A challenging duel, between two top drivers and two historic teams of the circus, certainly tastier than competing for the title to a teammate. Lewis Hamilton votes Sebastian Vettel as the ideal opponent, to whom he contends for the world title of Formula 1, confirming that he very much liked this battle with the four-time World Champion driving Ferrari, compared to the previous three years of family struggle with Nico Rosberg.
"I have said a thousand times that it is more exciting to race with a driver from another team than against your own partner. I already tried it in 2007 and 2008, and then I grew up seeing the battles between Ferrari and McLaren, or other great teams. It is exciting to participate in the fight between a red and a silver arrow that are the most historic teams. As well as being more challenging, the fight with a rival team is also more difficult because there is no data to compare, you have to rely more on yourself and your abilities".
After finishing second in the inaugural race in Australia behind the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel and winning in China, ahead of the German, the Briton expects another challenging weekend at the Sakhir track.
"I am happy to be back here in Bahrain where there is always a very good time. We had a start to the season that went well, we worked hard and I have to thank the team that allowed us to continue at very high levels. Another tough race is waiting for us, Ferrari is strong, they showed a fantastic pace and also in the first race they were very fast in the hottest conditions. And since this is even hotter, I guess they’ll be even closer".
Inevitably a comment to the news of Fernando Alonso who will be engaged in the next Indy 500, skipping the Monaco Grand Prix.
"I think it’s great that a driver can make a similar move. In the past drivers could go through different races. I hope that Alonso will do well and I hope that in his place in Monte-Carlo Jenson Button will return as one of the best drivers, one of the highest calibre drivers. I think McLaren should choose him for his experience. I think it will not be easy to adapt to the first race, but we are talking about one of the best drivers in the world. We will see how strong he will be and how he will be able to compete with drivers more used to him. Me? I race in Formula 1 and I wouldn’t want to miss a race, but I would like to race in Moto GP, or in Nascar, at the Daytona 500".
Fernando Alonso, in a crisis of results with his low performance McLaren-Honda, steals the scene from his opponents with the news of his participation in the next Indy 500. Thursday 13 April 2017, on the eve of the Bahrain Grand Prix is all for him, with many questions from the media present at Sakhir.
"I think that’s not very common right now, but in the past it was about all the best drivers in the world, with the best cars in the world. Then everything became more professional with the drivers who dedicated themselves more and more to their category. I’m excited to try something different. And then if I want to become the best driver in the world there are only two possibilities: win eight world titles by beating Michael Schumacher, which is very difficult; or win in different series, with different environments. It’s a situation where I have only to gain. America is very important for F1 and it is important to go there and show some respect for the mono of their races. It’s important for them but also for McLaren to be there. Having cars engaged in two different series is something important. As I said they all have to gain".
The Spanish driver also talks about the program of approaching the race on the famous Indiana basin.
"There is not a well-defined plan yet, I cannot answer with certainty about what we will do, but next weekend I will be in Alabama to meet the team members and see the race. On Monday I will test the seat and then fly to Russia for the Grand Prix, then we will fly to test the car and then after Spain, we will return for free practice. Surely there will be very intense weeks. On the plane we will watch videos of the races already challenged for, to learn as much as I can, to adapt to the car, the circuit and also the way to run so close and at high speeds".
It is therefore not a very easy situation:
"I’m not in my comfort zone, I’m not in my safe zone, but I’m not afraid to drive those cars and not get a good result if I want to one day win the triple crown (F1, Indy 500 and 24 Hours Le Mans, ed) I had to take this step".
And speaking of the most famous endurance race, Fernando adds:
"When will I race at Le Mans? I don’t know. It’s between Canada and Baku... Let’s see how many air connections there are. Joking aside, it's something that was in the plans this year, but Zak Brown as an American pushed for the Indy 500 and Eric Boullier as a Frenchman instead for the 24 Hours. Racing in the Indy 500 has a lot of appeal, Le Mans is something I will do and I will do it as soon as possible. I don’t know if next year or the other. My priority is still the F1 but if I could do it together it would be fabulous; otherwise I will continue in F1. Of course if I had 43 points like the first two in the fight for the World Cup the thing would be different...".
First Nico Rosberg who leaves without even giving him the revenge, now Fernando Alonso who gives up and points to Indianapolis to achieve new ambitions, or to delude himself. Lewis Hamilton looks around, in the sunny and suffocating desert of Bahrain and, as often happens when you are no longer young boys, suddenly realises that absences begin to be more than presences, and that even rivals, when they fail, leave huge holes. But, a bit out of pride, a bit out of stubbornness, he hides nostalgia. Alonso goes to Indianapolis. What impression does he make?
"I think it is very nice that a driver can compete in different series. Once you could do it freely".
Would you like to?
"I would love to do the Moto GP one day. There is no aerodynamics and the battles are all hand to hand. But without having to miss any F1 Grand Prix. Or it would be good to do a Nascar race or the Daytona 500. But for the moment I’m staying here. I still love it".
Would you stay in F1 even if the car didn’t give you a chance to win?
"When I switched to Mercedes, I knew I wouldn’t win at first. But it is normal that when one pushes in the car he does so because he expects to achieve some result".
This year, after many seasons, a heated competition between two teams is announced, with similar chances of victory.
"Yeah, that’s great. I think the talent will make the difference in the end. His or mine, after all, is what we have always asked of this sport".
Recently you expressed many flattering opinions on Vettel. In the past he did not seem to be a fan. Have you changed your mind?
"I don’t think I’ve changed my mind. He and I know each other well, we’ve been racing together for a long time. He won four World Championships, I won three, and we’ve always valued ourselves. The only reason I talk about it more now is because we’re head to head and people ask me more questions about him".
What race should we expect on Sunday?
"Ferrari has proven to have a terrific pace. And the impression we have is that it’s even faster on the hot circuits. Considering that this is one of the hottest circuits of the season, much more than the one in Melbourne ,where they won, I wouldn’t be surprised if the gap was further reduced. And not even if they stood in front of us".
In Barcelona, during the tests, you said the same thing.
"And I wasn’t wrong. I had seen that they were going a second to lap faster than us and as much as I tried I couldn’t stay on those times...".
But you seem more relaxed than last year. The internal challenge was more annoying than one with another team?
"It’s not true that I was more tense. I just had a more complicated start to the season because of the unexpected car. However, personally, for four years now I have found a better balance, made of compromises and mediation with myself. I have grown. And I can live better with the nonsense that is written and said about me".
Alonso’s goal was to win eight World Championships, one more than Schumacher. What about you?
"I have no such target. I love running and I just want to do this".
But you’re two poles from Senna.
"Yes, I like it, I don’t deny it. Every now and then I watch the videos and I see how he drove, how he controlled the car, how he held the steering wheel. Being able to reach his numbers is something that goes beyond my expectations".
On Friday, April 14, 2017 is a black day for Ferrari at the Sakhir circuit. Arriving in Bahrain with the uncomfortable label of favourite for the final victory - since the SF70H goes very well with the heat - Ferrari has a bit of disappointing expectations. Not so much for the performance, excellent both in the first session and in the second (Vettel at the top of the list), but for the reliability. In the early afternoon, the Finnish car stops for a failure (it seems an overheating) to the turbo. The spot on the track was the exact spot where Vettel stopped during the 2016 Grand Prix. The mechanics of Ferrari have performed a half miracle, replacing the entire engine in just two hours of work, in the box there is 40 °C and a very high humidity, and sending Räikkönen to the track for the second session. The second free practice session of the Bahrain Grand Prix is the most important: indeed, the only important one. Because it is the only one that takes place in qualifying and race time. And so it’s the only one where teams can get useful data on tyre wear. And it is precisely during the second session that the second problem of the day occurs. After marking his time Vettel’s car finds a disturbing electronic blackout.
The lights disappear from the steering wheel and the car stops. Here too the mechanics managed to intervene quickly, and Vettel returned to the track shortly after. Towards the end of the session another small problem occurs:
"The brake light lights on the steering wheel".
Report the German by radio.
"Don’t worry it’s all right".
This is the answer coming from the engineers in the box. Too bad for the inconveniences, otherwise it could have been defined as a perfect Friday. Ferrari, which here in Bahrain brought many technical innovations, impresses not so much for the speed - the times do not seem consistent with what we have seen so far, Red Bull to say has marked the same time trial of Mercedes and Ferrari - as for the pace that sometimes seems far superior to that of Mercedes. The first tests on Friday are characterized by a great heat, with 37 °C as air temperature. The fastest of the session was Sebastian Vettel. The German precedes Red Bull Racing duo Daniel Ricciardo-Max Verstappen. Lewis Hamilton finished in tenth place, concentrating his work on finding the car’s balance for the race, using Soft tyres that show high degradation. The evening session is held with a cooler temperature, about 32 C°. Vettel is still the fastest, but in this session precedes by a few thousandths of a second Valtteri Bottas, and again Ricciardo. The times are tight, so much so that the first eight drivers are enclosed in less than a second. On Bottas' car the appendix called T Wing comes off again, while Hamilton, when he tries to score the time with Supersoft tyres, is penalised by the traffic on the track. Kimi Räikkönen, after the problems of the first session, is able to place himself less than 0.2 seconds from Sebastian Vettel, while Stoffel Vandoorne makes only 8 laps, due to the need, for McLaren technicians, to replace the engine of the single-seater. Carlos Sainz Jr. also made a few laps, betrayed by a technical problem with his Toro Rosso. Meanwhile, Bernie Ecclestone arrives at the Bahrain circuit at lunchtime, when the sun, overhanging the white structures, ignites the desert, soaks the shirts and lowers the pressure. But he makes no sense. After half an hour of meeting with Niki Lauda (Mercedes) and the same with Christian Horner (Red Bull), he succumbed to the siege of the reporters. And without even bothering to look for some shade under the nearest palm tree, he lets himself be interviewed. He has recently sold his creation (he actually invented modern Formula 1, starting from a used car dealership) to the Americans, and this is the first race as honorary president. After 60 years, how is life without F1?
"I had a lot of personal business. First I was able to spend a little time on these things. Today I do it every day. A lot of emails arrive, people asking for help or opinions... The truth is I’m more busy today than I was before".
Did you enjoy the first Grands Prix of the season? Did you watch them?
"Of course I watched them. And, yes, I liked them. Especially because Ferrari finally got competitive again and that saved the show. It is always very nice to see a Ferrari up there on the podium".
If you had a pound to bet on today, who would you bet on?
"What questions, I have much more than a pound".
As a matter of fact…
"I would bet on Lewis Hamilton. Ferrari has climbed the grid but in the end I think Lewis will still make it, he will win the title".
Finally, however, there is a bit of a fight for the victory, according to you it is due to the new technical rules?
"What new rules?"
Well, aerodynamics and bigger tyres.
"Tyres? They’re the same as they were five years ago. The only thing that really changed is that Ferrari won a Grand Prix. And it looks competitive again. Now we wait for Red Bull to be able to do the same and then we can say that we have a real championship. And you will see how much interest there is from the public".
What would you advise to do to improve the show?
"I don’t think we can do much more than what I did. In the end it just takes teams to become competitive: F1 is a race. The heart of the show is that".
What do you think of the team placed by the Americans at the top of Formula 1 in his place?
"First of all that I am an idiot: I did by myself what they now do in three. After that I do not know. I have never met them. I talked to Ross Brawn for 10 minutes. The others haven’t asked me anything yet, even though I’m their consultant".
Do you like the work they are doing with social media? They made great openings...
"Honestly I never believed in that stuff there. I’m just curious to see what it will bring".
If you were still the head of the Circus, would you allow Alonso to go racing in Indianapolis?
"I think it’s a good opportunity for the guy. For F1... Let’s just say if I could have pushed McLaren to stop it, I would have. I would have said to him: Wait until your contract expires and then go where you want, now you are in the middle of an F1 season and you have to finish it. Of course I have to say that I don’t like to see someone like Alonso in the back".
Looking back over the last 60 years, what was your biggest mistake?
"That of having been too lucky. No, thinking about it also that of having made the price of the show go up too much. Especially considering that the level of the show we brought to the various circuits was often not up to expectations".
And is that why many circuits have abandoned F1?
"Probably. They couldn’t bear the cost. The price I had set was too high. And they didn’t survive. At the end of the day, in my soul, I’m always a used car salesman".
On Saturday, April 15, 2017, during the third and final free practice session, still held with high temperatures, Max Verstappen marked the best time, followed by Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel. Also in this session eight drivers are enclosed in a second from the first. Verstappen’s time is however higher than that of the previous year, unlike what happened in the first races, where the drivers' times were much lower than those of 2016. The session was also interrupted, with the red flag, due to an exit of Romain Grosjean at turn 4. The car crashed into the barriers, losing part of the nose; however, the driver managed to bring the car back to the pits independently. A few hours later, in Q1, the first driver to score an interesting time was Valtteri Bottas, while the team-mate, Lewis Hamilton was penalised by a driving error. Max Verstappen manages to beat the time of Valtteri Bottas, and take the lead of the time, before being, in turn, overtaken by Lewis Hamilton. The two Ferraris mark interesting times, very close to those of Mercedes, with Vettel able to be faster than Bottas. In the last moments of the session the fastest drivers decided not to take the track again, except Kimi Räikkönen, who climbed to third place in the ranking. Carlos Sainz Jr. is the victim of a technical problem, which does not allow him to fight for access to Q2. Stoffel Vandoorne, Sergio Pérez, Marcus Ericsson and Kevin Magnussen were also eliminated. In Q2, the two Mercedes drivers took the lead in the time standings, with Bottas being preceded by Hamilton for a few thousandths of a second. Sebastian Vettel is third, also detached less than a tenth of a second from the British. Fernando Alonso, however, fails to complete a single lap, while Lance Stroll concentrates his efforts only in the final part of the session. Daniil Kvyat (also due to a braking block on the last fast lap), Stroll, Pascal Wehrlein, Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso were eliminated. Jolyon Palmer enters the decisive phase for the first time in his career.
In Q3 Daniel Ricciardo set the fastest time, but his limit was immediately improved by Valtteri Bottas. The time of the Finnish driver is, in turn, improved by that of Lewis Hamilton, while Max Verstappen remains more detached. Sebastian Vettel is 0.5 seconds behind the world vice champion’s time, while Kimi Räikkönen finishes even further behind. In the last attempt Bottas is able to improve his time and thus conquer the first pole position in Formula 1. On the day that everyone expected was Ferrari, Valtteri Bottas from Nastola, Finn with a chubby face and a glacial gaze, stole the scene from everyone, even his teammate, Lewis Hamilton, and takes the pole position of Bahrain by turning in 1'28"769 (last year, with cars much slower than these, the pole took Hamilton with a 1'29"4). The best answer to those who considered it just a wrong move by Mercedes - which had found itself this winter to have to replace Nico Rosberg, the reigning world champion - came from the track, just three races after the start of the World Championship. Now, for the second Mercedes driver, however, comes the difficult part. Prove to be a real driver even in the race and not just on the fast lap. From this point of view, his mission is clear: to forget Shanghai and the amateur race that he pulled out a week ago and find that consistency of performance that he has lacked so far. It must be said that much of Valtteri’s success today is due to Hamilton’s demerits. That seemed out of shape for the duration of the qualifications. He probably had the bottom of the car damaged (even if Mercedes denied it) or maybe, as Marchionne would say, he had something else to do. The fact is that in the decisive moment, the last lap of Q3, the one in which the Englishman usually makes the difference, was not up to his fame and instead of giving the usual 0.3 seconds to his teammate, he found himself behind. By a breath - 0.23 seconds - but behind. Says Valtteri Bottas, to the end of the session:
"Obviously I am very happy for my first F1 pole, hopefully it will be the first of a long series. Really thanks to the Mercedes that allowed me to get here on pole, we managed to get the most out of the car with lower temperatures. It is not an easy track and you have to find a good balance".
And adds Lewis Hamilton:
"Great compliments to Valtteri, hats off for the work done. In the last lap I lost a lot in the first sector, we were still very close and it was a good battle".
A little disappointment, however, the Ferrari. The premises with which the team of Maranello had arrived in Sakhir were other. The car that had won in Australia and impressed in China promised to go even harder here. Partly because of the heat - condition, it is said, optimal for the aerodynamics of Ferrari - and partly because of the many and interesting technical innovations brought by aerodynamics. But something did not work as expected. And, in hindsight, Vettel’s nervousness had a reason. On track the SF70H has always lagged behind Mercedes, showing itself - for the first time in these three races - less fast. In the end, Vettel’s gap from Bottas' Mercedes was 0.478 seconds, last year it was 0.519 seconds, more or less the same. The comparison with last year is however blasphemous. Probably in the large gap with the top of the standings, unfavourable external conditions also played a role, as Vettel explained by radio to the mechanics:
"I’ve had a very messy ride".
And he adds:
"I was very happy with the feeling in the car, at the beginning of Q3 I was happy but when I crossed the finish line I saw that both Mercedes were ahead. I was disappointed. Four tenths was much more than I thought, even for the lap I had done. In the second attempt I had nothing to lose and maybe I exaggerated a bit. We hope to do better in the race".
In fact, it is clear that the car of 2017 has many other potential. Potential that from tomorrow, thanks to a very good race pace, will allow her to compete for victory; although starting from the second row, especially with the new single-seaters - which make manoeuvres more difficult - is a clear disadvantage. Finally, it should be noted that Räikkönen- slapped by President Marchionne at the end of the disappointing Chinese Grand Prix - after having problems with reliability in free practice yesterday had difficulties in the set-up today: throughout the qualifying he complained of constant understeer of the car. On Sunday 16 April 2017, Stoffel Vandoorne did not take part in the Bahrain Grand Prix due to a technical problem with his McLaren. At the start Sebastian Vettel is the author of a good shot, so much so as to immediately overtake Lewis Hamilton and go close to Valtteri Bottas. The other Finnish driver, Kimi Räikkönen, slid down to seventh, overtaken by Max Verstappen and Felipe Massa. Bottas proceeded at a slow pace, failing to get away from the drivers behind him. On lap seven, Räikkönen passed Massa. Then, during the tenth lap Vettel anticipates the stop, still wearing Supersoft tyres, while Verstappen, who stops the following lap, is forced to retire shortly after leaving the pits, for a brake problem. During lap 12 Carlos Sainz Jr. hits Lance Stroll on the pit exit, causing both drivers to retire and the Safety car to enter the track.
The drivers who have not yet made the pit stop take the opportunity to enter the pits: Lewis Hamilton slows down in the pit lane, to wait for his team to complete the tire change of Valtteri Bottas, thus hindering Daniel Ricciardo; the British driver receives 5 seconds of penalty to be discounted in the pits at the next stop, or that will be added to the final time of the race. At the exit from the pits the Australian is still ahead of the Mercedes driver. When the race resumed in its sporting value, Sebastian Vettel was in first position, followed by Valtteri Bottas, Daniel Ricciardo, Lewis Hamilton, Felipe Massa, Kimi Räikkönen and Nico Hülkenberg. At the restart Hamilton passed Ricciardo. The Red Bull Racing driver has a hard time keeping his tyres in temperature, so much so that Massa and Räikkönen overtook him. During lap 23 the Ferrari driver conquered the fourth position, passing Massa. Three laps later Hamilton passed Bottas, and got into second position. Then, during lap 28 Daniel Ricciardo, after finding the new competitiveness of his car passed Felipe Massa. Valtteri Bottas makes the second stop during lap 30. Then, during lap 33 also Sebastian Vettel makes the change of tires: the German, who has Supersoft tires, stops to put the Soft. In this phase of the race Lewis Hamilton gets into first position, followed by Kimi Räikkönen, who lets himself be easily passed by Sebastian Vettel. During lap 37 Bottas passed Ricciardo, and climbed to fourth place, while Räikkönen made his second stop, returning to the race in fifth position, behind Ricciardo himself.
The Australian stops during lap 39. During lap 40 Hamilton also made a pit stop, thus leaving the first position to Vettel. Lewis Hamilton kept a high pace in the last laps, which allowed him to pass his team-mate, Valtteri Bottas, ten laps from the end, and pursue Sebastian Vettel, but without success. Sebastian Vettel won the Bahrain Grand Prix, followed by Lewis Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas, Kimi Räikkönen, Daniel Ricciardo, Felipe Massa, Sergio Perez, Romain Grosjean, Nico Hülkenberg and Esteban Ocon. It is a round and eloquent victory, the second of the season of Sebastian Vettel’s Ferrari. A victory that, in addition to giving back to the German the leadership of the World Championship (now he has 68 points, against the 61 of Hamilton), clearly tells how the Maranello team has managed to fill the gap that separated it from Mercedes. Now the two cars are basically equal, and this draws a compelling scenario that Formula 1 hasn’t remembered for too long. Vettel shouted happy on the radio after the arrival:
"Happy Easter, I’m happy. Driving this car is a pleasure".
Mercedes is slightly faster in qualifying; Ferrari has a much better race pace. But above all Ferrari has much clearer ideas about the behaviour of the car to the variation of compounds. The Bahrain Grand Prix was the almost mathematical result of these premises. Decisive was the flicker, at the start, of Vettel. Hamilton, who started from the dirty side of the track, lost a few metres too much and the German took advantage to get between him and Bottas. At that point, the engineers proposed the move that now looks like a trademark: the undercut. Vettel was forced out immediately to change the tyres, forcing Mercedes to assume a defensive move. The safety car once again helped the Anglo-Germans (the same thing happened in China): Vettel started the race again, he was in the lead but with a much lower advantage than what could have been without interruption. At that point the characteristics of the cars made the difference, Ferrari with a better race pace managed to keep its margin on Hamilton’s Mercedes that tried them all, both on the strategic level and on the level of driving to recover. But an extraordinary Vettel and, above all, a five-second penalty - quite foolishly, to tell the truth - for slowing down in the pit lane Daniel Ricciardo, kept behind the Englishman. In the end, the balance of the race was such that the real difference was made just by those five seconds, confirming what Hamilton himself had said to Mercedes’ coach Aldo Costa in Shanghai, just across the finish line:
"We can’t do anything wrong this year".
And of mistakes, today, Mercedes has made at least two: in addition to the reckless manoeuvre of Hamilton on Ricciardo, the mechanics of the Anglo-German team have managed very badly the contemporary double pit stop that had to do at the Safety car. Under pressure, the unbeatable are not so unbeatable. The Ferrari team principal, Maurizio Arrivabene, is happy saying at the end of the race:
"Happy Easter to everyone, to do what we did today needed a bit of madness. This is Ferrari. I am satisfied, but let’s not make comparisons with Mercedes, please. What did I say to myself on the phone with Marchionne? We wished each other".
And, of course, the Ferrari president, Sergio Marchionne, cannot miss the comment:
"It is of course a great satisfaction to return to the top step of the podium with Sebastian. But it is even more important to have at this point the certainty that the victory in Melbourne was not a coincidence and that this World Championship will see us protagonists until the end. Finally, we can count on a competitive car and it is important to see the speed with which we have made the necessary developments for each race. All this is the result of excellent work on track as in Maranello, so my congratulations, in addition to Seb for the result in Bahrain, go to the whole team".
Then he made peace with Räikkönen, criticized after his flat performance in China.
"Congratulations also to Kimi, author of a good race. However, we know that there is still a long way to go and if we want to reach the most important goal we cannot reduce our commitment and concentration".
The only one who doesn’t party in Ferrari is Kimi Räikkönen, who came fourth after a really difficult start:
"I don’t know what problem I had at the start, you have to ask the team. For me, however, overall, it was a disappointing weekend. I have nothing else to add".
Lewis Hamilton is also disappointed, on the podium, second but never fighting for the final success:
"Congratulations to Vettel, it was a very difficult race for me, five seconds late is a lot. I didn’t start very well, I tried to recover, I gave everything I had, I’m sorry for the team. Ferrari did a great job. Now we will gather with the team and we will come back stronger than before. I am disappointed, of course, because I lost points and also for the team".
The city track at mild temperature (Melbourne), the classic track with the long straight (Shanghai), the circuit built in the desert with the hot asphalt and the dirty track (Bahrain). In addition, of course, to the two Barcelona tests. Now the beginning of the season exam can be considered complete. And the Ferrari 2017 passed it, with flying colours, winning often, always convincing. But what else can we say after seeing such a promising start to the season? Here is a list of considerations that we can reasonably do. Despite having adopted different philosophies - perhaps in some cases even opposites - the two teams showed similar overall performance. In the end, in all three races that took place, the winner was always the one who made the least mistakes or, as in the case of the Safety car in Shanghai, the one who was the luckiest and fastest to exploit the favourable circumstances. Lewis Hamilton’s car still has more to it than the competition in the race for pole position. All thanks, apparently, to the famous (or infamous) magic button. A system, whose operation is not yet clear but that can hardly be reduced to a simple mapping of the engine, which allows the Anglo-German cars to find those tenths more sufficient to ensure, with fair comfort, the first position on the grid. In spite of this, however, the Ferrari half-second here in Bahrain does not reflect the real difference in potential that seems more realistic to measure around three tenths. Behind in terms of qualifying, Ferrari is definitely ahead in the race pace. In all three Grands Prix held so far, Ferrari has always seemed able to win.
This is thanks to an extraordinary ability to keep up the pace. From this point of view, the first laps of Sebastian Vettel in Sunday’s Grand Prix was impressive, when he seemed to want to devour the rear of Bottas. But the same was seen in Shanghai and Melbourne. It is the strength of Ferrari, the one around which all the race strategies are built. This state of technical balance gives great importance to race strategies. All three Grands Prix seen so far have been characterized by the undercut (the tyre change performed with slight advance by the driver chasing closely, whose result is usually overtaking) of Ferrari: in Melbourne Hamilton was wrong for fear of suffering one; in Shanghai Vettel tried it, and only the Safety car made it fail. It is clear that such a balanced situation places the issue of developments at the centre of attention. If the individual races are decided by the details, the winners will be those who are able to make fewer mistakes, the championship will be decided by whoever is able to progress the car in the best possible way. In past years this has been one of the weaknesses of Ferrari that found itself more or less mid-season (sometimes even before) with the car cheered, as they say in jargon. That is, it is incapable of progressing beyond a certain level. The 2017 project, they assure the team, is very promising:
"It is full of good ideas that can be developed".
That the new Pirelli tyres would play a leading role, this year it had always been said. What was not clear was how. Now it is clear: the decisive element is the tyre wear and the management of the two rear. From this point of view, Ferrari seems to have done a better job, managing to make all the compounds work optimally. The Mercedes seems much more uncomfortable. Again on Sunday, Bottas and Hamilton’s race was ruined by a series of errors of evaluation on the pressure of the rear tires. After three years of comfortably managing races on the edge with boredom, the Mercedes engineers suddenly found themselves fragile. From a strategic point of view, he made many mistakes (both small and large) and never gave the idea of being serene. All thanks to Ferrari that since the first day of testing has set the entire season on the constant and continuous aggression of the opponent. An attitude that seems to suffer a lot on the other side. Just think of the speed with which Toto Wolff, the Mercedes team principal, took back one of the points on which he had hinged the image of his team:
"We don’t give team orders".
It’s always been his mantra. Good: Sunday evening, with Hamilton in desperate pursuit of Vettel, Wolff could not help but force his second driver to let the first pass. At the end of the race he apologised, he explained that the choice had cost him a lot, but the facts speak for themselves.
"There was a moment, while I was out there... I had just crossed the finish line and the fireworks lit up the track, and... yes, I thought: I love what I do. I thought that and I couldn’t think of other words for what I was feeling".
This is how Sebastian Vettel describes his happiness. A few minutes have passed since his triumph. In the mouth, and on top, it still has the sugar of the rose water that these parts use instead of champagne to celebrate on the podium. And on his face an indelible smile. Anyone who had seen him less than six months ago while he was shaking in the Interlagos paddock or, shortly before, when he was writhing in the Suzuka motorhome, would struggle to recognize him today. All thanks to the SF70H, for friends Gina, that is the car that is ruining sleep for Niki Lauda and Toto Wolff (the ineffable Mercedes couple). Bringing Maranello back, after years, to the top of the F1 World Championship ranking. The 2017 Maranello car has not only rekindled the dreams of the fans, but has also saved the marriage of Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari. That had now reached a step from the end. Arrived in 2015, Sebastian Vettel had a double goal: to forget the dark era of the reign of Fernando Alonso and relaunch in the pursuit of Michael Schumacher, Sebastian’s idol since childhood, as well as a reference point of his racing career (with four world titles already won, Vettel is the only driver in business that at the moment can think of reaching the record quota of seven). Things seemed to be working at first. With his Italian getting better by the day, Seb walked around the Sports Management with his black notebook full of notes and ideas to share with mechanics and engineers. They loved him. Things were going well on the track. After the 2014 shipwreck, Ferrari seemed to be heading for a quick recovery. These were the times of Toto Cutugno’s songs sung by radio to the team, the jokes with the mechanics, the sketches of tagliatelle at Montana. The barometer showed high pressure. Then, 2016 came. The wrong car, the misunderstandings between Sergio Marchionne and James Allison (the British engineer-star today at Mercedes) the pressure, the defeats, the black notebook that was filled with scribbles and prescriptions underlined with anger. The team was dismantled and reassembled a couple of times, in the crucial period of the year, when the next season’s car was designed, and this for a methodical and rational guy like Vettel was unacceptable. The frost came down. Not with the team, but with the summits. So much so that Marchionne and Arrivabene began to evaluate some alternatives (Ricciardo was on pole); and he began to look languidly at Mercedes.
But in the end no one did anything: Mercedes, having had the opportunity, aimed straight at Bottas and Ferrari was already sufficiently involved with the technicians to open the front of the drivers. The two sides therefore gave themselves a year to understand.
"Let’s see what kind of competitiveness we can guarantee to Sebastian, then we understand what to do".
It was Marchionne’s decision. A decision that today has been rewarded. In restructuring the team, Mattia Binotto - the man who replaced Allison - has established among the priorities to restore calm. This, together with the ever-present feeling with the mechanics, relaunched Vettel’s internal relations with the top management of Scuderia Ferrari. Gina took care of the rest: in Barcelona during the tests the black notebook remained empty. At the Grand Prix he didn’t even take it with him. Until the triumph of Bahrain, when Seb brought with him a representative of the team on the podium:
"I want to thank the team for the fantastic work they did. And Matteo: he works day and night at the circuit and in the factory. In these months I have seen an incredible commitment from all the individual elements of the Scuderia. And now it’s great to be here with them".
Seb speaks and the air is still full of the Italian anthem followed by the German one, just like at the time of Schumacher who, for one night at least, seems to be back.