What is up with Ferrari?
- John Quinn
- Sep 4, 2020
- 3 min read

If you have even a modest interest in Formula 1, you will have noticed the Ferrari F1 team have been absent from the winning position of late.
Why has the most famous name in motor-sport become so un-competitive?
Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton have been the dominating force in this current era of turbo-hybrid F1 cars, that were ushered in in 2014.
They had a clear technical advantage from the offset of these regulations and through hard work and skill, have maintained that advantage over the last six and a bit seasons.

Their V6 power-unit has been the class of the field, but from mid-way through 2018, it looked as if Ferrari were catching up; and in 2019 it seemed they were actually ahead in performance, with four pole positions and three wins in the third quarter of the season.
Suspicions began to rise in the F1 paddock as to how Ferrari had managed to jump in performance so quickly. So much so, that the FIA, the sport's governing body, decided to investigate at that season's Mexican Grand Prix in October.
The FIA stated they found no wrong doing at the time, but coincidentally, Ferrari's performance began to tail-off in the latter rounds of the 2019 season.

During the Winter break, the FIA dug deeper, investigating Ferrari and it's customer teams. Just before the 2020 pre-season testing began, a press release was sent out.
The FIA had come to an agreement with Ferrari over the workings of their power-unit. The results of their investigation would remain private, but for the 2020 season, all teams would have to incorporate a new, second fuel-flow rate sensor to their cars.
The secret agreement between the FIA and Ferrari angered rival teams and fans alike, with the FIA being criticised for being too lenient with Ferrari. The long-running joke of FIA standing for 'Ferrari International Assistance' doing the rounds once more.

Whatever the secret agreement was, come pre-season testing, Ferrari seemed to be off the pace, which was later confirmed when the the 2020 season finally got started in June after a Corna-Virus led delay.
At best, it looked like the Ferrari was the fifth fastest car on the grid, a massive drop from fighting at the front in F1. The team struggled in qualifying in the first few rounds and the races weren't much better. The only saving grace being a couple of luck driven and hard-wrestled podium finishes for Charles LeClerc, at the Austrian and British Grand Prix.
Things have only gone backwards since, with last weekend's Belgian Grand Prix really showing the weakness in Ferrari's package. Their two driver's barely made it through to the second part of qualifying and in the race, both cars failed to score points, finishing an embarrassing 13th and 14th for Vettel and LeClerc respectively.

Team boss Mattia Binotto has stated that there will be no quick fix to these woes. The 2020 car was designed around a much more powerful power-unit that has, for whatever secret reason, been taken away from them.
With the 2021 regulations seeing very little change to the rules, teams will essentially be running the same cars next season as they are this year. So it seems Ferrari are going to continue to struggle.
2022 sees a huge changes in the technical regulations, which Ferrari and their legion of "Tifosi" fans will be hoping bring the changes needed to see them fighting at the front again.
For now though, things are tough for the Prancing Horse.
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