2017 Report – Ferrari: A Sense of Incompleteness

2nd in the championship: 522 pts

5 victories

5 pole positions

Should we see the glass as half full or half empty? The 2017 season report for Scuderia Ferrari is mixed. Statistically, the Maranello team succeeded this year, with five victories (Australia, Bahrain, Monaco, Hungary, Brazil). A number that hadn’t been reached since 2010!

Beyond the statistics, the SF70H impressed right from the winter testing. Shorter and more stable than the Mercedes W08, the Italian single-seater shone through its tire grip utilization. Qualities already seen in its predecessors and enhanced by Mattia Binotto’s technical structure. All accompanied by a twist of fate early in the season with the ban on FRIC suspensions used by Red Bull and Mercedes.

After a second place in the Qualifiers, the Reds struck hard in Melbourne with Vettel’s victory. Ferrari was seriously worrying Mercedes, boasting three wins in the first five races… and three second places, always within ten seconds of the winner.

Basked in Montreal and Baku, confidence was nonetheless shattered in Monza and then in Singapore. Left behind in Italy after the fuel mixer controversy, the two Scuderia cars were eliminated right from the start of the night race.

The season was shifting, and the mechanical problems in the next two races definitively ended any ambition.

An electrical issue during qualifying in Sepang and the failure of a 59-euro spark plug further in Suzuka: the SF70H broke down at the worst possible moments.

Scuderia Ferrari was out of the race for both titles, in the United States and Mexico. Nonetheless, the car’s potential was demonstrated until the end of the season, with a victory for honor in Brazil. For 2018, however, improvements will be needed in the crucial area of engine power. A few horsepower deficit on the straight still causes precious tenths of a second lost compared to Mercedes. This is a task that Maurizio Arrivabene will tackle for the third season, being close to Vettel and still leading his team despite some turbulence from president Sergio Marchionne.

And that’s a good thing: the 2018 car has already been meticulously prepared since the beginning of the season. “Feet on the ground and head down,” is the motto pronounced by Arrivabene after the Melbourne victory. The whole challenge will be to successfully overcome the final hurdle and clinch the crown, the first in 10 years already.

Editor’s Note: 17.5/20

Sebastian Vettel:

2nd in the championship: 317 pts

5 victories

4 pole positions

He is hardly accustomed. In his early days at Red Bull, the German driver made each race profitable towards the title. This year, the four-time world champion must settle for the status of runner-up, as in 2009. Having returned against all odds eight years ago, the failure in 2017 is more striking. Sebastian Vettel indeed dreamed of the crown, virtually holding it throughout the first half of the season until arriving at Monza, with 13 races compared to 7 for Lewis Hamilton.

Last stage of the Italian rocket, the German led the start of the championship at a brisk pace. From Australia, he made a mark by triumphing over Lewis Hamilton after a cleverly placed pit stop. The continuation was just as beautiful, with two victories in Sakhir and Monaco. Leaving the Principality, he had one win ahead of his rival. Proof, if any, of his competitiveness and especially his skill at sensing moves aboard “Gina,” the nickname of his car. His progress to the break was a bit more sluggish, with two fourth places and a puncture at Silverstone, which pushed him back to seventh. The victory in Budapest before the summer break gave him a brief respite. For hope changed camps. After a tricky qualifying session, Vettel definitively lost the championship lead in Italy.

In this defeat, two flaws tarnish his season. The first is beyond his control: the reliability of his machine, which let him down during the Asian tour. On a personal level, two major mistakes have marked his season.

The most significant was his altercation with Lewis Hamilton in Baku. By trying to deliver justice on his own, Sebastian Vettel revealed a vulnerability in the fight at the top to the entire world. Penalized with a stop and go, he still finished the race ahead of the Briton, before apologizing to him via a letter.

Marked by this fierce battle, Vettel plunged into darkness in Singapore. The German driver showed a driving error from the start, colliding with Räikkönen and Verstappen. Although the incident was classified as a racing incident, the former Red Bull driver was still the main instigator by closing the door on his two pursuers. A new error with much more direct consequences: a decisive 25-0 against Hamilton, a trigger for the end of the season. His season even took a surprising turn, as evidenced by this unthinkable collision with Lance Stroll during the victory lap in Malaysia.

However, Sebastian Vettel left his mark on the 2017 season. He became the first driver to end the Mercedes double in the general drivers’ standings since the advent of the turbo engine in early 2014.

In his happiness, Sebastian Vettel has the team listening to him. It will be up to him to keep a cool head in all circumstances and shed the tag of a complaining driver. Because even though his reputation is already established with his four titles, driving for Ferrari is another ball game. He will build on his three-year contract, negotiated this summer. The goal will be to become world champion by the fourth year of his collaboration with Ferrari. As a reminder, Michael Schumacher, his childhood idol, won the title for the Scuderia in his fifth season.

Editor’s Note: 17.5/20

Kimi Räikkönen:

4th in the championship: 205 pts

Best race result: 2nd x 2

1 pole position

The paradox. Once again overshadowed by Sebastian Vettel at the time of reckoning, the Finn still retains the favor of his leaders. The figures are striking: barely existing on Saturdays (winning 4 duels out of the 19 sessions together), Kimi Räikkönen was crushed on Sundays, with two internal victories over his teammate, in Silverstone and Mexico. And still, it’s worth noting that his garage neighbor fell to the back of the pack the second time, after a collision with Hamilton at the start.

Looking back, it didn’t take long to understand what role the Finn would play within Scuderia Ferrari. Thoroughly beaten in the first five races of the season, the case of Monaco is telling. Poleman on Saturday, Iceman was outmaneuvered by Vettel the next day in the strategy game. A defeat that left a mark on the driver, with visible frustration on the podium. Unconsciously or consciously, Räikkönen was the team’s second driver, behind the German leader.

Two months later, Räikkönen had the opportunity to take his revenge on fate. In Hungary, it was indeed Vettel in the lead who dove into the pits before him. The ex-McLaren driver stopped on the very next lap, rejoining in second place… Worse, his end of race in the exhaust of a number 5 struggling with steering showed us the image of a driver without a solution. The question was even raised: Was Kimi Räikkönen already maximizing Vettel’s title chances on team orders? A tough realization for a driver who remains the last world champion for Ferrari.

But success eluded Räikkönen again in 2017. Involved in first-lap incidents, he lost many points: like in Spain where he was sandwiched by Verstappen and Bottas in the first corner. Or in Baku, in a collision with Valtteri Bottas. And of course, Singapore, as mentioned earlier. A puncture at Silverstone towards the end of the race also prevented him from stepping onto the second step of the podium (finishing third overall). His consistency is still worth noting, with seven podiums and sixteen top 5 finishes.

A fine developer and well-versed in the tumultuous environment of the Scuderia, Kimi Räikkönen is thus the ideal character to support the progress of his friend Sebastian Vettel. This has not escaped the management team, who renewed his contract at the end of August. At 38, the veteran will start his eighth season with Scuderia Ferrari, the fifth consecutive. His performance will remain a key factor in securing the constructors’ title.

1 Kimi being… Kimi 😎 pic.twitter.com/hyc0gmqP8U

— Formula 1 (@F1) 14 décembre 2017

Editor’s note: 12/20