Ferrari slated for 'continuous disaster' as Lewis Hamilton faces ‘final’ verdict

The Italian media have published their verdict after yet another disastrous performance for Ferrari at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, alongside a ‘final’ verdict for F1 champion Lewis Hamilton.

It seems weekend after weekend, there is always a new Ferrari struggle to remark upon, with their latest appearance in Baku doing little to alleviate the woes of the tifosi.

Hamilton and Charles Leclerc finished the Azerbaijan GP in P8 and P9 respectively, with a team orders fiasco blighting what was already a poor performance.

Originally, Hamilton was allowed past his team-mate to chase the cars in front on fresher tyres, but when the Brit failed to overtake he was asked to give the position back.

However, Hamilton failed to slow before the chequered flag, with eighth place not returned to Leclerc, who issued the damning statement after the race: “It didn't happen, and that's ok. It's not like I would have been a lot happier being P8, so I don't mind."

Italian media rank Ferrari and Hamilton

The Italian media were equally as downbeat in their condemnation of Ferrari, with publication Corriere della Sera giving the team a lowly zero in their rankings piece.

If you thought the score was brutal, their reasoning really twisted the knife, albeit with their characteristic lyricism and drama.

“From ‘continuous struggle’ — the intention on the eve of the World Championship was to fight to the end against McLaren, Red Bull and Mercedes itself — to ‘continuous disaster’, because it seems that there is no end in sight for the poor, crippled Prancing Horse,” they wrote.

“Nothing is compromised, the fight mentioned above must continue, but in the meantime, second place in the Constructors' Championship has been temporarily lost (and Red Bull is 14 points ahead).”

The publication even took issue with the paddock cats that went viral during the Baku weekend, a true statement on their severity.

“Another problem is that the Rossa has now become the joke of the web and social networks: a joker posted a photo on Facebook of a cat inside Leclerc's cockpit, saying that instead of Charles, the paddock cat named Furrari will be racing. So much for the World Championship, we're down to puns,” they continued.

As for Hamilton, the publication commiserated with the seven-time world champion, giving him a score of six, writing: “He had come to Ferrari to try to win his eighth world title, not to finish eighth in Baku. Sad, lonely and final?”

The latter unfortunately suggests things won't get easier for the 40-year-old any time soon.

Team-mate Charles Leclerc fared worse than Hamilton in the rankings, receiving a measly score of 5.5, but the publication felt equally felt sorry for their driver.

“Soon, even the discouraged phrases will run out of patience,” it read.

“Two of them were heard today: "I don't have the patience to pass Lawson" and "That's not what I expected from you, but I'll do it," uttered when asked to let Hamilton pass.

“From Friday's dreams to Saturday and Sunday's nightmares: the Witches' Castle has swallowed up the Little Prince.”

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