Things have changed at Ferrari . In the most exciting Formula 1 of recent years, the most successful team of all time is smiling again. The Azerbaijan Grand Prix has lifted Ferrari to third place in the Constructors’ World Cup , but in Maranello they want more. The fourth place of Charles Leclerc and the eighth of Carlos Sainz was a little, especially after the great result achieved in qualifying last Saturday.
Ferrari’s 2020 was historic, but for the worse. Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel signed the second worst result in the history of the team , which finished in sixth place in the Constructors’ World Championship. A nightmare forged from poor decisions, internal problems and incompetence in the car’s design, something that only the three podiums prevented from becoming Ferrari’s worst performance in the history of the Grand Circus.
🗣️ @ Carlossainz55: “Not every day is a party. We have to accept it and improve. The adaptation process is not yet complete”
✅ When doing a run, think about what went wrong
✅ When you suffer in a race, think about what you can improveCRACK! # BakuDAZNF1 🇦🇿 pic.twitter.com/flYrHlYaXd
– DAZN Spain (@DAZN_ES) June 6, 2021
However, the new season has brought an improvement in the performance of the red car. The great pace of Ferrari in 2021 together with the talent of Leclerc and the good performance of Carlos Sainz allow the Maranello team to be in third place in the World Championship, only behind the two giants of the queen of motorsport competition. Two consecutive poles and Sainz’s podium in Monaco and his teammate’s three-fourths confirm Ferrari’s progression.
Leclerc: «The victories will come soon»
After scoring his second pole in a row, Charles Leclerc finished in a somewhat frustrating fourth place in Baku . Although he tried to hold on in the opening laps, Verstappen’s Red Bulls and Hamilton’s Checo Pérez and Mercedes passed him easily. Finally, the Monegasque was again on the verge of getting on the podium for the third time this season: “We cannot be happy with fourth place, we are here to win. However, we are giving everything and I am sure that the victories will come soon, “said Leclerc after the race.
A frustration shared by Mattia Binotto . The Ferrari boss was not happy after the result achieved after pole and Sainz’s fifth place in the Baku time: “The car has worked very well during all sessions and we are going in the right direction, but it was not our best race and we expected something more after qualifying, “said Binotto, who was critical of his drivers: ” They were quite complicated in the race .
Carlos Sainz, the second best rookie
Carlos Sainz’s career in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix was not entirely good either. An error on lap 8 hampered him and he lost the opportunity to take a good bag of points from Baku , more after what was seen at the end with the Verstappen accident and the highlight. However, the Madrid driver continues to perform well and is the second best rookie of the season in Formula 1, only behind Sergio Pérez: «In general I have not had a good day, there have been three or four points in the race they have cost me , “he admitted.
Despite the disappointing result at the Azerbaijan GP, Ferrari is already third in the Constructors’ World Championship . The good performance of Carlos Sainz and Leclerc allow the Italians to be ahead of other teams such as McLaren or AlphaTauri. The Ferrari revolution is not only in the car, but also in the attitude. The demand in Maranello is maximum , as it could not be otherwise in the best team in the history of Formula 1.
