F1 News

Brundle: The Prancing Horses had a mare

Brundle: "The Prancing Horses had a mare"

05-11-2019 10:33
1

At the start of the United States Grand Prix, it seemed as if the Ferrari drivers were in reverse. Almost immediately, Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton got ahead of Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc. Things soon got worse when Vettel suffered a suspension failure and was ruled out of the race. 

Leclerc calmed the storms as much as he could by retaining fourth place and producing the fastest lap to earn a bonus point. Martin Brundle reviews Ferrari's weekend in his weekly column on Sky Sports

"The Prancing Horses had a mare. It was team boss Mattia Binotto's 50th birthday but he received no presents as Seb Vettel retired with suspension failure over the brutal bumps and kerbs, and Leclerc finished 52 seconds behind albeit with a new lap record and the associated world championship point to go with it," Brundle said. 

"Both Ferraris struggled horribly for grip in the opening lap, their front tyres particularly reluctant to warm up. Many in the paddock are ready to explain, with supporting data, that the Italian team has lost performance because a regulatory spotlight has been shone on the remarkable power their 'engine' has been able to pump out during various parts of a lap so far this season."

"It will be interesting to see how Ferrari perform in Brazil and Abu Dhabi, but certainly, their prodigious top speed was absent in Austin, although that can also be because of downforce levels with the angle of wing applied."

Talks of an investigation into Ferrari's engine were launched and team boss Binotto said he'd like it to happen so that those questioning the performance would be proved wrong.