Ferrari reach CRITICAL moment as teen sensation provides stick or twist scenario
Ferrari reach CRITICAL moment as teen sensation provides stick or twist scenario
Ferrari's 2023 season so far has been nothing short of a nightmare with Aston Martin and Mercedes surging ahead of them in the constructors' standings.
The Scuderia endured another tough day at the office at the Miami Grand Prix with Carlos Sainz fifth and Charles Leclerc seventh, both unable to hold onto the Mercedes car ahead of them.
Leclerc's problems were all his own doing after a crash in qualifying that mirrored the one he had in practice the day before, suggesting that he had not learned his lesson.
Sainz also shot himself in the foot as he speeding in the pitlane saw him slapped with a five-second time penalty.
Team boss Fred Vasseur has had an unenviable task since joining the Prancing Horse and the mistakes his drivers keep making are not helping in the team's plans to get back to the top.
READ MORE: Sainz opens up on SPECIAL moment at Miami Grand Prix
Time to gamble
On paper, a driver pairing of Leclerc and Sainz would be considered among the top two or three on the grid.
Both are race winners and Leclerc's one-lap speed - when he doesn't shunt into the wall - is remarkable.
But it doesn't take a genius to work out that things are not going right at Maranello and the time to gamble could be fast approaching.
They will look to change their direction in 2023 with new upgrades but the pace of the car becomes irrelevant when the drivers are unable to get anything out of it.
Luckily for Vasseur and Ferrari, one of their junior drivers is making a very loud claim for a race seat in F1 and he might be worth the gamble.
Brilliant Bearman
Formula 2 is the breeding ground of all F1 drivers nowadays but it is almost impossible to dominate any race given how tightly-packed the field is.
Nobody told Oliver Bearman that, however, and his latest showing in F2 will have made everyone at Ferrari sit up and take notice.
The 18-year-old is in his debut year in F2 and headed to Baku for the very first time during the F1 weekend.
Driving for PREMA Racing, Bearman was fastest in practice before taking pole position with his steering bent out of shape after a touch with the wall.
He then charged from 10th on the grid to win the sprint race before masterfully controlling the feature and sweeping the weekend.
Lando Norris, George Russell and even Leclerc couldn't top every session in an F2 weekend. Stoffel Vandoorne was the last to do so in 2015 when the series was known as GP2.
If the Monagasque and Sainz continue to put struggle at Ferrari, then Vasseur may have to consider Bearman for a seat to replace one of them.
Even if he doesn't head straight to Maranello, there could be a wave of teams ready to ditch one of their drivers for such a mercurial talent.
READ MORE: Who is Natalie Pinkham? All you need to know about the Sky F1 star
Related
Change your timezone:
Latest News
Haas announce Hulkenberg EXIT as F1 star's new team confirmed
- Today 11:27
F1 champion claims Drive to Survive success was 'very lucky'
- 1 hour ago
F1 franchise welcomes return of INCREDIBLE feature
- 2 hours ago
F1 News Today: Red Bull star set to QUIT team as F1 driver role CONFIRMED for 2025
- 3 hours ago
F1 team set to axe BOTH star drivers
- 3 hours ago
Red Bull to lose F1 MVP as true cost of Horner saga hits
- Today 09:57
Related news
Ferrari show off new-look drivers following HUGE announcement
Sky Sports F1 pundit dumbfounded by key Ferrari decision
F1 giants announce name change with IMMEDIATE effect
Ferrari announce HUGE F1 change to iconic red livery
F1 Standings
Drivers
- Oliver Bearman
- Charles Leclerc
- Carlos Sainz
- Lando Norris
- Oscar Piastri
- Pierre Gasly
- Esteban Ocon
- Sergio Pérez
- Max Verstappen
- Alexander Albon
- Logan Sargeant
- Lewis Hamilton
- George Russell
- Nico Hülkenberg
- Kevin Magnussen
- Fernando Alonso
- Lance Stroll
- Valtteri Bottas
- Zhou Guanyu
- Daniel Ricciardo
- Yuki Tsunoda
Races
- Gulf Air Grand Prix of Bahrain 2024
- Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Australia 2024
- MSC Cruises Grand Prix of Japan 2024
- Grand Prix of China 2024
- Miami Grand Prix 2024
- Gran Premio dell'Emilia Romagna 2024
- Grand Prix of Monaco 2024
- Grand Prix du Canada 2024
- Gran Premio de España 2024
- Grand Prix of Austria 2024
- Grand Prix of Great Britain 2024
- Grand Prix of Hungary 2024
- Grand Prix of Belgium 2024
- Heineken Dutch Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Italy 2024
- Grand Prix of Azerbaijan 2024
- Grand Prix of Singapore 2024
- Grand Prix of the United States 2024
- Gran Premio de la Ciudad de Mexico 2024
- Grande Prêmio de São Paulo 2024
- Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix 2024
- Qatar Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi 2024
About GPFans
GPFans is a multi-platform, multi-language brand dedicated to Formula One coverage. We bring you all the ins and outs of the sport, 24/7, everything from up-to-the-minute news and features to the latest viral stories and clips.We believe that a new generation of exciting, outspoken drivers will make F1 more popular than ever before, and we want to give our users access to as much of their heroes as possible, on and off the track. From Lewis Hamilton to Max Verstappen, Daniel Ricciardo to Sebastian Vettel, we provide in-depth analysis of every every Grand Prix in the season, from Australia to Abu Dhabi.
With Formula One under the new ownership of Liberty Media, how the sport is being covered is evolving, and GPFans will look to be at the heart of this progression into new media, as one of the fastest-growing sites covering the king of motorsports.
Follow us on your favorite social media channel
Corporate & Media
Innovatieweg 20C7007 CD, Doetinchem, Netherlands
+31645516860