Ferrari seems back “where it belongs” and that is at the top
Ferrari is suddenly the talk of the town in Formula 1. The famous Italian racing stable has built a car that seems capable of competing for the world title this season. Drivers Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz proved in qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix that their car is very fast.
Leclerc was even faster than Max Verstappen, who had impressed the most in his new Red Bull during training in the opening weekend. The 24-year-old Monegask took pole for Sunday’s race. He was a fraction faster than the Dutch world champion. Sainz was also fast and was third fastest.
“The last two years have been extremely difficult for us, but I knew it was only a matter of time before we could get back to the top,” said Leclerc, who took tenth pole of his career. “Finally we have managed to make a car that is back where it deserves to be and that is at the very least competing for the podium.”
F1-75
The F1-75, as Ferrari has called the car designed according to the new aerodynamic rules, was “amazing” in qualifying, Leclerc said. “The time really surprised me because to be honest it was quite difficult for me because my tires had a hard time getting to the right temperature. I also assumed Verstappen would be faster, but my time in Q3 turned out to be good for pole and that is of course gratifying.”
Ferrari yearns for another world title. The latest is from 2007, when the Finn Kimi Räikkönen drove the red car. In the years that followed, the team kept making mistakes. Leclerc drove a promising season in 2019 with two wins and a further eight podiums, but the following year Ferrari bottomed out with sixth place in the championship.
“It’s been tough, but that’s why we enjoy being back at the top for that reason,” said team boss Mattia Binotto. “It was very close and I think it will remain that way throughout the season, but it’s great to see that we are performing again. We had of course also raised expectations in the test days, but that is part of Ferrari. People expect from us that we’re driving at the front.”