Jonas Leo
Maranello, Italy – Scuderia Ferrari finds itself under intense scrutiny as the 2024 Formula 1 season draws to a close, with recent performances at the Las Vegas Grand Prix exacerbating a challenging period that has seen the team lose significant ground in the constructors’ championship. Despite a defiant stance from Team Principal Frederic Vasseur, who maintains the season is "not a complete disaster," the Italian outfit’s slip to fourth place, coupled with public criticism and operational missteps, paints a picture of an organization grappling with persistent inconsistencies.
The high-profile Las Vegas Grand Prix proved to be another chapter in Ferrari’s late-season struggles. Charles Leclerc finished sixth, while Lewis Hamilton, after a challenging qualifying session, climbed to tenth from the back of the grid. Although McLaren’s subsequent double disqualification offered a minor reprieve in terms of overall championship points, the direct beneficiaries were Mercedes, whose drivers finished ahead of Leclerc, thus widening the gap to Ferrari in the standings. This outcome underscored a growing trend where even fortunate circumstances fail to fully mitigate Ferrari’s competitive disadvantage.
This latest setback follows a particularly damaging double retirement at the Brazilian Grand Prix, an event that triggered public criticism from Ferrari chairman John Elkann. His rare intervention, directed at both drivers, signaled a heightened level of internal pressure within the storied team. Further compounding the issues, Hamilton’s qualifying difficulties in Las Vegas were attributed to a critical communications misfire with his race engineer, Riccardo Adami, while Leclerc has consistently voiced concerns about the SF-25 car’s long-standing weakness in wet-weather conditions. Such a confluence of events has fueled speculation of an organization in disarray.
However, Frederic Vasseur has strongly pushed back against the notion of a disastrous campaign. Speaking after the Las Vegas race, Vasseur acknowledged the recent dip in form but stressed that isolated incidents should not define the entire season. "For sure we are not in the situation that we didn’t score points the last weekend," Vasseur stated, "but we were P2 in the championship two weeks ago. It’s not that it was a complete disaster – for me disaster is not the right word – but the tough side is that the last two weekends that we scored six or seven points on two weekends."
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His comments highlight a perceived overreaction to recent events, particularly given the team’s strong mid-season position. Prior to the Brazilian and Las Vegas rounds, Ferrari had been a consistent challenger for podiums, and at times, victories. However, the cumulative effect of a mere six points from the Brazilian sprint race and a potential nine from the original Las Vegas results (before McLaren’s disqualification) has seen their championship aspirations severely dented. The team initially dropped to third in the constructors’ standings after the Brazil sprint, only to be further demoted to fourth following the race, notably being overtaken by Red Bull, which, despite having two drivers, has seen the majority of its points accrued by Max Verstappen, effectively operating as a one-car championship contender in recent rounds.
Vasseur reiterated his belief that the team’s overall trajectory was stronger than recent results suggested. "Before this in the championship we were in front of Mercedes and Red Bull – it means that it’s not so dramatic," he asserted, referencing Ferrari’s position earlier in the season. He also addressed the palpable frustration expressed by his drivers, particularly Charles Leclerc, who, after Las Vegas qualifying, remarked that the SF-25 was a car he "will not miss" when he exits the cockpit for the final time in Abu Dhabi. Vasseur acknowledged this sentiment, stating, "Now I can perfectly understand the drivers, they want to get more. And trust me that in the debriefing on the Monday morning at the factory I’m also a bit harsh. But it’s our DNA that we want to get more in any case. And I think Max [Verstappen], he will try also to get more from his team, from everybody to do a better job. This is the DNA of everybody into the paddock, it’s not a drama."
Beyond the raw points tally, the SF-25 itself has proven to be a temperamental machine. Characterized as capricious and difficult to set up, its performance has fluctuated significantly across different track layouts and conditions. The most glaring weakness, as highlighted by Leclerc, has been its pace in wet conditions, a critical factor in a sport where adaptability is paramount. These inherent car characteristics have often placed additional pressure on the operational side of the team, leading to a series of tactical and communication errors.
The qualifying incident involving Lewis Hamilton in Las Vegas served as a prime example of these operational deficiencies. Hamilton’s exit from Q1 was partly due to his misjudgment of Turn 14, where he collected an apex bollard. However, a crucial communications breakdown with engineer Riccardo Adami also played a significant role. In hindsight, it was evident that Adami should have been more assertive and clear about the tight timing window required for Hamilton to complete another flying lap. This lack of emphatic instruction led Hamilton to back off the throttle prematurely after crossing the line, costing him a crucial opportunity to improve his time and avoid an early exit.
Similarly, Charles Leclerc’s race strategy in Las Vegas came under fire after he was undercut by Oscar Piastri. Leclerc stopped three laps later than Piastri, a decision that the Ferrari pitwall, with clearer foresight, should arguably have anticipated. The consequence was that Leclerc rejoined the track behind Piastri and subsequently became ensnared in a DRS train, severely limiting his ability to make progress in the latter stages of the race. While this particular strategic scenario was complex due to the varying tire strategies of competitors—notably Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli leading the DRS train on a two-lap old soft compound tire—Vasseur admitted the difficulty of the situation. "The issue is that we were not sure about the tyres," Vasseur explained, "as we didn’t long-stint the [hard-compound] tyres on Friday or Thursday [owing to changeable weather and other disruptions]. We were not sure about the life of the tyres and to anticipate the pitstop, I’m not sure." He acknowledged the benefit of hindsight: "Probably if you had to redo the strategy now you can say, OK, perhaps if we stopped the lap before Piastri it would have been better. But this is always very easy to do after the race."
The missed opportunity was further underscored by Antonelli’s five-second penalty, which meant that had Leclerc crossed the finish line just two-tenths of a second sooner, he would have been classified ahead of the Mercedes driver. These fine margins highlight the strategic precision required at the pinnacle of motorsport and the areas where Ferrari has fallen short this season.
As the 2024 season approaches its conclusion, the term "disaster" may indeed be too strong a descriptor for Ferrari’s campaign, especially given their periods of competitive performance. However, "sub-optimal" accurately summarizes a season marked by zero grand prix wins, numerous missed opportunities, and a perceived influence from senior executives that has added to the internal pressure. For a team with Ferrari’s legacy and aspirations, the challenges faced in 2024 provide a critical blueprint for the significant improvements required across car development, operational execution, and strategic decision-making ahead of the 2025 F1 season. The coming winter will be crucial for the Scuderia to regroup and address these fundamental issues to reclaim its standing at the sharp end of the grid.
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Author Profile
- Jonas Leo is a passionate motorsport journalist and lifelong Formula 1 enthusiast. With a sharp eye for race strategy and driver performance, he brings readers closer to the world of Grand Prix racing through in-depth analysis, breaking news, and exclusive paddock insights. Jonas has covered everything from preseason testing to dramatic title deciders, capturing the emotion and precision that define modern F1. When he’s not tracking lap times or pit stop tactics, he enjoys exploring classic racing archives and writing about the evolution of F1 technology.
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