Analysis | Never mind Mercedes, Ferrari must change their car philosophy
F1 News
Ferrari must change their car philosophy to challenge for the Formula 1 World Championship in 2024. The Azerbaijan Grand Prix weekend proved they still have a very fast car, but it's not a good racing car in the current era of Formula 1. So it's no longer about changing set-ups and bringing upgrades to improve the required areas. Instead, a complete rethink is needed to be considered and questioned.
It will be 15 years since Ferrari last won the Constructors' World Championship if they don't manage to beat Red Bull this season. That will equal their longest-ever draught, and the pain is set to continue. They have a quick car, and there are some remarkable statistics to highlight that over the last 12 months. So why are they not winning?
Pole positions
Red Bull have dominated Formula 1 since the rule and regulation change was introduced at the start of the 2022 Formula 1 season. Christian Horner's team have sometimes been challenged on track but hardly ever in the championship standings. They are already nearly 100 points clear after just four races in 2023. Despite this solid performance, Ferrari have recorded more pole positions in 2022 and 2023 combined.
In fact: Charles Leclerc kind of did it twice in Azerbaijan, with the traditional qualifying on Friday and the Sprint Shootout on Saturday. The Ferrari car can perform on a single lap, largely down to the performance in the slow and medium-speed corners. The middle sector in the Baku Street Circuit is the best place to highlight this.
| Turn exit | Leclerc Speed kph | Verstappen Speed Kph | Difference kph |
| 3 | 143 | 119 | 24 |
| 4 | 143 | 132 | 11 |
| 6 | 118 | 107 | 11 |
| 7 | 100 | 95 | 5 |
| 8/9 | 126 | 120 | 6 |
| 12 | 130 | 113 | 17 |
These speeds were taken from the exact same place on the circuit during their fastest lap in Q3 on Friday. Leclerc is always ahead during these slow corners, which actually start in sector 1. This is advantageous over a single lap because more time is spent in the corners than on the straights, even with a 2.2km start/finish straight. With this performance, Leclerc was able to beat Verstappen to pole position. A similar result occurred in the sprint shootout one day later.
But it's the same old adage in Formula 1: the points are handed out in the races. In the DRS and ground effect era of Formula 1, straight-line performance is much more critical during the races. The current era of Formula 1 also makes it very tricky to overtake through the corners, even more so in Baku because it's so narrow. It's only wide enough for one car through the castle section.
The Red Bull car is still good in the slow-speed corners. Good enough to allow Verstappen and Sergio Perez to stay comfortably within the DRS range. As explained and predicted on Friday, Ferrari were simply sitting ducks on the straight.
Opinion | Time for change
All of the concept questions have been fired towards Mercedes, and rightly so. But now it's time to question Ferrari's motives. They have to realise that they are getting nowhere with this car. Of course, receiving pole positions is nice, but that's about it. You can secure every pole position during the season and still finish last in the World Championship standings come the chequered flag in Abu Dhabi.
They've had a long time to understand this now. A long time to make changes towards straight-line speed. A long time to tweak things. And they have to a certain extent. But have they reached the maximum potential? It's time to make some fundamental philosophy changes to the car because otherwise, it will be status quo for Ferrari until 2026 at the earliest and an unbeatable draught of championships. It also has to be mentioned that an underperforming Mercedes has only masked how far behind Ferrari really are.