Continuing our team ratings for the 2021 season. In reverse order of Constructors Championship. Next is the Scuderia Ferrari. Past teams can be viewed here:
10. Haas-Ferrari
9. Alfa Romero Racing Ferrari
8. Williams Mercedes
7. Aston Martin Mercedes
6. Scuderia Alpha Tauri Honda
5. Alpine Renault
4. McLarenMercedes
Preseason
2020 had been a terrible year for Ferrari.
Ferrari had finished sixth in the Constructors’ Championship with a pathetically bad car. At times they were even beaten by the Alfa Romeo customer team!
A combination of a clarification of engine rules, meaning the engine had less power than in 2019, and a poorly designed car that was too sluggish, saw Ferrari struggle with performance from the start.
The team made it clear that they would not be fighting over anything in 2020 and would therefore be heavily focused on the 2022 rule changes.
With little development for the 2021 car. Ferrari decided to improve a few bits with the car. The main goal was to fix the drag problem and further develop the engine to make it more competitive.
Talk of a real goal for the season would be quickly pushed aside to talk about the focus on 2022. But a team of Ferrari’s size and resources couldn’t have another terrible year after 2020.
The team would calmly admit that the hope for 2021 was to be more competitive and to position themselves in the front midfield. The whole midfield is very competitive so a lead would give the team more leeway to focus on 2022.
The season
After testing, the team seemed to have improved on a sad 2020, but the engine was still missing behind Mercedes and Honda. In terms of pace, they looked to be just behind McLaren in 4th, some way behind the other midfield teams.
It looked like a throwback to the late 90’s/early 00’s with a battle between Ferrari and McLaren this season. However, this time it was about the 3rd place, not the championship!
Ferrari pushed the story further that they were focused on 2022 and that year had already been written off. Some developments would be made throughout the year, but more focused on parts that could improve the 2022 car.
At the start of the season, Ferrari and McLaren were fighting for 3rd place, but it seemed that McLaren had the slightly faster car on average.
At Monaco the team was on the right pace from the start and in qualifying Leclerc put the car on provisional pole before a crash in race two ended qualifying for everyone. Those behind Leclerc felt they were on better laps and could take pole, but the red flag ended that and Ferrari took their first pole.
From that high was the low the next day when Leclerc was unable to start the race due to the crash damage and he had to retire on the lap to the grid. A great shame as starting from pole in Monaco offers an extremely high chance of winning the race.
The next race in Baku should be weaker for Ferrari as the very long straight would reveal their engine weaknesses. However, the car seemed to have superior mechanical grip and meant they were able to set incredibly fast times through the twisty sections.
It’s because of the mechanical grip that they were so quick in Monaco, famous for being a twisty track where mechanical grip is paramount.
Again Leclerc put the Ferrari on provisional pole and in the second heats it was Yuki Tsunoda who crashed and showed a red flag. This saw the Ferrari secure two straight poles and really gave the team a boost that they had made significant progress from 2020 onwards.
France was not a good weekend for the team, the car was struggling badly with tire degradation. In the race, both drivers appeared to be backing up and complained profusely about the tire wear they were facing.
Ferrari had to fix the problem quickly. Fixing problems in a timely manner has not always been a Ferrari forte.
Silverstone saw the first major flash between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, with the latter crashing out of the race. That gave Leclerc the lead in the race.
After the red flag period and restart, the Ferrari appeared to be the fastest mid-range car. It seemed that Ferrari had also solved the excessive tire wear from France. Hamilton couldn’t get closer than about 2 seconds behind him, so he couldn’t overtake.
At the pit stops, Hamilton served his 10-second penalty and had some catching up to do, but after pitting later he had far fresher tires than Leclerc. With three laps to go, Hamilton caught up and passed Leclerc, who didn’t really have a chance to defend himself.
It was disappointing to lose the win so close to the end but it was partly lucky that they were in that position. After the race, Leclerc didn’t seem too disappointed knowing how lucky he was. A strong podium for the team as Leclerc finished second.
In Sochi, Leclerc received an upgraded element for its hybrid engine and it definitely seemed like this gave them a step up in performance. Leclerc started with Verstappen at the back of the grid and was able to keep up with him for most of the race.
When the rain came Leclerc was caught a bit and ended up with no points. Sainz, who qualified 2nd, got the right call and earned a podium.
If you ask Leclerc, he will describe his lonely 4th place finish at Austin as one of the best rides of his career. It was probably the big turning point in the championship fight, the Ferrari clearly looked faster than the McLaren.
All 4 drivers fought together on the track at the start. Leclerc managed to pull wide and Sainz looked faster than Riccardo but just couldn’t get past.
It got Ferrari going for the latter part of the season. Further strong performances in Mexico and Brazil brought Ferrari to the edge of 3rd place.
Norris’ loss of form at the end of the season helped, but they were already the faster of the two teams.
At the season finale in Abu Dhabi, for obvious reasons, all the attention was on the front of the grid and the battle between Ferrari and McLaren went a little unnoticed.
McLaren was still chasing that 3rd place and Norris had qualified well. In the race, however, the Ferrari had better pace. Norris was unlucky early in the race when he felt he was being pushed far away. It’s unlikely McLaren would have caught up even if Norris hadn’t been pushed far and landed higher.
Ferrari finished third in the championship and it was a huge relief for the team!
Sainz managed to finish 5th in the Drivers’ Championship ahead of his teammate in his debut year with Ferrari. Leclerc was seventh.
Ferrari ended 2021 with potentially the strongest driver line-up on the grid. If Maranello can produce a competitive car, that’s definitely a good sign for the team.
highlights
Ferrari scored some good podiums throughout the season. However, the 3rd place in the constructors’ championship with the third best car at the end of the season is the highlight. It showed that Ferrari has made strides forward and if they get things right for the 2022 car they will be close to becoming a challenger again.
Being Ferrari as a challenger is something everyone wants to see back in the sport!
Sainz’s first podium for the team at Monaco was great to see, along with a great performance in Russia and the sprint race in Brazil to claim more podiums.
Leclerc had to wait until Silverstone for his first podium of 2021. He managed to get 2 pole positions for the team and had a string of solid 4ths. Finally far ahead of the rest of the field.
low points
France was definitely the low point for the team. The car was struggling with tires all weekend. Way more than any other team.
The team didn’t know at first why she had fought like that. It wasn’t until the next race at Silverstone that they could try to fix the problems they were having.
Another moment to add to Leclerc’s Heartbreak album was Monaco.
Leclerc got a fantastic pole position on Saturday. He crashed on his second Q3 run and there were doubts as to whether he would be able to start due to damage.
Listening to the driver’s radio on the way to the starting grid was heartbreaking. You could hear the pain in his voice as he realized he wasn’t going to start his home race!
It was almost as bad as if he might have lost his first F1 win at Bahrain 2019.
Full respect to Leclerc, many drivers would have left the track disappointed afterwards. He stayed to support Sainz in the race who finished a strong second place. It showed the maturity Leclerc has developed in his role as the de facto lead driver at Ferrari.
Many will ask why Silverstone isn’t here. It was fortunate circumstances that put him in this position, not the Ferrari’s actual speed. His pace on the mediums surprised everyone, but after the pit stops Hamilton was way too fast. Hamilton would have passed earlier had he not served his sentence.
Next season
As every season for Ferrari, the goal is to win both the Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championships!
Realistically, this is unlikely to happen in 2022. However, Ferrari put a lot more time and resources into their 2022 car than many of the other teams. With the exception of Haas. That means 2022 will be a disaster unless Ferrari has a significant step up.
Ferrari has some of the smartest people in the sport and some of the best facilities. It will be very difficult for them to explain away another failed year.
The team is confident that their car will be strong, but a lot will depend on the engine. Ferrari has redesigned the engine for 2022 in a last-ditch attempt to catch up with its rivals before freezing engine specs until 2026.
They were the first team to report that the increased biofuel in the 2022 gasoline will result in a slight drop in performance. Ferrari apparently managed to win back most of that loss, so they lost very little with the fuel switch.
While the noise of the team bodes well. It very much depends on what the other engine manufacturers have gotten out of their engines as well.
The expectations of Maranello are always high. The team really chasing a few wins and regular podiums based on pace will be a reasonable result for 2022. It will also allow them to contend for championships for years to come, provided their engine isn’t the missing piece.
It may not make the tifosi too happy not being at the top. Compared to 2020, however, it was a quick improvement for the team.
In other news: Formula E: 10 takeaways from the Diriyah E-Prixes
Main image source: Embed Getty Images
