Former Haas F1 team principal Guenther Steiner has fired Ferrari a
warning that it must "wake-up" if it wants to claim second in the
constructors' championship after a disastrous Baku. Ferrari endured
an Azerbaijan Grand Prix to forget, despite Charles Leclerc having
started on pole at the Baku City Circuit in four consecutive years
from 2021-2024. The Scuderia made an excellent start by ending the
opening day with a one-two, before everything went wrong in
qualifying. Lewis Hamilton was eliminated in Q2, before Leclerc
crashed at Turn 15 in the opening minutes of Q3. It resulted in
Leclerc starting from 10th, ahead of Hamilton in 12th. Minimal
progress was made by the duo in the race, with Hamilton finishing
in eighth, directly ahead of Leclerc in ninth. However, it should
have been the other way around, as Hamilton was supposed to let
Leclerc past before the chequered flag, having been given the
position earlier in the race due to fresher tyres. The seven-time
world champion slowed down too close to the chequered flag, while
both drivers were beaten by the likes of Carlos Sainz and Liam
Lawson. Due to the poor result and Mercedes finishing with both of
its cars in the top four, Ferrari has slipped to third in the
standings. Speaking on the Red Flags podcast, Steiner revealed his
'loser' of Baku, saying: "I think we have to give the loser [award]
this time to Ferrari, because eighth and ninth, beaten by Racing
Bulls, beaten by Williams. "The mess, not to let Charles past at
the end, Lewis falling asleep to let him by because he was focused
on something else. "They need to wake up, because if they want to
finish second in a championship, like this it's not going to
happen. So at the moment, they're not second anymore." Ferrari
versus Mercedes versus Red Bull Ferrari faces a major fight against
Mercedes and Red Bull to clinch second in the championship, in what
is a three-way battle. Just 18 points split the three outfits,
with Steiner expecting Red Bull to struggle the most out of those
fighting for second. "Any of the three, they are so close
together, it's too early to call it," added Steiner. "If Mercedes
has a good race and they win a race, and Kimi can score some
points, they can be in front. "But I think Red Bull will have the
most struggles, we'll get to Red Bull afterwards, but I don't think
Max will win a lot more races this year."
warning that it must "wake-up" if it wants to claim second in the
constructors' championship after a disastrous Baku. Ferrari endured
an Azerbaijan Grand Prix to forget, despite Charles Leclerc having
started on pole at the Baku City Circuit in four consecutive years
from 2021-2024. The Scuderia made an excellent start by ending the
opening day with a one-two, before everything went wrong in
qualifying. Lewis Hamilton was eliminated in Q2, before Leclerc
crashed at Turn 15 in the opening minutes of Q3. It resulted in
Leclerc starting from 10th, ahead of Hamilton in 12th. Minimal
progress was made by the duo in the race, with Hamilton finishing
in eighth, directly ahead of Leclerc in ninth. However, it should
have been the other way around, as Hamilton was supposed to let
Leclerc past before the chequered flag, having been given the
position earlier in the race due to fresher tyres. The seven-time
world champion slowed down too close to the chequered flag, while
both drivers were beaten by the likes of Carlos Sainz and Liam
Lawson. Due to the poor result and Mercedes finishing with both of
its cars in the top four, Ferrari has slipped to third in the
standings. Speaking on the Red Flags podcast, Steiner revealed his
'loser' of Baku, saying: "I think we have to give the loser [award]
this time to Ferrari, because eighth and ninth, beaten by Racing
Bulls, beaten by Williams. "The mess, not to let Charles past at
the end, Lewis falling asleep to let him by because he was focused
on something else. "They need to wake up, because if they want to
finish second in a championship, like this it's not going to
happen. So at the moment, they're not second anymore." Ferrari
versus Mercedes versus Red Bull Ferrari faces a major fight against
Mercedes and Red Bull to clinch second in the championship, in what
is a three-way battle. Just 18 points split the three outfits,
with Steiner expecting Red Bull to struggle the most out of those
fighting for second. "Any of the three, they are so close
together, it's too early to call it," added Steiner. "If Mercedes
has a good race and they win a race, and Kimi can score some
points, they can be in front. "But I think Red Bull will have the
most struggles, we'll get to Red Bull afterwards, but I don't think
Max will win a lot more races this year."
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