Formula 1 2019: Belgian Grand Prix presents Ferrari with best chance of breaking victory drought if they get their strategies right

Spa-Francorchamps: 315 days - that is how long it has been since Ferrari’s last victory as a team, which was at the 2018 United States Grand Prix. Almost a year later, the team stands in a precarious place. Not only have they been consistently outclassed by Mercedes and lost any possible chance of grabbing this year’s championships, but they also have been caught by Red Bull Racing. The victory drought has not been kind on the team, and a few “almost” wins seem to be more pain-inducing than consoling. While their rivals were busy sorting out their driver line-ups, Ferrari knew that they had to maintain their sole focus on winning the 2019 Belgian Grand Prix. After all, it is largely believed that Ferrari’s current package offers them their best possible chance to score their first victory of the season at the Spa-Francorchamps. But the crucial question that stands: can Ferrari actually win? Ferrari show their might on Friday The team started their weekend on a strong note after topping both the Free Practice sessions on Friday. In fact, their advantage was so apparent on Friday that Max Verstappen wrote off competing with the red cars and instead lay his sights on the silver ones. He revealed, “I expect we can be close to the Mercedes cars and I expect the Ferrari cars to be ahead, because with their top speed, even if you would be faster than them, you wouldn’t get them on the straights. They are a bit difficult to beat.” In agreement was Lewis Hamilton who said that Ferrari’s time advantage came from the straights. He confessed, “There’s not really a lot we can do to generally catch that up. They’ve always been strong all year long, on the straights. I had a feeling this weekend would work pretty well for them.”

Celebrations in the garage and in the cockpit, as @ScuderiaFerrari and @Charles_Leclerc celebrate pole position at Spa! 🙌#F1 #BelgianGP 🇧🇪 pic.twitter.com/Mhee1urWmc

— Formula 1 (@F1) August 31, 2019

Leclerc grabs a dominant pole On Saturday, Ferrari lived up to the expectations and they grabbed a much-anticipated pole position courtesy Charles Leclerc. It is Leclerc’s third pole of the season. The sublime and on-the-limit lap was a mammoth 0.748 second faster than anyone else, including teammate Sebastian Vettel. In fact, Leclerc’s gap to second place (Vettel) was the largest seen all season. Furthermore, this was the sixth straight race in which Leclerc out-qualified his quadruple World Champion teammate. Leclerc’s approach to his final qualifying run was refreshing and impressive. While every driver slowed down to find themselves in the best position to get a tow from the car in front, Leclerc boldly told Ferrari that he wanted to ignore the tow and would rather focus on keeping his tyres in the operating range. The result? Leclerc claimed pole position while Vettel only just managed to claim second place from Hamilton. It was strange to see drivers stuck behind each other despite the 7.004km long circuit! What awaits on Sunday “The points are awarded on Sunday” is a famous quote in the world of motorsport. Despite a great showing on Friday and Saturday, Ferrari need to make it count by winning on Sunday. Potentially, there could be two obstacles that could come Ferrari’s way. First, the weather — the temperatures for the race are expected to be around 10 degrees cooler than they have been all weekend. On Friday and Saturday, the temperature hovered around 30 degrees Celsius but on Sunday, it is expected to be around 20 degrees Celsius with a slight possibility of rain. This is a crucial point because the previous races of 2019 have shown that Ferrari have struggled with getting their tyre to perform in cooler conditions. Will the Ferrari car perform as well in differing weather conditions at Spa?

A qualifying of mixed reactions for the Ferrari drivers. LEC jubilant on the radio, VET swearing & talking of the traffic mess. #F1 #BelgianGP #Spa

— Kunal Shah (@kunalashah) August 31, 2019

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The second element is Mercedes’ race pace. When asked about comparative race pace between the two teams, Leclerc confessed, “I don’t know. I think we have been quick since FP1. However, once we did the race simulations in FP2 we weren’t as quick, so I think it’s not going to be easy tomorrow. We’ll try to give everything. The gap is quite big today but it doesn’t mean it will be like that tomorrow. We will be working hard to improve the race run on yesterday and we’ll see.” Interestingly, Ferrari’s pace advantage is expected to reduce over the race distance. To quote Hamilton, “I think a bit of their straight (line) speed, which is where generally all the speed is, it’s usually not there so much in the race. So hopefully, we’ll be there or thereabouts with them tomorrow.” In addition, we should not forget the hopeless influence of the DRS, which makes passing much easier on the long Kemmel Straight. However, the power battle might not be as straightforward after all. Mercedes suffered from mechanical gremlins with their upgraded power units on Friday (on Sergio Perez’s car) and Saturday (Robert Kubica). Meanwhile, Ferrari have smartly deployed their upgrades only for their customer teams (Haas and Alfa Romeo).

We can’t mention the #BelgianGP without talking about @Schumacher ❤️

Who can forget those magical scenes of his championship crowning moment in 2004?!#essereFerrari 🔴 pic.twitter.com/ufWNG9B0Ea

— Scuderia Ferrari HP (@ScuderiaFerrari) August 28, 2019

Finally, even if the Ferrari are able to fight Mercedes on-track, the nervousness would then be around the team’s management of the race. At several races this season, the team has made questionable strategy calls often putting themselves in tough positions - Ferrari’s strategy has been a weak link. Hamilton alluded to the importance of tactical play, saying that Mercedes could “apply pressure another way.” He said, “As long as you can keep up with them, you can do it (overtake) maybe on strategy.” Although it seems like the Belgian Grand Prix is Ferrari’s race to lose, other imponderables remain. This is a fairly incident-prone track and the Safety Car has made an appearance eight out of the last 12 races. Then there is the ever-imminent threat of rain. Leclerc will be hoping to seal a victory and celebrate his first-ever win in Formula 1. Given that Leclerc is likely to have a long career in F1, it will be a memorable and sweet milestone for the youngster. His teammate, Sebastian Vettel, would also not mind taking victory for himself — it has been some time since he tasted the champagne from the top step of the podium. As a team, a victory is what Ferrari desperately need to lift their spirits and propel them forward. After all, nothing motivates the starving quite like a bite of success.