Although Ferrari ultimately fell short of the Constructors’ Championship once again, the Scuderia did have some strong form in 2019 – including an impressive run of pole positions. Here are all the facts, figures and statistics from their season.
2019 was a season which promised much but ultimately delivered little for Scuderia Ferrari. With a raft of changes in the off-season, including the appointment of Mattia Binotto as Team Principal and Charles Leclerc filling Kimi Raikkonen’s vacated seat, Ferrari emerged from testing as the pre-season favourites. But Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc’s 4th and 5th place result at the season opening race suggested they weren’t the favourites after all.
Then came the second round of the season, and Leclerc took pole and led almost the entirety of the race before a dying engine let him down. Further opportunities for victory in the first half of the season seemed few and far between. Vettel crossed the line first at the Canadian Grand Prix, but a five second time penalty saw him finish behind Lewis Hamilton.
It wouldn’t be until Belgium, by which point their title chances were minimal, that Ferrari would clinch their first victory of the year. That was courtesy of Leclerc, who took his first two wins on the bounce, with a satisfying home victory for the team at Monza. While some of Vettel’s misdemeanors attracted an unwanted spotlight, the German delivered their third win in succession in Singapore.
But even that Singapore victory was somewhat tainted, as Leclerc was left unimpressed by the strategy call which allowed his team-mate to win. More team radio drama followed in Russia, but the issue was resolved as Vettel retired with an MGU-K failure. For all of Ferrari’s woes in 2019, it cannot be denied that they produced a super quick car: Leclerc led the team to four consecutive poles at the start of the second half of the season, and they amassed their highest number of pole positions in a year since 2007.
While accusations of underhand tactics with fuel-flow meters giving straight-line speed advantages brewed in the latter stages of the year, on-track, the team-mate tussle finally came to a head in Brazil, when Vettel and Leclerc made contact. It may have only been slight, but it was slight enough to end each of their afternoons. Ferrari ended the season as runners-up to Mercedes, and much further away from the champions than it seemed they would be at the start of the year.
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RACE STATISTICS
- Championship Position: 2nd
- Total Points: 504
- Points Scoring Races: 20
- Double Points Finishes: 16
- Best finish: 1st (x3)
- Number of DNFs: 6
- Laps Led: 405
- Laps Complete: 2334 (7th)
- % of Laps Complete: 92.47%
- Distance Covered: 11894.38km
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QUALIFYING STATISTICS
- Both cars in Q3: 19
- Q3 Appearances: 40
- Q2 Exits: 0
- Q1 Exits: 2
- Best Qualifying Position: Pole
- Worst Qualifying Position: 20th
- Average Gap to Ultimate Pace: 0.55%[/one_half_last]
A STATISTIC FROM EVERY GRAND PRIX
Australia: Ferrari opened their 2019 campaign by finishing fourth and fifth in the Australian Grand Prix. It was the first time since 2014 that no Ferrari driver appeared on the Albert Park podium.
Bahrain: The 2019 Bahrain Grand Prix became the first event where Ferrari have topped all three practice sessions since the 2018 Belgian Grand Prix, and only the third time they’ve done so in the hybrid era (the other time being at the 2017 Russian Grand Prix). With the team also topping all three qualifying sessions, it was the first time Ferrari have dominated Friday and Saturday at any race in the hybrid era. Charles Leclerc almost won the race, until a late engine issue saw him finish only third. Nevertheless, Ferrari became first team to lead 300 laps at the track as a result of Leclerc leading the majority of proceedings.
China: At the 2019 Chinese Grand Prix, Sebastian Vettel recorded Ferrari’s thirteenth podium finish at the Shanghai International Circuit. This was the seventh consecutive season that the team have finished with one car on the podium and the other car inside the points at the track.
Azerbaijan: Charles Leclerc set the fastest lap of the 2019 Azerbaijan Grand Prix. It marked the 250th fastest lap for Ferrari in Formula 1.
Spain: The 2019 Spanish Grand Prix saw both Ferraris finish the event for the first time since 2016. It was the first time Ferrari have ever recorded a 4-5 result at the Spanish Grand Prix.
Monaco: At the 2019 Monaco Grand Prix, Charles Leclerc recorded Ferrari’s first Q1 exit since the 2017 Malaysia Grand Prix. It was the team’s fourth Q1 exit in Monaco; their first since 2013.
Canada: With Sebastian Vettel’s pole position at the Canadian Grand Prix, Ferrari equalled McLaren and Williams as the most successful team in qualifying at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Vettel went on to finish second, despite crossing the finish line first, while Charles Leclerc finished third. It was the first time both Ferrari drivers have finished on the podium since the 2018 Mexican Grand Prix, and the first time since 2005 that both Ferrari drivers finished on the podium at the Canadian Grand Prix.
France: With Charles Leclerc’s podium finish at the 2019 French Grand Prix, Ferrari equalled Williams on seven podium finishes at Circuit Paul Ricard – second in the all-time list, behind only McLaren.
Austria: Charles Leclerc took pole position at the 2019 Austrian Grand Prix, becoming the first Ferrari driver to take pole in Austria since Michael Schumacher in 2003.
Britain: With his post-race penalty applied, Sebastian Vettel finished behind both Williams cars in the 2019 British Grand Prix. It was the first time a Ferrari driver has failed to score at Silverstone since Kimi Raikkonen crashed out of the 2014 event, as well as the worst ever finishing position for a Ferrari car at the track which has not failed to finish the race. On Saturday at Silverstone, with both Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc reaching the final part of qualifying, Ferrari became the first team to reach 450 Q3 appearances.
Germany: Ferrari recorded their worst qualifying result of the 2019 season at the German Grand Prix. Sebastian Vettel was out in Q1, while Charles Leclerc reached Q3 but was unable to set a lap time in the final session. Vettel fought back in the race to second place, recording the team’s best finishing position at Hockenheim since they won the 2012 German Grand Prix.
Hungary: At the 2019 Hungarian Grand Prix, Sebastian Vettel recorded Ferrari’s 25th Hungarian Grand Prix podium finish.
Belgium: Charles Leclerc starred at the 2019 Belgian Grand Prix. After taking the team’s first pole position at Spa Francorchamps since 2007, he went on to record the Scuderia’s first win of the season. Leclerc became the 39th driver to have won a race with Ferrari in F1.
Italy: No team has had more wins at a single circuit than Ferrari have had wins at Monza. The red team extended their number of home victories to nineteen at the 2019 Italian Grand Prix. It was Ferrari’s 27th win in total in Italy, if you include their wins at the Imola circuit. Charles Leclerc recorded their 21st pole position at Monza and marked the first time the team have taken pole position in consecutive seasons at the Italian Grand Prix since 2003 and 2004.
Singapore: Sebastian Vettel won the 2019 Singapore Grand Prix meaning that, somewhat unbelievably, this was the first time Ferrari recorded three consecutive wins since 2008. Their last three consecutive wins came during a streak of four victories between the 2008 Malaysia and Turkey races.
Russia: While the Scuderia failed to win in Sochi, Charles Leclerc set the team’s fourth consecutive pole position. It was the first time a Ferrari driver has taken four consecutive poles since Michael Schumacher set seven in a row between the 2000 Italian Grand Prix and the 2001 Brazilian Grand Prix.
Japan: At the 2019 Japanese Grand Prix, Ferrari started from pole for a fifth consecutive race, making it the 35th occasion in F1 history that a team have taken five or more successive poles. It was only the seventh time that Ferrari have done so in their history, most recently at the 2007 Bahrain Grand Prix. It was the team’s first Suzuka front row lock out since 2006.
Mexico: Ferrari started from pole position for a sixth consecutive race as a result of a grid penalty for Max Verstappen. It was the first time they’ve taken six successive pole positions since the 2007 Spanish Grand Prix. For the first time in Mexico, Ferrari locked out the front row, beating their previous best 1-3 qualifying result at the circuit from 1970. It was their 80th front row lock out in total. With Vettel finishing second in the Grand Prix, Ferrari set a new record for most podiums at the Mexico Grand Prix, beating Brabham’s previous record of ten set in 1987.
United States: At the 2019 United States Grand Prix, Sebastian Vettel recorded Ferrari’s third DNF at the Circuit of the Americas, while Charles Leclerc recorded their fourth fourth position at the track. This was the first time neither Ferrari driver finished on the US Grand Prix podium since 2016, a race in which Ferrari’s pairing also scored a fourth place finish and a DNF.
Brazil: At the 2019 Brazilian Grand Prix, Ferrari endured their first double DNF since the 2017 Singapore Grand Prix – a race in which both of their drivers were similarly involved in the same race-ending incident. It was the team’s first double DNF at the Brazilian Grand Prix since 2003. This was also the third year in succession that Ferrari have qualified second and fourth for the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Abu Dhabi: With Charles Leclerc finishing ninth and Sebastian Vettel finishing fifth, the 2019 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix marked the ninth time in the eleven races at the Yas Marina Circuit that both Ferrari drivers finished inside the points.