KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA – APRIL 04: Field heads to the first corner at the start of the Malaysian Formula One Grand Prix at the Sepang Circuit on April 4, 2010 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. (Photo by Paul Gilham/Getty Images)
That may be the sole comfort Ferrari fans can take away from this weekend’s Malaysian Grand Prix. At least they didn’t run into each other.
Mercedes struggled for pace and Ferrari was ready, new upgrade in tow, to take on the boys in silver.
And how ready they were. They dominated practice. This was their chance to bounce back from Singapore. It looked all but assured that they could stop Hamilton.
Then… Disaster. Vettel’s engine died on a warm-up lap in Q1, relegating him to the back of the grid and all but guaranteeing zero percent chance of taking back the points he lost to Hamilton on the streets of Singapore. But at least he and Kimi didn’t run into each other.
Kimi Raikkonen, on the other hand, looked back to his championship winning form, qualifying P2, ready to give the scarlet team a chance to fight for the win. He got out to the grid. The team went through their pre-race prep. And then, nothing. The gremlins that plagued Seb the day before seemed to have hopped across the garage.
Kimi’s car was rolled, unceremoniously, from the grid and back to the pitlane where it would stay for the rest of the race. But at least he and Vettel didn’t run into each other.
Lights out and the action began. Verstappen challenging and eventually overtaking Hamilton for the lead, exposing the weakness Ferrari hoped to capitalize on.
Vettel sliced through the field at the beginning, only to be waylaid by the man he replaced at Ferrari, Fernando Alonso. Despite being in a meme-inducing McLaren Honda, Alonso kept Vettel at bay longer than he should have been able to. Vettel eventually got past, but it wasn’t easy and it cost him precious time on the track.
He continued to steadily work his way through the field until he slipped past Mercedes #2, Valtteri Bottas, and set his signs on 3rd place Daniel Ricciardo.
Vettel pushed, but by the time he reached the Australian, it was too late. Ferrari had short-fueled Vettel in a bid to aid his ascent through the field, a strategy that worked well until it didn’t. Vettel had two laps to try and make a move. Ricciardo defended. Vettel was forced to back off, saving fuel and tires until the end of the race.
Ferrari can’t be mad about ending up 4th after starting right at the back of the gird, but still, a podium would have been an incredible boost to the team after a tough weekend. Still, at least their drivers didn’t run into each other.
Ferrari blew this one. Plain and simple. Malaysia was their race to win. And they couldn’t do it.
No doubt the team is feverishly working back in Maranello in an attempt to diagnose the problems with their new power unit upgrades. I hope for our sakes they will, and in so doing, give us fans a chance to watch a spectacular race at one of the season’s best circuits, Suzuka.
And while there are many lessons to be learned from this race (like never overtake Lance Stroll on the cool-down lap, apparently) the failure of both Ferraris in just under twenty-four hours reminds us of one pertinent thing. Nothing is a given. Nothing is for granted. Nothing is permanent in Formula One.
This time last year, we thought Hamilton would take his 4th championship, only to see his hope destroyed by an engine failure. In 2012, Vettel’s first turn spin at Interlagos guaranteed Alsonso his 3rd title, up until the moment that the young German put in the drive of his life to secure that honor for himself.
Looking back through the history of the sport, so many winners and champions have had victory snatched from them because of rotten luck,
I don’t mean any of this as Ferrari bashing or saying that they’ve lost the championship based off of their showing in the past two races. Quite the opposite, actually.
Yes, Ferrari blew their chances, but there are still races to go and points to be won. Mercedes and Hamilton seem untouchable in terms of reliability, but we thought the same thing that up until Malaysia last year.
And this is the world of racing. The world where anything can happen. The world where a millionaire party-boy or a simple sheep farmer from Scotland can win a world championship. It’s the world where a five dollar seal failing can destroy a twenty-five million dollar car.
Things may be bleak for Ferrari. But they’ve been bleaker.
At the end of the day, this is Ferrari we’re talking about. They can never be counted out completely. There’s still a lot of this season left to go. And, at least their drivers didn’t run into each other.
Daniel James Clark
@thedjclark
