Carlos Sainz kept his head down to help Ferrari take their first win of the 2024 season in Melbourne last weekend. Moreover, with Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc finishing just behind him in P2, the Prancing Horse registered an emphatic 1-2. However, their success did not come entirely on merit as Max Verstappen suffered a reliability issue. Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur now wants his side to carry on their form, and in the process put more pressure on Red Bull to make mistakes. Speaking about the same, Vasseur said to Sky Sports as per Formule1,
“This weekend proves that if everything goes well – which should happen every weekend – we can put pressure on Red Bull. And when they are under pressure they are going to make mistakes.”
Ferrari’s victory in Melbourne was their first since Sainz won at last year’s Singapore GP. Since several months have passed since the Italian outfit last won a race, they most likely will not want to wait so long before they win another.
The engineers back at Maranello have already begun to work on the SF-24 upgrades and would try to bring them as early as Imola to maintain the pressure on Red Bull. As for Red Bull, they would hope to ensure that they do not face any more reliability concerns after Verstappen suffered his first DNF in 44 races at the Australian GP last weekend.
The Dutchman was forced to retire from the race after his RB20 faced a brake issue. According to Red Bull team principal Christian Horner, the car’s right rear brake was jammed right from the start of the race and it eventually caught fire.
Besides the Dutchman, Sergio Perez also faced issues with his car as he suffered from floor damage during his battle with Fernando Alonso. Perez was running at a decent pace, and Red Bull could have had a much better result had his car not suffered the damage.
Are Ferrari now in the same league as Red Bull?
After the 1-2 finish by Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc in Melbourne, Ferrari claimed a maximum of 44 points to close the gap to Red Bull in the Constructors’ Championship. The Prancing Horse now stand in P2 with 93 points after three races, compared to Red Bull’s 97.
Going by Fred Vasseur’s expectations, Ferrari might have an outside chance to compete with the Austrian team this season. However, for that to happen, the Italian outfit will not only need to be at their best but would also need to hope that Red Bull continue to make some mistake from time to time.
Although Red Bull continue to have the fastest car on the current grid, Ferrari definitely seem as their closest challengers. The Prancing Horse seem to have made huge improvements in reducing tire degradation and also improving their race pace.
Meanwhile, another team that both Red Bull and Ferrari would need to be wary of this year is McLaren. Even though the team from Woking have not been as strong as they were towards the end of last season, some of the upcoming races that feature high-speed corners could favor them.
While it will be interesting to see how the races ahead pan out, it is fair to say that after the first three races, it does seem that Red Bull are no longer in another league as they do seem vulnerable. However, at the same time, it does seem evident that the team from Milton Keynes is still the side to beat this year.
