Red Mist: Is Ferrari really back in the game?

Red Mist was scarce over the past weeks. Concentrated on delightful Le Mans and left the insensitive to squeal about Ferrari in Formula 1. Fred promised we’d be back. The team reckoned it had the silver bullet for its Austrian Grand Prix. And do you know what, farcical as that race was, Ferrari seemed to at least be the best of the rest.

To be clear, Austria was Ferrari’s best race of the 2023 Formula 1 World Championship season so far. And by some margin too. Finally, we were back on the podium, with both cars fast and competitive throughout the weekend. Look, it was nowhere near the pace of this race last year, but it was a long step ahead of anything we have seen this year, other than at Baku.

Oh so close to pole for the GP, and a podium for each driver in the sprint and race respectively. Sure. We had the pace in quali earlier in the season, but on Saturday and Sunday, there was good pace throughout the race stints too. Parts of the weekend where Ferrari had really struggled so far this year. And it was good to see capo John Elkann leading from the box again. That counts big.

It was by no means perfect. Charles clearly struggled in qualifying for the Sprint One also has to wonder what the team was doing slapping medium rubber on the car on a drying track. Among one or two other eyewatering faux pas. Surely they should know better by now.

Ferrari’s big test however comes this coming weekend. How will the tweaked SF-23 respond to the high-speed high-downforce challenges of Silverstone? "Yes, it is a very different track in Silverstone,” Charles Leclerc pondered after the race at Spielberg. “It's going to be very interesting to see where we are there.

“I feel like maybe the weakness of the car now is still a little bit, the high-speed corners and there is lots of high-speed in Silverstone. So, it will be good to see if this new package helps there."

Carlos Sainz was a little miffed being unable to show his true pace in Austria. “I was very quick today, especially with the medium tyres,” Sainz admitted. But he too, was positive about his car. "I felt like we had a lot of pace, so it's just a shame we couldn't use it fully, because a double podium today was possible, especially with the pace I had. It is what it is, but I just wish I could maximise it.”

All of this points to a more competitive second half of the 2023 season. Which is something we really need, because Carlos sits fifth on 82 points with Charles languishing back sixth in the title race. Tied on just 72 points with George Russell. Alonso sits third, 49 points clear of Sainz, with Lewis also 24 points ahead. Ferrari sits fourth in the maker’s chase, 24 points behind Mercedes in second.

Dare we dream of catching Fernando for third? Or even Checo for second? Of course we do! Only nine races into the championship, there are 13 rounds left. Yes, it’s all to do, but it certainly is doable. Especially if the weekend’s pace carries over to that former British airfield.

However, if ever there was a time for a Ferrari team to rise to the challenge, it is now. And it needs all hands on deck, pulling in the right direction. Like that, maybe, just maybe, this annus won’t be all that horribilus after all. Bring on Silverstone!