Hierarchy shaken up at Ferrari?

After 16 races and more than two-thirds of the Formula 1 season, the 21-year-old Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc is on the rise and is ahead of his teammate Sebastian Vettel in the driver standings. He now leads the German by 21 points with 215 points compared to Vettel’s 194. He currently holds the 3rd position in the driver standings.

Besides this fact, the trend has been strong for several Grand Prix as Leclerc has outqualified Vettel nine times in a row, although to Vettel’s defense, he had two mechanical issues in qualifying. The last time Vettel was ahead of Leclerc in qualifying was at the Canadian Grand Prix when the German secured his only pole of the season so far. Moreover, in the last four races, Leclerc has outperformed Vettel in three out of four events, with his two consecutive victories in Belgium and Italy, not to mention his engine issues in Bahrain early in the season while leading the race, as well as team orders in Australia and China to benefit Vettel. It is evident that Leclerc’s lead in the drivers’ standings could be even greater. There are still five Grand Prix left on the calendar, and there is no indication of a decline in Leclerc’s form. He is simply on the rise.

Will Vettel then be able to reverse this trend? That remains uncertain despite his 53rd career victory in Singapore. We only have to recall the 2014 season when he was with Red Bull and his teammate Daniel Ricciardo outperformed him in the driver standings in his first season with Red Bull. The scenario is set to repeat itself this season. It is worth noting that Vettel’s contract with Ferrari expires in 2020. It would be exceedingly surprising if he renews with Ferrari after next season. It will be difficult for him to deal with the dominance of the young 21-year-old Monegasque next season. Will he even be back with Ferrari next year? Leclerc is increasingly taking up space with Ferrari, and the rivalry between the two drivers will only intensify.

Already, there is a certain tension between the two. The Q3 qualification controversy in Italy where Leclerc did not give Vettel the tow, not to mention the last Grand Prix in Singapore, with Vettel’s early pit stop requested by Ferrari, which allowed him to get ahead of Leclerc, to his great dissatisfaction, ensuring a one-two finish for the Scuderia, the first since the Hungarian Grand Prix in 2017 and a third consecutive victory this season, a first since 2008. Undoubtedly, the next six races promise to be interesting for Ferrari in managing their recent successes as well as their two very talented drivers who only want to win. However, the team’s interest takes precedence, as seen in Singapore, and Leclerc will have to keep that in mind.

Notwithstanding these facts, it must be said, Vettel is less consistent this season than in recent years and furthermore he is sometimes erratic on track. It is not uncommon to see him making mistakes. Just remember the Canadian Grand Prix where he was leading ahead of Hamilton and went off track to concede victory to the Briton, in addition to his clash at Silverstone with Verstappen and his recent blunder at Monza when he collided with Lance Stroll, not to mention his off-track excursion at Hockenheim in Germany in 2018 while he was leading the race. These different examples testify to the inconsistency of the 32-year-old four-time world champion and also to his fragility under pressure.

For all his factors, Leclerc has taken pole position for Ferrari since the French Grand Prix, which marks the beginning of the second third of the F1 season, unlike the first third which was in Vettel’s favor. Since the incident that occurred at the Canadian Grand Prix (Vettel’s minor off-track excursion), Leclerc has dominated Vettel in both qualifying and races. In the last nine events, he has outperformed his teammate six times in races and nine consecutive times in qualifying. He has secured 5 poles this season, the best in this regard, one more than Hamilton, with four consecutive poles so far compared to just one for Vettel. Before his victory in Singapore, Vettel’s last win was at the Belgian Grand Prix in 2018, marking a sequence of 22 Grand Prix without a victory. Additionally, the last three Ferrari victories before Singapore were not won by Vettel; Räikkönen at the United States Grand Prix in 2018 and twice by Leclerc in Belgium and Italy this year. Statistics that speak volumes.

Leclerc truly represents the present and future of Scuderia for the coming years. Already in 2019, he has two victories and a total of 9 podiums and 5 poles in 16 Grand Prix compared to one victory and 7 podiums for Vettel. There is no doubt that Leclerc has all the assets to become world champion with Ferrari, a goal Vettel hoped to achieve with the Italian team upon his arrival in 2015, as his idol Michael Schumacher did. For now, it is more realistic to believe that Leclerc has a better chance of achieving this goal than Vettel, given the various facts mentioned and the remarkable progress of the young Monegasque this season. In hindsight, what a good decision by Ferrari to replace Räikkönen with Leclerc!