The mistakes Ferrari must avoid to avoid losing the title again

In the constructors' championship, Ferrari i is currently in first place with a lead of 39 points, while Charles Leclerc leads in the drivers' championship with a difference of 34 points towards P2.

The last time Ferrari had a chance to win the world championship was in 2018. Things also looked good for the Italians in 2017, but things went completely wrong in both seasons. Ferrari will have to learn from the mistakes to avoid ending up in the same situation again in 2022.

At the moment, it seems that Ferrari has a strong combination with its car and drivers to win the championship, but will this still be the case in a few months?

Reliability in 2017

In 2017 and 2018, things looked good for Ferrari and Sebastian Vettel, but the German ended up losing the championship in a disappointing fashion in both seasons. In 2018, Vettel owed this mostly to his own mistakes, but Ferrari's reliability and strategy let the team down in 2017.

The start in 2017 was unprecedented for Ferrari, as Mercedes had a rival in the battle for the title for the first time. During the first race of the season, Vettel managed to take the victory, while rival Lewis Hamilton finished in P2. The roles were reversed during the second race of the season and so began the exciting title battle in the first half of the season.

The two drivers went neck and neck towards the summer break. With eight races to go, Vettel was leading the championship, but at the Singapore Grand Prix, things went wrong for the first time. The German crashed at the start with Max Verstappen and teammate Kimi Raikkonen, resulting in zero points for the first time.

This proved to be the beginning of the end for Vettel. Reliability problems in Malaysia forced Vettel to start at the back of the grid during the race, and in Japan, he retired again due to a problem with his car. His Ferrari let him down, allowing Hamilton to run away with the title after all. It also didn't help that Vettel collided with Hamilton's Mercedes in Mexico and the German had to finish the race with a damaged Ferrari.

Individual mistakes in 2018

The 2018 season was the last time Ferrari was a contender in the championship. After ten races, Vettel and Ferrari led the championship. However, the second half of 2018 went dramatically for Vettel. The season made a drastic turnaround when Vettel crashed during his home race in Germany. The next two races still went positive for Ferrari, but the team could not regain the lead.

In Italy he spun during a fight with Hamilton, in Japan Vettel had to start eighth after a wrong tire strategy by Ferrari, but he made contact with Verstappen early in the race causing him to spin. Raikkonen did still perform well in the second half, showing that Ferrari's car was not hopeless. Vettel was a big reason for the failure in 2018.

In 2018, it was mostly Vettel's individual, costly mistakes that caused him to miss out on the world title. Yet Ferrari itself also made several mistakes, especially in 2017, including strategic choices. The development of the car was never as good as that of Mercedes and Red Bull, who were able to improve towards the end of the season in a car with new updates. Onward development has never been a strong side of the Italian team and reliability let them down several times.

Ferrari must continue to develop

Ferrari, however, expects to improve on this in 2022. The development will be even more crucial due to the new regulations and Red Bull is known for its strong development. Ferrari will therefore have to give everything to ensure that Verstappen's team does not overtake them. The Ferrari engine looks strong and reliable, something the Italians need to guarantee until the end of the season.

In addition, Leclerc will have to succeed where Vettel failed. The pressure on his shoulders will only increase as the season progresses, so the Monegasque will have to try to make as few mistakes as possible. For now, Leclerc still has a wide lead in the championship, but that could change quickly if Red Bull gets its reliability issues sorted out. If the fight between Leclerc and Verstappen becomes more exciting, the pressure between the two drivers will also increase. So it's up to Leclerc to remain cool under the great expectations of his team and the fans.