JEDDAH The courage to try to stop the domination. Two doubles in two races, Max Verstappen rocketed towards his fourth title with Perez watching his back. The season seems headed towards a 2023-style monologue, but in reality in the paddock, and beyond, those who look ahead think that this is not the case at all.
For a series of reasons: the Red Bull advantage is large but the development curve will not be infinite; the internal conflict is already making itself felt in the departments, when a team is politically divided the consequences are paid on the track; Ferrari is well placed in the role of chaser. The signals from the Red team come from the two podiums, from a single-seater with good margins for evolution, from a team alert to pit stops and strategies, from the difficulties of Mercedes and McLaren. For a real test, however, we will have to wait less than a month, on April 7 at Suzuka, a much more severe track than Melbourne’s Albert Park (March 24). Carlos Sainz will return to drive in Australia.
“I know, I have to give him the car back, it’s his” joked Bearman, the star of the Saudi GP, the youngest Ferrari driver ever. Then he added: «I’m happy to have shown that even a rookie can get by, it’s a nice message for all the freshmen and I also had fun. But no celebration: a seventh place is not celebrated.” It is Ollie’s mentality, the one that has taken him far and which will most likely lead him to shine outside the Maranello galaxy. In fact, Ferrari has found a very young potential champion – “Vettel wrote to me before the start to encourage me, Seb is one of my idols” reveals the boy – but he can’t use him except in the simulator or in tests. Charles Leclerc recently renewed his contract, Lewis Hamilton will arrive next year with a multi-year contract. Therefore, before 2027 there are no free seats. Satellite teams once existed, there was an agreement with Sauber that gave Maranello the right to choose one of the drivers, that’s where Leclerc was trained. But the Swiss team was purchased by Audi. Only Haas remains, a back row team, which has stopped breeding youngsters at the behest of the owner. Even if the Americans were to change their mind for Ollie, Haas could at most be a short transition after what he demonstrated in Jeddah, with his debut on the most dangerous track of the World Championship without having ever driven the SF-24 before.
«Oliver surprised me too – explains Fred Vasseur – at a certain point, since he hadn’t made a mistake, I asked him to push a little more and not be too conservative: zero mistakes within the walls of Jeddah, incredible». Another proof of the talent of the eighteen-year-old Briton, but the Frenchman holds back: «Let’s take it calmly: he will have the opportunity to do tests, to run in free practice. His first goal now is to focus on the challenge in Formula 2, it’s huge.” Return to earth after a historic flight.
2024-03-10 18:15:28
#Bearman #talent #Ferrari #lose #future #scenarios #Corriere.it
