DESERT REGION – LAS VEGAS CHAPTER
4th Quarter 2019 Pt 3/3
November 17: GP of Brazil (20)
The Interlagos track, located outside Sao Paulo, is relatively short (2.7 miles) and pretty fast; laps were being turned in less than 1 minute and 10 seconds while speeds topped 215 mph. But nothing like that was being achieved in Practice 1, when the rain was pouring down. Instead the cars were tip-toeing around, trying to gather pertinent data without damaging the bodywork. Meanwhile, some important information was coming from behind the pit wall: Albon will return in the Red Bull in 2020, and Pierre Gasly and Danny Kvyat will do the same at Toro Rosso. It was also announced that Charles Leclerc was given a 10 spot grid penalty for changing his engine.
Weather conditions improved for Practice 2 and 3, but continued to be problematic. There was finally some sun for P3 on Saturday morning, but the track was still quite damp. The only thing that could be said was that the times were very close. Qualifying was still cool, but at least everything had dried out. Leclerc, with his penalty, decided to start the race on medium tires (everyone else of note would be on softs) and still managed to make it to Q3. The Qualifying order was Verstappen, Vettel, Hamilton, Leclerc (penalized to 14th on the grid), Bottas, and Albon.
Race day was sunny, warm, and very windy, meaning that tires would not last as long as might have been projected based upon data gathered during Practice. In a daring move at the start, Hamilton immediately passed Vettel; meanwhile, Leclerc (from 14th) attempted to, and finally did, pass Norris after a tense fight. From that point onward, Leclerc sliced through the field and was 6th by lap 10. At the front, Verstappen, in the lead, was slowly pulling away from Hamilton in second. So, the topic of discussion became strategy and pit stops, would two be necessary or could the race be won making only one tire change.
Hamilton (to another set of softs), Verstappen (ditto), Albon (mediums), Vettel (mediums), and Bottas (hards) all stopped (in that order) for new tires between lap 21 and 27. Leclerc continued to lap 30 on his fading medium tires and opted to switch to the hards. Clearly, there was a wide divergence in strategy. Which would prove to be best? After all the leaders had made their first (and for some perhaps only) stops, the running order was Verstappen (clearly the fastest car in the field), Hamilton, Vettel, Bottas, Leclerc, and Albon.
By lap 40 it was becoming very clear that one stop was not going to cut it, and, between laps 42 and 45, Bottas, Hamilton, and Verstappen all stopped for a second time; they all opted to continue (finish) on medium tires. After these stops, the running order was Vettel (having stopped only once), Verstappen, Hamilton, Albon (one stop), Leclerc (one stop and hoping to make his hard tires go to the end), and Bottas. Bottas, on new medium rubber was clearly quicker than Leclerc, and he set about getting by the Ferrari. Despite many strong attempts – it was a wonderful battle to behold – Bottas could not make a pass stick, and then had his engine overheat and detonate to reward his efforts (lap 53). Both Albon and Vettel made their second stops on lap 50, after which the running order was Verstappen (mediums), Hamilton (mediums), Vettel (mediums), Leclerc (hards), and Albon (softs). All had made two stops except Leclerc.
Then the wild card was dealt: the safety car was deployed on lap 54 (for Bottas’ car), slowing and bunching the field, and prompting Verstappen and Albon to make a third stop, and Leclerc to make a second. When racing resumed after a long break, the order was Hamilton, Verstappen, Vettel, Albon, and Leclerc. But that didn’t last long as Verstappen on new tires just simply blew by Hamilton to retake the lead, while Albon passed Vettel. Vettel attempted to re-pass the Red Bull, but failed, and then seemed to lose concentration for a moment, allowing his teammate (Leclerc, on new tires) to pass him easily. Then the disaster card was dealt: Vettel tried to repass Leclerc and the two Ferraris collided. Both were out with only 5 laps to go! This prompted the Safety Car to be deployed again, which led Hamilton to make an ill-advised third stop for new soft tires. He rejoined in 5th and while he managed to get by several cars in the final laps, he collided with Albon (who spun and finished 15th) to thwart his hopes for the race win. The surprising final order was Verstappen, Gasly (Toro Rosso), Hamilton (who was subsequently penalized for his collision with Albon), Sainz, and Raikkonen.
Pit stop strategy scrambled the field, but in the end Verstappen and Hamilton climbed the podium, pretty much as expected. But the failure to finish by Bottas, Vettel, and Leclerc resulted in some unusual names in the top 5.
So we come to the Vettel-Leclerc collision. While the merits and faults of both were debated, the pundits concluded that neither was fully at fault or fully innocent. However, in the eyes of Ferrari, and of Ferrari fans, Vettel must be seen as the clear perpetrator of the crime. He had already attempted and failed to pass Albon, and Leclerc (clearly faster on fresher tires) had easily passed Vettel just moments prior to their crash. Vettel was only able to attempt to regain his position because he had the DRS advantage. He should have let Leclerc by so that he could try to pass Albon. That was the move that a teammate should make. Instead, Vettel precipitated a crash that eliminated both Ferraris. Simply inexcusable.
December 1: GP of Abu Dhabi
So…finally…we come to the last race of the season. With all of the championships decided, only pride and bragging rights were at stake, and the only imperative was to put on a good show for the fans. The Yas Marina circuit is home to Ferrari World, an internationally famous theme park; but this race has been no friend to Ferrari, which has never won here. Since the site is in the ferociously hot Middle East, the 55 lap race is run at night, while the Practice sessions and Qualifying are held in the late afternoon. The track is long (3.4 miles) and fast (laps under 1:40 are common).The Practice sessions were mostly run without incident. The teams seemed to generally ignore them because the afternoon temperature conditions would be so different from those during the actual race. One, or really two, things of interest did occur: Bottas had two engine failures. He was relegated to starting from last place. Qualifying was also pretty much uneventful. The only tidbit of interest concerned Vettel’s decision to start on the soft tires while all of the other top runners opted for the mediums. The Qualifying order was Hamilton, Bottas (who would be penalized to last), Verstappen, Leclerc, Vettel, and Albon. Then, a potential bombshell: the stewards found that Ferrari had declared a significantly different fuel level than was actually present in Leclerc’s car. While the information provided was scant, there was talk that Leclerc might be disqualified. In the end, sane minds prevailed and Ferrari was handed a stiff fine for the seemingly innocent error.
The start was clean and uneventful except for Leclerc’s bold pass of Verstappen for second place. Immediately thereafter, Verstappen came under high pressure from Vettel, and these two battled for a few laps before the Ferrari dropped back to reassess the situation and save its tires. Meanwhile, Hamilton was slowly pulling away from the rest of the field. At lap 5 the running order was Hamilton, Leclerc, Verstappen, Vettel, and Albon. Bottas had clawed his way up to 11th.
Pit stops began on lap 12, with Ricciardo, Leclerc, Vettel, and Albon stopping in quick succession. All opted to continue on the hard tires. Conversely, Verstappen, Hamilton, and Bottas delayed their first stops to laps 25 – 30, but they too chose the hard tires for their second stints. After all the leaders had stopped, the running order was Hamilton, Leclerc, Verstappen, Vettel, Albon, and Bottas. Beginning on lap 32, Verstappen mounted an attack on Leclerc, and finally managed to get by the Ferrari a few laps later. Leclerc made a valiant effort to get second place back, but ultimately failed to do so. By lap 38, it was becoming obvious that the hard tires would not make it to the end for those who had stopped early (around lap 13), and they began to make second pit stops. Leclerc stopped and continued on soft tires, while Vettel chose to continue on mediums. From there to the end not much of significance occurred. At this point Leclerc and Vettel (on newer, softer tires) were the fastest cars on the track, but they were too far behind to catch and pass most of the cars ahead of them, although Vettel did manage to pass Albon. The final finishing order was Hamilton, Verstappen, Leclerc, Bottas, Vettel, and Albon.
With this relatively uneventful race, the season ended with a whimper rather than a bang.
Wrap-Up – Races 17 through 21
Given its excellent showing after the summer break, Ferrari entered the final portion of the season with great hopes to go out with a bang. But the sizzle failed to materialize. Mercedes circled its wagons and was once more king of the rodeo. And Red Bull (or at least Mad Max Verstappen) was suddenly in position to claim title to best of the rest. Hamilton and Mercedes won the championships handily, and Ferrari’s top driver was only fourth in the points.
Formula 1 2019 in Review
For Ferrari, 2019 must be viewed as a great disappointment. We can easily recall winter testing, when it seemed that Ferrari would be the class of the field. Back then, everyone seemed to agree that 2019 would be the year for an Italian renaissance. It wasn’t to be: instead Mercedes dominated the early portion of the season while Ferrari staggered about wondering what had happened.
Then, after the summer break, hope sprang up again. Maybe not hope for the championship, that boat had sailed. But hope for a strong finish was in the air as the Ferraris headed the field in several races. Once again, though, those red dreams faded as Mercedes rededicated its efforts and slowly took back the advantage as the season dwindled to a close.
So, another very disappointing season. The cars themselves were very fast in a straight line, but clearly slower than both the Mercedes and the Red Bulls in the corners. Of perhaps even greater importance was that the Ferraris used up their tires (due to lack of traction in the corners?) faster than both the other top teams.
As the laps ticked off, the Ferraris became progressively slower than the competition. This is an aerodynamic problem that must be addressed in next year’s car.
As for the drivers, Vettel was certainly partly to blame for Ferrari’s failure to score points in 2019. During the middle third of the season he seemed to lose his passion for the sport…and his concentration; at times he seemed to be in a daze. In the final third of the season he sporadically regained his fire, but only at certain races and in certain circumstances, as the long season petered out. He must either return for 2020 with passion, or consider retiring…or Ferrari should begin to ponder replacing him. Leclerc, on the other hand, performed better than could have been expected. From the beginning of the season he challenged Vettel in both speed and race craft. The only fault I find with him is that he seems a bit of a cry-baby…when things don’t go his way, he whines. I say to him, “That is the time to bear down and drive faster, not cry about what happened 6 laps ago.” Nevertheless, he outscored Vettel in the drivers’ championship, a result that would have seemed impossible before the season began.
So, let’s have a look at the points situation at season’s end:
Drivers
Hamilton 387…Bottas 314…Verstappen 260…Leclerc…249…Vettel 230
Manufacturers
Mercedes GP 701 … Ferrari 479 … Red Bull 391 … McLaren 140
What is that I see, McLaren finished fourth in the constructors’ championship? Yes, the orange cars are back, and Formula 1 will be more exciting for it. But that just means that there will be more dogs fighting for the points and the podiums next year.
And so once again, we must satisfy ourselves with the convenient balm…WAIT ‘TIL NEXT YEAR!!