Despite Formula 1 currently being in the latter stages of its winter break, Ferrari are continuing to put on a show in Monza – well, sort of.
Last Sunday in Italy’s top-flight football division, Serie A, Sassuolo player Gian Marco Ferrari scored against AC Monza, something which was immediately posted on social media amongst the F1 community.
Despite Ferrari scoring, Sassuolo failed to win the match, with Gianluca Caprari having scored for AC Monza in the second half.
To put it into F1 terms, Ferrari put it on pole but failed to turn it into a race win, something the Italians are all too familiar with.
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Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz claimed 12 pole positions between them in 2022, with the side having only gone on to win three of them.
Leclerc didn’t even start on pole at the Austrian Grand Prix, where he overtook Max Verstappen to claim his third victory of the season.
Ferrari arguably had the best qualifying car of the season; what let them down, though, was their endless strategic errors.
The vast majority of the races that Leclerc and Sainz started on pole for would’ve resulted in victory, had the team not attempted to be different.
It somewhat appeared that the Maranello-based team didn’t realise sometimes just how good their car was, with the side having made their own lives difficult by attempting alternative strategies.
The Italians had to do this in 2020 and 2021, two years where the Scuderia dropped into the midfield.
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When being a midfield side you can often afford to try and be a little different, especially when not inside the points; however, when leading the race, you’d rather be safe than sorry.
Former Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto was urged to change the team’s strategic personnel but always remained adamant that he’d stick by his team no matter the mistake, something that arguably cost him his job following the end of last season.
New boss Frederic Vasseur is much more likely to implement changes should the unnecessary mistakes continue, with the Italians needing to be perfect to beat Red Bull in 2023.