The summer break has officially come to an end, and it’s time to turn our eyes back to the next rounds of the Formula 1 calendar. With nine races to go, Max Verstappen has an 80-point lead over his closest rival, Charles Leclerc.
Looking at the results of the last races, it would take a drastic twist in the script for the title to slip away from the Red Bull driver, who has accumulated nine podiums and seven wins in ten races, while the Monegasque has only achieved two podiums and one victory in the same period of time.
However, F1 president Stefano Domenicali has said more than that is needed to keep Ferrari out of contention for the championship. The current CEO of the category spent 23 years at the Scuderia, where he served as sporting director during the famous 2007 campaign.
In that year, Kimi Raikkonen cut the 17 points that separated him from Lewis Hamilton (who made his debut with McLaren) in two races to win the title, at a time when victory was worth ten points. The Italian has not forgotten that episode that marked the history of the category.
“Based on my experience, I know never to give up,” he said. “I remember in 2007, with two races to go, we were 17 points down, and Kimi [Raikkonen] managed to win the championship in Brazil. No one expected that.”
“I know it’s a big figure, but I don’t see why Ferrari couldn’t get back into the fight with Red Bull. They are a very strong team, Mercedes will progress, but all I can say, given where I stand, is no. They should surrender until the last moment.”
Domenicali also expects “a lot of surprises” in the second half of the season, as Red Bull and Ferrari split victories in the first 13 races: “Mistakes, reliability, weather conditions, who knows? The only thing that matters is that [Ferrari ] has to stay focused, and I’m sure he will.”
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