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At Nurburgring it rained only a few drops that did not affect the Eifel GP at all, but Ferrari’s cold shower hurt.
Charles Leclerc’s seventh place at the finish line of the German race returns Red to its “natural” position.
A sign that we were misled that the Monegasque’s second row in qualifying was the first sign of a (slow) recovery and instead was probably primarily a ‘magic’ from the young Monegasque on the fastest lap.
The cancellation of the two free practice sessions on Friday made things difficult because the teams did not have the opportunity to do the usual long races with the gas load, so they all queued for the German GP without having much data on the pace of real race.
And immediately after the start it was clear that the SF1000 did not have the pace to keep up with those following Leclerc. At the end of the day, in just 5 laps the boy had accumulated a gap of more than 12 seconds and on lap 6 he was the protagonist of a long on the first takeoff while defending himself from the first attacks of Daniel Ricciardo.
Eventually Charles had to bow his head to Renault, Racing Point and McLaren, so everything was back to normal. Two thirds of the way into the race, Leclerc had already rolled and only the entrance of the safety car allowed the group to regroup. However, the boy has accumulated a 30-second gap to winner Lewis Hamilton in the last 15 laps.
It is true that Leclerc under the safety car was the only one in the lead who did not make the pit stop and found himself with the most worn averages fighting with all those who had installed fresh if not new softs, but the “Prince” spoke for radio with the team that there was no point going back to the reds (he had no more new ones) after the first stint and he preferred to stay on the track rather than stop.
A questionable choice in hindsight, but one that would not have changed the cards on the table anyway. The Ferrari with a full tank is not competitive and the first season was a bummer.
The drivers with 17 degrees of asphalt (2 less than yesterday’s qualifying) failed to trigger the temperature of the tires that worked outside the expected window, while on Saturday the “miracle” was successful in qualifying and the Red grabbed a surprising second row.
Therefore, it can be said that the new tire for a lap may have masked the problems that arise on long tours when there is a higher fuel load.
Not having done the long runs on Friday did not allow us to understand the true rhythm of the Ferrari: obviously with a full tank the rear suspension that worked well on the fastest lap is still not working properly and Cavallino’s technicians will have to work hard to avoid it. that the next races with winter temperatures (Portimao and Imola) may end with the same result.
But it is clear that there was a step forward and something was wrong in the preparation of the race, while others, more in difficulty in qualifying, went the distance. The new fund will make its debut in Portimao with a different rear extractor, continuing the evolution of the SF1000 towards 2021.
The Portuguese track will be a new track for F1 for which there is little data available because we have never competed there and with its ups and downs it will be essential not to miss the two free practice sessions on Friday to find a suitable set-up also for the race. , lest Leclerc’s magic in qualifying ignite expectations that shatter Sunday into bitter disappointment.
And if Charles didn’t like the race, Sebastian Vettel’s cannot be judged: the German started on the hard compound, the least suitable for the cold of the Ring. We saw it on lap 11 when in an attempt to attack Antonio Giovinazzi with Alfa Romeo, he blocked the front and started turning on the escape route.
We’ve gotten used to the twists and turns of the four-time world champion in the past two years, but it’s clear that Seb suffers from the SF1000 and as soon as he dares to risk a hair more he pays with a mistake.
Ferrari cannot resign itself to these actions. The ray of hope that the “prince” gives us indicates a way forward. There are probably still some pieces of the puzzle missing for the mosaic to be completed and the vision of the future clarified, but time inexorably passes …
