analysis and behind-the-scenes stories you will not find in mainstream motorsport media.
A.J. Hunt is Senior Editor at TJ13, where Andrew oversees editorial standards and contributes to the site’s Formula 1 coverage. A career journalist with experience in both print and digital sports media, Andrew trained in investigative journalism and has written for a range of European sports outlets.
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