With the Formula One championship already beyond them, this is surely no time for a conservative approach from Ferrari. For the sake of the sport, the Scuderia, it must be hoped, will resist a tendency to stifle the instincts of artistry in the form of Charles Leclerc and his dance on a knife-edge with a recalcitrant car.
The inclination at Maranello would probably be to have him play the percentages, to consolidate. Yet instead why not let him have full rein and indulge his aggressive determination such that we can at least enjoy a driver pushing to the very limit? Is it not better to fail gloriously than accept the ignominy of mediocrity?
At last weekend’s Miami Grand Prix, Red Bull’s fourth one-two from five meetings for Max Verstappen and Sergio Pérez, it was once more made painfully clear that they are already untouchable, the title a two-horse race– a party to which Ferrari have singularly failed to turn up this season.
Their car is not only lacking the pace of Red Bull but also an absolute handful to drive. After the race in Miami, Carlos Sainz described it quite politely as “inconsistent and peaky, on a knife-edge”. Leclerc was more damning in the detail, relating a ride that sounds positively feral in its capriciousness. “What we are lacking is consistency from the car,” he said. “Not even from corner to corner, just in the same corner I can have a huge oversteery balance and then a huge understeery balance.”
In Miami last year Ferrari locked out the front of the grid. Verstappen did take the win but only after a fine battle with Leclerc, who was only four seconds down at the flag. Last weekend Verstappen started ninth, two places behind Leclerc but with the Red Bulls going after one another with no holding back, this time Verstappen won while Leclerc was seventh, a full 53 seconds down the road from the Dutchman.
Leclerc was powerless but had already attracted opprobrium for the qualifying crash that left him seventh on the grid in the first place. Since which it has been suggested the 25-year-old must temper his competitive instinct for the sake of solid returns. Yet it is his skill and willingness to push so hard that makes him so captivating.
Ferrari had brought a new floor and diffuser to Miami but they were no closer to Red Bull and the Monégasque driver knew the Scuderia still could not compete with them. It is understandably frustrating and forces him to try to wrest more than there really is in the car with his extraordinary ability, especially in qualifying.
Leclerc is one of the best qualifiers on the grid, his lap for pole at the previous round in Baku was simply outstanding, sashaying the Ferrari between the walls of the city with an almost otherworldly accuracy. Trying the same in Miami did not pay off however, as he carried excess speed into turns six and seven, took too much kerb and finished in the wall.
Huge disappointment for Ferrari then but it was impossible not to admire a driver who is giving it his all, especially while, with their pace advantage out front, the Red Bulls can be driven well within capacity. Knowing how edgy the Ferrari is only makes Leclerc’s efforts to master it all the more gripping.
Jock Clear, the hugely experienced performance engineer who has worked with Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher in a long career in F1, summed up where he believed Leclerc was in his approach. “I think in some ways, this maybe is a reflection of his mindset, when he is up against a car that is demonstrably quicker than his,” Clear said. “It’s: ‘I’m just going to have to make the difference myself’ which, of course, physics ultimately catches you out.”
Yet while physics may not be defeated, how great is it to watch Leclerc attempt to defy nature’s laws? Against which it can be reasonably argued, given his times in qualifying at Miami, even with a perfect lap he was still not going to match either Red Bull and thus was taking an unnecessary chance. Indeed, he did admit as much himself.
“It comes from one side,” he said. “I am taking a lot of risks in Q3 to try and do something special, because I know we are behind Red Bull at the moment.”
So the conservative predisposition might be to tame this, to have him acknowledge where the car is and accept it; but then might as we would have not seen the error in Miami, we would also not have seen the brilliance in Baku. So while Ferrari would prefer the points-paying percentages, it would be a poorer show for the fans and to what avail?
With the championship gone Ferrari face equalling the longest run without a constructors’ title in their history, matching the 15 barren seasons between their successes of 1983 and 1999. That is an uncomfortable statistic but it is a given. Finishing higher in the championship will return a greater financial reward but it is hard to imagine the legend Il Commendatore preferring a struggle for third or fourth place over watching one of his drivers deliver something mercurial.
Of course, there is growing pressure at Maranello as another disappointing and painfully long season looms ahead but one can only hope the focus at Ferrari will be on improving the car rather than clipping Leclerc’s wings.
