Hungarian GP highlights disparate philosophies that split Mercedes and Ferrari as team orders come to the fore
As Mercedes told Valtteri Bottas to let Lewis Hamilton before reversing the decision at the final corner, Ferrari jeopardised Kimi Raikkonen's race to keep him behind a struggling Sebastian Vettel
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Your support makes all the difference.As the F1 season approaches its summer break, the Hungarian Grand Prix highlighted the disparate philosophies with which arch-rivals Mercedes and Ferrari go about their racing.
On the one hand, Mercedes asked Valtteri Bottas to move over and let Lewis Hamilton have a crack at the Ferraris; he did so, and when Hamilton was unable to make an impression, he sportingly honoured an agreement to hand the place back even though he desperately needed the three points he thus surrendered. On the other, there was never the slightest suggestion that Sebastian Vettel, though troubled and seriously slowed by steering problems, would be asked to get out of the way of close-following team-mate Kimi Raikkonen in a very healthy Ferrari more than capable of winning the race.
One minute team president Sergio Marchionne is publicly calling the Finn a “laggard,” the other he isn’t allowed to use his speed to pass his team leader, even with a Mercedes breathing down his neck. Raikkonen, the world champion for Ferrari in 2007, is playing the same domestique role that Rubens Barrichello was obliged to fulfil for Michael Schumacher, back when Ferrari were run by current FIA president Jean Todt.
Plus ca change, plus sa meme chose.
And yet Vettel remains adamant that much has changed behind the scenes at Ferrari over the winter, and that it has been crucial to its emergence as a genuine rival to Mercedes after three seasons of disappointing performance.
“We mustn’t forget where we were 12 months ago. The steps Ferrari has made are bigger than anybody else’s. It’s been a good day,” he said as the legendary Italian team savoured their second one-two of the year.
A 14-point lead in the drivers’ championship with nine races left would have seemed impossible in previous seasons, but Vettel admits: “It’s what I dream about, to be honest. I want to win, so that’s where you want to be. The mission has been to get back to the top, so obviously we’ve had a great year. I’m only two and a half years in with the team. I think we had a great year in 2015 which helped to get the project going. 2016 was difficult, for many reasons, but it was a great year to set things up, a lot of change for the team.
“But over the winter I think we were the team that made the least noise. There was a lot of talk about the new cars and the new regulations and how it will favour one team over the other and how it will bring back other teams, and so on. I was very happy that we just worked, kept to ourselves and did the job.
“We have a great car. We know by now, with a lot of races done, what the strength of the car is, where the weaknesses are and where we need to work on. I’m very confident in the group of people we have. From the outside people try to identify a team with one person in terms of who is the driver or who is designing the car. It very often ends that you point the finger at one person. That’s not fair. The team is very big and we have a lot of great people, young people, coming up and a great culture. People are taking risks, and that’s what we need to do.
“We want to win so I’m very happy where we are going, but it’s not yet enough. Today’s great, we got a one-two, but that’s what we want every weekend. We haven’t done it so far, I know it’s difficult but it’s not impossible so we keep working.”
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff believes that the balance of power between the two teams is track-specific; Ferrari were very quick on the tortuous tracks such as Monaco and Hungaroring, whereas the fast stuff such as Canada and Silverstone favours the Silver Arrows. Vettel isn’t so sure.
“I know we have a very strong car, that is competitive everywhere. We have had circuits on which it was less competitive. If you want to point out Silverstone, we weren’t quick enough to win, that’s a fact. But we weren’t horrible. It’s not like we were 10th and 11th on the grid, we still qualified well. We out-qualified one of them on Saturday so I think we are at the right track, but it’s normal that some tracks maybe you struggle a bit more, some a bit less. It’s fair to say that we were very competitive here and Monaco; Mercedes was less so but equally if you pick the races out, it wasn’t like we were miles ahead and lapping them.
“I think the most important thing is that we were always there so far, we always had good pace so I don’t think there’s anything to be afraid of in the next couple of races.”
Hamilton, meanwhile, who had closed to within a point of Vettel with his recent fifth home victory only to fall back another 13 on Sunday, is equally convinced that Mercedes have the wherewithal to turn things around in the second half of the season. Especially with tracks such as Spa, Monza, Suzuka, Malaysia and Austin coming up which will suit the Mercedes. But right now, he’s looking forward to chilling out during the break and recharging his batteries.
“The holidays have definitely come at a good time. The season so far has definitely been very tough, mentally, physically and emotionally, for everyone in the team. It’s definitely been a difficult season, so the break will be a good time for everyone to be with their families and to recharge. I truly believe we have the capability to win this world championship, but that will require us all to give 100 per cent effort, so we all need to come back strong.”
All of the teams now have a mandatory shut down, before the season recommences at Spa in Belgium at the end of August.
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