Ecclestone: Betting on Ferrari will get you nothing

Michelle Foster
Charles Leclerc drives down a wet Circuit Gilles Villeneuve pit lane. Canada June 2022

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc drives down a wet Circuit Gilles Villeneuve pit lane. Canada June 2022

As Charles Leclerc’s deficit to Max Verstappen continues to grow, Bernie Ecclestone says anyone who bet on Ferrari for this year’s championships can kiss their money goodbye.

Ferrari came out firing at the start of 2022, the Scuderia seemingly having understood Formula 1’s all-new technical regulations better than their rivals.

Leclerc raced out to a 34-point advantage after three races, winning in Bahrain and Australia while also finishing runner-up to Max Verstappen in Saudi Arabia.

And then it began to go wrong, horribly wrong.

While Red Bull got on top of their reliability troubles, Ferrari’s emerged with Leclerc suffering two retirements as well as a back-of-the-grid start in Canada due to engine penalties.

A driver error at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix and a botched strategy in Monaco meant that while the Ferrari driver continued to have the one-lap pace on Saturdays, he wasn’t able to turn that into wins come the Sundays.

Ecclestone is disappointed, the former F1 supremo having had high hopes for Ferrari at the start of this season.

Speaking to Blick, he said: “I hoped with many people that Ferrari would make it again after more than 14 years.

“Unfortunately, I have to say that anyone who continues to put their money on Ferrari or Leclerc will get nothing!”

The 91-year-old says Ferrari’s slump is nothing new, the Scuderia having let down their Tifosi all too often over the years.

“Errors are creeping in again at Ferrari,” he added, “the reliability is often reminiscent of the old days and the drivers themselves are not always confident on the road.

“So Max has an easy time in the Red Bull with six wins already.”

While Ferrari have fallen from grace, Red Bull have romped to six successive wins and the lead in both title races.

Ferrari last won the World title back in 2007 with Kimi Raikkonen, prior to that it was 1979 with Jody Scheckter while their former World Champ Niki Lauda, winning with Ferrari in 1975 and again in 1977, went as far as to dub Ferrari’s periods of mishaps the “spaghetti culture”.

 

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