Let’s put it this way: in the last three weeks Ferrari has won a race that was almost impossible to win (Monza) thanks to a gamble and due to a lack of gamble it has lost one (Baku) that was not already a done deal but almost. On the Autodromo Charles had signed as a champion a masterpiece painted collectively together with his pit wall, astute and cool, as well as a little lucky, in improvising a very long final stint on tyres for which the tests had not provided clear indications of consumption, degradation, resistance. In Azerbaijan everything was going perfectly until an excess of caution in running in the hard tyres just mounted at the only pit stop, or at least a little too much optimism towards Piastri’s McLaren that the Monegasque driver believed he could easily overtake at the end of the race, took away seven of those 25 points that today would give him and Maranello an exceptional prospect of fighting for their respective titles.
Besides, the situation is very clear: this Red Bull that has literally collapsed since the beginning of the summer is giving us one of the most balanced World Championships ever. Until Max and his reborn squire Perez find themselves with the marvelous single-seater they had at least until mid-May, the performance battle between them, McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes is one of the most beautiful, exciting and limiting realities of the last few years of Formula 1.
But it is also true that in this new and perhaps not even hoped for balance, the Reds are not the ones who have progressed the most: the McLarens are one step ahead. They are, above all, for their performance capacity in different conditions, without apparent weak points other than the no longer hideable internal war between Norris and Piastri. With Baku, the young Australian has definitively shown what he is made of: the nastiness with which he controlled Leclerc in the final part of the race, without a single mistake, is the stuff of seasoned champions. Lando came from a difficult Saturday and could not even dream of competing in the same winning orbit as his teammate, but from now on he will not have an easy life to avoid other moments of this type. The Mercedes, for now, are the fourth force.
In this situation, Ferrari could not have had more luck than it is having. It started well at the beginning of the season, lost its way with the developments of late spring and mid-summer, but is now rebuilding its potential brick by brick. Small steps made concrete and errors eliminated, as per the (effective) doctrine signed by Fred Vasseur. But now there are seven races left until the end of the season, and the Reds must give it a push if they still have any ambitions for the championship. In the Drivers’ category, it will be very difficult: the harvest of points in the first third of the season guarantees Verstappen the possibility of reaching his fourth personal title with important placings. But for the Constructors’ title there is still a lot to say: the reduced gaps and, we repeat, the Red Bull crisis that may have paid dearly for certain regulatory decisions (read: prohibition of using certain technical systems never made official) open up a field today in which a lot is possible.
But now the Prancing Horse must get moving. Singapore is coming, where a year ago Sainz took that only win of the season that marked the beginning of a championship tail end in ever-increasing competitiveness. Now the same thing must happen. With its city curves almost all at 90 degrees, without the lateral Gs that made the SF-24s sweat in June and July; with the DRS zones increased to four and a possible hunting ground for the very strong Ferrari engine, Charles and Carlos have everything they need to go fast this weekend. On paper, their biggest obstacle will once again be called McLaren. But the door to aim to beat them, and therefore build a season finale like the one a year ago, is precisely this: Singapore.
Gateway to the East, to hope in a global perspective. You have to believe in it.
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