Ferrari had a rock-solid start to the season with two wins in the first three Grands Prix. The next four races however were prey for Red Bull Racing and we saw more and more problems with the Ferrari engine. Both at Ferrari itself and at customer teams Haas and Alfa Romeo. Concerns were expressed by Mattia Binotto who said that the problems could not be solved in the short term.
Reliability problems Ferrari
Charles Leclerc crashed out in Spain with undisclosed engine problems and in Monaco three of the four Haas and Alfa Romeo cars had engine problems. In conversation with The Race Binotto explains that reliability is always a challenge when it comes to engines. "There are always concerns. I don't think we can say that this is easy to solve," said the Ferrari team boss.
Despite his concerns, Binotto is confident that Ferrari can solve the problems. Although it will be in the medium term. "Our engine department has done an incredible job between last season and this season in terms of improving performance, but that has definitely affected and compromised reliability."
Leclerc and Sainz fast in Baku though
Ferrari may have reliability issues, but at least the speed of the Italian team has little to worry about. Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz have been in the top four all weekend, along with Red Bull Racing well clear of the rest of the field. Leclerc in particular seems to be one of the main contenders for pole position in Baku.