What a difference a year makes in Formula 1. After last season’s Bahrain Grand Prix, Ferrari was in buoyant mood after scoring a 1-2, while Red Bull seemed to have dug itself a reliability grave. Twelve months on, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc enters the Saudi Arabian GP with zero points and a grid penalty for a new electrical system, rather than the 26 points he’d scored in Bahrain. Instead, it was Red Bull toasting the 1-2 finish. Sure, Leclerc got to within three tenths of Max Verstappen’s Red Bull pole time, but his slim hopes of second place expired along with his power unit’s control electronics. And Ferrari’s long-run tyre usage is as suspect as its quality control, especially the way Carlos Sainz slumped 10 seconds behind Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin in the final stint. It’s a work in progress for new team principal Frederic Vasseur, but Ferrari is not known for patience and will want to see at least some light at the end of the tunnel this weekend in Jeddah. By: Charles Bradley, Global Editor in Chief
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