The first half of the season ended with Verstappen winner in France and Hungary. Two races that the Ferrari and Leclerc should have won and which, for various reasons, they lost. At Paul Ricard, the Monegasque made one of the very few mistakes in an almost flawless season on his part, while at the Hungaroring, Ferrari combined yet another strategic mess in 2022.
The nice words spent during the summer break were immediately canceled by three more Verstappen victories, who now finds himself with five consecutive victories under his belt and 116 points ahead of Leclerc. Leaving aside the Grand Prix of Belgium, harder weekend of the season for the Reds, there were however positives both Zandvoort which especially a Monza.
Difficult last races, but…
As for the Dutch race, Sainz had an extremely complicated race, but Leclerc saw the podium for the first time since his victory at the Red Bull Ring in early July. In qualifying, the number 16 lost pole position by a few thousandths and, after suffering in the initial stages of the race, found the crux of the skein and finished third behind Verstappen and Leclerc.
The real step forward, however, was seen at Monza. With the Red Bulls, Sainz and Hamilton penalized, the Monegasque he already had it in his pocket start at the pole, but he wanted to reaffirm his hunger for victory by taking it even before the penalties were calculated. In the match, then, both he and his Madrid-born teammate thrilled the home crowd.
Il number 55 it closed one step away from the podium after starting from the bottom of the grid, while the number 16 has arrived one step away from victory, conquering the second podium in two races. Who knows if with a different end the Ferraristi would have left Monza with one more win and one more podium.
In Singapore to continue the crescendo
Leaving aside the ifs and buts, the F1-75 proved to be one more winning car on a circuit that was already unfavorable to its characteristics on the eve. In just over a week, a Singapore, Ferrari can do great things. The world championship is now faded, but that doesn't mean that the stage victories they no longer have to be a goal. After the bronze medal in 2021, Ferrari must mortgage silver and close 2022 on a crescendo, aiming for gold in 2023.
