Formula 1 is ready to return to one of the historic circuits most appreciated by fans and riders. A return that had to wait more than two years due to the Pandemic which still today, in some countries, continues to be a significant problem. The days of the World struggle are now numbered. Max Verstappen is more and more close to the second world title. In home Ferrari there's a mea culpa general. Full awareness, also expressed by Leclerc, to have done everything possible to recover what unfortunately got lost along the way. The F1-75 shook up the standings at the start of the championship, marking the return of a Cavallino that had been "sedated" in the last two seasons.
However, the fight with Red Bull lasted less than expected. Already from the fourth race of the season, the gap between the two had drastically reduced, with the Austrian team carrying out a rather substantial development programme. After the summer break, with the Red Bull domain in Spa and for subsequent races the hopes of the Reds have definitively vanished up to the objective of delaying Max's proclamation as much as possible.
Suzuka ideal terrain for the RB18
If Singapore, conquered by Sergio Perez, was a pro-Ferrari track on paper, the Japanese one could prove to be fertile ground for Red Bull like Spa was."Red Bull will be very strong here. It's a track where you drive the car with a similar setup to Spa, and I expect them to be very, very strong. We hope we have learned well from Spa and be stronger than we were there“, said Charles Leclerc in the usual press conference preceding the race weekend. At Spa Verstappen won from the fourteenth pitch, with Perez completing a one-two with more than 25 seconds ahead of the first Ferrari man, Carlos Sainz. It is therefore legitimate to imagine that in Suzuka it will be very difficult to snatch victory from him and postpone the celebration for the world title.
Ferrari wants to be a party pooper
However, Ferrari will do their best to keep the fight going for at least another couple of weeks, and in view of this, the much-requested fund updates for the Japanese weekend are expected."I don't think it's possible to stop Verstappen from winning the title sooner or later, but we can stop him from doing it here and that's the goal, to win on Sunday and postpone the party" he continued Charles who after waving the white flag for this year is already projecting on 2023.
"Performance isn't what we lacked this year; if we look from the first race to today we have always been strong and the performances have always been good enough to fight for the win, apart from a few [weekends], but there weren't many. I think it's mainly about trying to put everything together for Sunday: strategy, tire management and yes, that's what we're focusing on at the moment, and that's the step we need to take next year to fight for the championship. ”.
On the Budget Cap issue
One of the central themes for about two weeks has been about Budget Cap and the verdict by the FIA on the 2021 balance sheets of the teams, awaited for yesterday but postponed to 10 October. Mercedes and Ferrari have been on a war footing since one of the teams accused of having exceeded the spending ceiling in a rather significant way is la Red Bull, the stable that marked these last two World Cups.
Guilty or not, this will be established by the FIA shortly - or so it is hoped - but the lack of clarity in the penalties provided for in the regulation has outraged the illustrious members of the paddock in no small way. Leclerc also answered a question about this issue at the press conference. "If we could have spent more we would certainly have gone faster, Then if there is someone who has not complied with the Budget cap then he must be punished. What should be the punishment? I'm not the one to decide it, but there must be a sanction ”.
Source statements: FormulaPassion
