Formula 1: Ferrari lives a historical nightmare, Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc lament, the fans do not give more and the memes are all the rage

08/30/2020 - 17:47

• Clarín.com
• sports

Ferrari, the most iconic team in Formula 1, stars in disaster after disaster and this Sunday, at the Belgian Grand Prix, it was no exception. It was such a bad performance for the cars driven by Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc that it entered history with unusual trims , generated the anger of the tifosi and, of course, a cataract of memes.

Vettel finished 13th and his teammate was 14th, enough to be the worst placement of two Ferraris in a GP that both drivers have finished in the last decade. More precisely, since Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa were 14th and 15th, respectively, at the British GP in 2010.

But it was not just the poor location of the talented Ferrari drivers at Spa-Francorchamps. In qualifying they had not passed the second cut.

In the race specifically, two Leclerc pit stops were extremely slow . The Monegasque's first pass through the pits was downright gruesome: the tires weren't even ready and he spent 10 seconds standing still.

The disastrous first pit stop for Charles Leclerc: the team did not have the tires ready 🤦🏽‍♀️ # Formula1 # F1 # BelgianGP🇧🇪 pic.twitter.com/MHjBmtslkL

Slow in the pits too! # F1xESPN Leclerc went through the yellow tires and took five seconds to change. Ferrari does not get one in Belgium. #BelgianGP. pic.twitter.com/YiALv6bUsA

The other stop, meanwhile, lasted up to five seconds and was first widely criticized for such a long delay in changing tires, but later it became clear that it was due to a job that a mechanic carried out on the left sector of the car. The audio of the radio communication between Leclerc and the team reported the pilot's annoyance.

The cars of the Italian team were so slow that they suffered various humiliations with the overshoots of their rivals. One of them was the one that Kimi Raikkonen gave Vettel, with the aggravating circumstance that the Finn drives an Alfa Romeo, whose engine is also Ferrari.

But also Lando Norris , aboard his McLaren, passed smoothly on a straight to Leclerc.

Norris leaves Ferrari behind # F1xESPN The Englishman's McLaren passed smoothly into Leclerc's red car at Spa-Francorchamps. #BelgianGP. pic.twitter.com/f3GVPx5QH9

Leclerc vs Vettel wheel to wheel battles just hit different tbh, two alpha drivers who never give each other an inch more than absolutely necessary, Ferrari have blood on their hands for making a car that means this battle is for 13th rather than a championship pic. twitter.com/eaMBtUIBdh

If all those problems weren't enough for the Ferraris, there was more when what would have been the last straw almost happened: a collision between the cars during what appeared to be a great battle between two drivers who should be at the top of the positions ... But that was for 13th place.

After a horrendous weekend for the SF1000, Leclerc did not walk with laps when it came to expressing his discomfort: "It is not easy. It is ugly, very ugly. We have to do something. I tried to come back, but it is very difficult for us. overtaking even with the DRS (the movable rear wing) open, so we have to work and find something, because that's very difficult . "

The Monegasque was even more crude when it comes to thinking about what is coming, which will include nothing less than the passage through Monza, in Italy. "It will be very difficult. If we talk about Mugello or Imola, maybe there is some hope, but Monza will be really difficult for us, " he explained almost with a hint of resignation.

Vettel, for his part, was more diplomatic. "Spa is one of the tracks that require more power and this year we have had problems with that, so we expected to be a little behind," he acknowledged.

The Ferraris came only ahead of Romain Grosjean, Nicholas Latifi and Kevin Magnussen. George Russell and Antonio Giovinazzi left due to an accident and Carlos Sáinz could not start with McLaren.

The Ferraris lead ... a peloton lagging behind.Photo EFE

Between resignation and a hint of optimism, the four-time world champion completed: " We have to be realistic: we cannot expect miracles . Things are as they are and we are not as strong as we would like. But we must remain optimistic and see the good things, even though there are not many at this time. "

There was also the word of the most sought after and targeted man: Mattia Binotto . The boss of Ferrari, the main one pointed out by the bad season of the team, wants to banish the word "crisis" from any situation that surrounds the team.

"It is wrong to bother with that word at the moment we are passing. Yes it is a very bad result within a very difficult season. We are not in crisis but in the middle of a storm. We know the route and we must continue to look to the future", assured.

Of course, all these situations aroused the outrage of Ferrari fans, but also the use of memes on social media.

Images from Leclerc's last pit stop pic.twitter.com/sJJ7wPCl6G

#Leclerc with his #Ferrari is fighting for the last place against a refurbished Fiat Duna # F1xFOX # F1 # f1live pic.twitter.com/dxdyoqgIgY

Leclerc reaching the goal. #BelgianGP pic.twitter.com/np2BHkQE5P

Ferrari pits for Charles # WTF1 pic.twitter.com/ceMK9MYaK2

Who will win? LeClerc or Vettel, place your bets pic.twitter.com/ESNpVDVKqT

#LosSimpson already predicted #Ferrari at the #BelgianGP! pic.twitter.com/MN7HGJsH5C

Vettel and Leclerc fighting on the Kemmel straight. pic.twitter.com/fGejuFVqvU

HS