Hill speculates: 'Ferrari could have an advantage in third place'

Former Formula One champion Damon Hill speculates that Ferrari might be better off abandoning the battle for second place. In the F1 Nation podcast, Hill argues that there could be advantages for the team if Ferrari finishes third among constructors.

After a strong start to the season, Ferrari is now condemned to damage control. Charles Leclerc is embroiled with Sergio Perez in the battle for second place, while Carlos Sainz will have to go all out for fourth place over the two Mercedes drivers. Among constructors, Mercedes is now just 40 points behind Ferrari. The actual titles have long been claimed by Max Verstappen and Red Bull.

'Maybe Ferrari doesn't want to come second at all'

In the podcast, presenter Tom Clarkson noted that it would be very embarrassing for Ferrari if the team could not even finish second in the constructors when the car was capable of competing with Verstappen at some point. Hill then noted that it is not necessarily a big deal if Ferrari drops back to third. "You get penalised if you do better. You get less time in the wind tunnel the higher you finish. So maybe it is better to get some more time in the wind tunnel, even if it means they don't finish second." Ferrari would of course get less prize money in third place, but that is unlikely to make a significant difference for the Italian team.

The strategy could have an additional benefit in that Red Bull will get even less time in the wind tunnel because it breached the 2021 budget cap. Should Ferrari indeed finish third, the team will get over 30 hours more time in the wind tunnel than Red Bull. Reason enough for Hill to see it as a possible strategy: "They will have to make those calculations. Maybe they don't want to come second."