Double retirement in Canada, Sainz crash in Baku… These moments when Ferrari lost the Constructors’ title in 2024

Canada: Hangover after Monaco

© Eric Alonso /DPPI

Two weeks after the moving victory of Charles Leclerc In Monaco, Ferrari is coming to Canada with the firm ambition of confirming its good form. In the championship, the Team is still well placed, with only 49 points behind Red Bull and 40 units ahead of McLaren. Unfortunately, from the first free practice, the Italian team was unrecognizable on the Gilles-Villeneuve circuit. Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz were not in the rhythm of the best and in changing weather conditions, the two drivers were eliminated from Q2, in 11th and 12th place.

The Grand Prix was no better: the Monegasque was handicapped by an engine problem that made him lose tenths on the straight. Unable to overtake, Charles Leclerc tried to stop to reset his car, without success. After four desperate stops, the winner of the Monaco Grand Prix decided to retire after 41 laps. A few laps later, Carlos Sainz – then on slick tyres on a drying track – was surprised at turn 6 by putting a wheel off the line and spun. Alexander albon cannot avoid it and hits him. Like his teammate, the Spaniard returns to the pits to retire and Ferrari leaves Quebec with zero points.

Austria: Leclerc gets tangled up

© Xavi Bonilla / DPPI

After a timid rebound in Spain following the nightmare performance in Montreal, Ferrari went to Austria with doubts and few certainties. The development of the SF-24 was not as good as hoped, and the Italian team struggled to find performance again. In Spielberg, on the Red Bull Ring, the Scuderia's difficulties were confirmed again with the return of the famous bounces on the car. However, for the Grand Prix, both drivers managed to qualify in Q3, in 4th place for Carlos Sainz and 6th place for Charles Leclerc.

From the start, Charles Leclerc hits the mark Oscar piastri and damaged his front wing. This was the beginning of the ordeal for the Monegasque. Forced to return to the pits at the end of the first loop to change his nose, he put on hard tires which proved ineffective on the Styrian track. On the 18th lap, the Ferrari driver already changed his tires to put on medium tires and came out second to last, well off the points.

He stopped for a third time on lap 35 – the halfway point had just been reached – to finish the race on new medium tyres. If he managed to come back through overtaking and racing incidents, notably with the collision Norris-Verstappen In the final laps, he failed to reach the points, in 11th place. At the front, Carlos Sainz saved the honour and took an unexpected podium, after gaining two positions with the accident between the two leaders.

Great Britain: Ferrari takes on water

© Eric Alonso / DPPI

Just a week after Charles Leclerc's nightmare scenario in Austria, the Monegasque returns to Great Britain with the hope of ending his bad streak. Since his victory in Monaco, the #16 has scored only 10 points, while the Scuderia finds itself 64 points behind Red Bull in the Constructors' Championship and sees McLaren close to just 23 points. Nevertheless, in such a short time between Grands Prix, Ferrari has not solved all the problems of the SF-24, which still suffers from a serious lack of balance on the ultra-fast Silverstone circuit.

As in Canada, Charles Leclerc did not make the cut in Q2, while Carlos Sainz secured an anonymous 7th place, far behind the McLarens, Mercedes and Max Verstappen's Red Bull. On Sunday, the sky was threatening: could Ferrari have the opportunity to make up for it thanks to the rain? The answer was no. Around the 20th lap, a first downpour hit the Silverstone circuit. Ferrari called Charles Leclerc – who had then moved up to 7th place – to be among the first to put on intermediate tyres. A lost bet: the rain immediately calmed down, and the Monegasque found himself on grooved tyres on a track that was still mostly dry. Five laps after his pit stop, the Ferrari driver was lapped!

Charles Leclerc then destroyed his tyres and when the rain returned, he had to return to his pits to put on new intermediates... before putting on slicks ten laps later, when the bad weather ended. Result: the Monegasque finished 14th, one lap behind, while Carlos Sainz, who followed the leaders' strategy, managed to secure 5th place and the point for the fastest lap.

Azerbaijan: Sainz, two laps from the goal…

© Xavi Bonilla / DPPI

A quick jump in time to mid-September: since Ferrari's setbacks at the start of the European tour, the Scuderia has made up for lost time with another prestigious victory for Charles Leclerc at Monza, in front of the tifosi. The SF-24's problems have been corrected with the arrival of new developments and a specific package for Monza and Baku, two fast circuits with high top speeds. In Azerbaijan, two weeks after the success in Italy, Ferrari is approaching this Grand Prix with a certain optimism... and this is confirmed right from qualifying: pole position for Charles Leclerc, 3rd place for Carlos Sainz on the grid!

At the start, Carlos Sainz was surprised by Sergio Pérez and lost a position, while Charles Leclerc defended his first place ahead of Oscar Piastri… before the Australian dove inside the first corner on lap 20, surprising the Monegasque and stealing the lead of the race. For around thirty laps, the Ferrari driver was unable to find an opening on the McLaren, which was then equipped with a controversial “mini-DRS” with a rear wing that folded and opened slightly at high speed. In the final laps, Charles Leclerc was struggling with his tires and saw the Pérez – Sainz duo come back into his exhausts.

With two laps to go, after a muscular defense by Leclerc on Pérez, Sainz tried to find the opening on the Mexican at the first corner and overtook him. The Red Bull driver tried to respond at turn 2: the two found themselves side by side on the second straight, touched and both ended up in the wall! Carlos Sainz retired when he was two laps away from a potential podium: 15 points lost that would make all the difference at the end of the season, since Ferrari lost the Constructors' title by... 14 points!

ALSO READ > IN PICTURES – Ocon at Haas, Sainz with Williams… the first images of the post-season tests in Abu Dhabi