The 2022 constructors runner-up, Ferrari has a powerful lineup with strong drivers in both cars. Charles Leclerc stands in 10th place with only 6 points, having suffered two DNFs in the first 3 races of the season. In the Bahrain GP, Leclerc had been disqualified owing to the failure of the electrical component in his car.
Leclerc managed to scrape 6 points in the second race at Jeddah, starting in the lower half of the grid due to the FIA regulations regarding electronic components.
Ferrari is now having some internal issues, and former board member Lapo Elkann has expressed his dissatisfaction with the team’s performance in the 2023 season’s first races. Elkann asked for greater seriousness and a successful team while urging a stop to the “politics and games” on Twitter. The remark also seemed to poke fun at Santander, Ferrari’s sponsor.
Lapo Elkann, brother of John Elkann:
“Ferrari needs heart, seriousness and a winning team inside and outside of the pits.”
“It’s time to WAKE UP. Enough with politics and games. We will NEVER win like this.”
— Ferrari News 🐎 (@FanaticsFerrari) April 15, 2023
In the Australian GP, Leclerc collided with Lance Stroll’s AMR23 and spun out causing a DNF. On the other hand, his teammate, Carlos Sainz, stands in 5th place in the WDC standings.
The Spaniard finished 5th, 6th, and 12th in the Bahrain, Saudi Arabian, and Australian GP respectively. While this is miles away from their condition last year at this stage where they were leading the WCC and WDC by a substantial margin.
TEAM STANDINGS 2022 vs. 2023 📊
Red Bull Racing and Aston Martin with a dreamy start, in comparison to 2022! 💪
Alas, there’s still a long season to go! 👀#BahrainGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/v3WosrbStN
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 8, 2023
Ferrari has started the 2023 season on the back foot and can only hope that improvement is on its way. However, till now, it has only disappointed the fans.
What happened between Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz at the Australian GP?
This occurs at the same time as Charles Leclerc, the team’s main driver, has expressed his displeasure about Carlos Sainz’s failure to tow him during the Melbourne Grand Prix qualifying session. The Monegasque commented sarcastically “Big thanks to Carlos for the tow, got a bit of speed there, always nice.” ‘Towing‘ is essentially using the slipstream of the car in front to get a boost in speed due to reduced traction facilitated by the car in front.
Sainz finished ahead of Leclerc in the Australian GP qualifying, finishing in 5th position, thus his sarcastic statement on the team radio regarding Sainz’s lack of cooperation garnered attention. Leclerc’s dissatisfaction with Sainz’s performance raises the potential that there is enmity between the two drivers.
With the sacking of former team principal, Mattia Binotto, Ferrari was expected to climb the grid to challenge for the title with Fred Vasseur at the helm. But, it turns out Ferrari has a long way to go and can hope that the upgrades from the 4th race onwards from the Azerbaijan GP. Ferrari is expected to have a substantial improvement before their home race at Monza.