The moderator turned to Max Verstappen on Sunday with a comprehensible intention. At least the Red Bull driver made it onto the podium again. “Let’s come to your race …”, he introduced his question, when Verstappen interrupted him. “The music in the background is much more interesting than my race,” said Verstappen: “Just let it go!” He started third and crossed the finish line third. He wasn’t fast enough for the Silver Arrows anyway – and there was a gap behind him. “I had nothing to do,” said Verstappen.
If the only driver who, at least in theory, would be able to break the dominance of Mercedes makes fun of his lack of opportunities, then Formula 1 has a huge problem. The search for traces of its origin ends, however, above all in the Ferrari headquarters: there the engineers evidently developed their engines in a direction that the world association Fia had to stop at the beginning of this season – after Ferrari’s competitors had expressed massive doubts about their legality.
The aerodynamics is also botch
In the past, the engine was so bursting with power that Ferrari could afford to neglect the maintenance of the best possible streamlining and traction. Team and technology manager Mattia Binotto has now reaped the fruits of this undesirable development in Spa. Even Alfa Romeo, which gets its engine from Ferrari, was faster in Belgium. The power of the Ferraris is history. And now the aerodynamics are botch.
The self-inflicted case of what was once the most colorful racing team is regrettable for two reasons: First of all, it counteracts all efforts of Formula 1 to make the competition more exciting through reforms. From next year on, the cost cap will take effect, which is supposed to make the smaller teams more competitive. The major technology reform will follow in 2022, after which it will be much easier for pilots to overtake each other. With the lousy engine in the rear, however, which is not missing the little things, but the basics, Ferrari will chug for a while: New drives will only be available in 2026, the 2022 reform only changes the exterior architecture of the cars. Second, the Italians are likely to be concerned with the question of whether Ferrari will be able to catch up again so soon. Or, in a modification of a Beckenbauer doctrine, will be defeatable for years to come?
The lameness of the black horses is bad for the entire Formula 1. Toto Wolff, Team Principal of Mercedes, has now openly expressed himself. Binotto, on the other hand, prepared the fans for a long period without wins weeks ago. For someone with an inward view like Binotto, the approaching crisis was already foreseeable during the test drives in spring. Their enormous size, on the other hand, is an indication of how large the irregularities of the Ferrari engine must have been in 2019. And it explains the anger among competitors that the Fia concealed the result of their investigation in a dubious deal.
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