Red Mist: Ferrari and the art of disbelief

He came second, but Lewis Hamilton looked bemused. Both times. As if he couldn’t understand why. Charles Leclerc appeared to be waiting for another impact after the two he had. Like, WTF?

And then Hamilton seemed like, wow! after his win. And after Saturday? The men in red appeared to have been struck by a bolt from the blue in Spielberg. Sadly, Spielberg went the wrong way. No matter what, anyone appeared to try to prevent it.

"I was on the attack,” Lewis frowned. This time in frustration. Even if the look was the same. “I got past Charles and I thought it wasn't looking too bad in the first few laps.

"Then with George, I was kind of holding on for a second, and then the rears just dropped off on every set. For some reason, the balance was very difficult,” Hamilton shrugged. “We just couldn't keep up with anyone today."

If Hamilton looked like a deer in the headlights, Leclerc looked more like a seal already in an Orca’s jaw.

"It was just an incredibly difficult race," Charles protested. "Very, very low grip overall,” he concurred with Lewis.

“We were on the back foot this weekend. I was happy on Saturday. The car was quite nice with low fuel; the front end was strong, and I liked it. But on Sunday I struggled to get the car and the tyres in the right window. Especially the rears – they just had no grip.

“I'm working very hard because there’s always some reason that’s made me struggle on the Sunday or the Saturday. It probably means we don't really have a clear picture of what I want from the car. It's so difficult to understand the balance. I've got to find that," Leclerc added.

Team principal Fred Vasseur reckons his drivers may have pushed too hard in Austria; he suggested: "We’re all on the edge. If you don't have the pace, you push; you take some risk on the strategy. And when it's not paying off, you pay the bill at the end.

"That's what happened to us in Austria. We never have the pace to fight with Mercedes and Max, and we overpushed the first few laps. We had to change the strategy, and then everything went in the wrong direction. But it's a good lesson.

"We were also overheating depending on where we were on track, so the target was to be in clean air. It paid off for Lewis in Barcelona because we were able to do 80% of the race in clean air. That was not the case at all at Spielberg," Vasseur concluded.

Either way, we cannot criticize the drivers or the team because they understand the problem and they’re completely open to the challenge. They’re just confused. probably just as confused as Max Verstappen, Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri, Red Bull Racing, and McLaren so far this season.

Fortunately, Silverstone promises to be a tad cooler on Sunday. Maybe by a whole ten degrees cooler. Which is one reason why we can maybe be hopeful of that deer in the headlights look again. For the same good reasons they had it in Barcelona. Forza!