Last year, Ferrari started off with a phenomenal start courtesy of Charles Leclerc winning 2 races out of the first 3. As the Monegasque accrued 46 points over Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, it looked like the title race was over already. Many saw the run as the advent of the much-awaited resurgence of Ferrari. However, what Max and the team went on to put on display was one of the most brutal drubbings the Prancing Horse has experienced. The failure to cope with the slump resulted in team boss Mattia Binotto losing his job. His successor? The then-incumbent Alfa Romeo boss, Frederic Vasseur. However, since the Frenchman’s arrival, the Maranello-based team’s stocks on the tarmac have only tanked.

We are once again into another race week and this time, the circus moves to the land down under. Last time around, Leclerc achieved a Grand Slam, or what F1 petrolheads like to call it, a Grand Chelem here. The win was the second-best race win for Ferrari as Leclerc won with a margin of 20.524 seconds ahead of the second-placed driver. The number 1 came way back in 2002 during the Spanish GP at the hands of the great Michael Schumacher, who won the race with a mighty gulf of 35.629 seconds between him and the P2 holder. However, given the results Ferrari has had from the initial two races, it is highly unlikely that Charles will replicate the performance from the last time.

That does not reflect too well on Vasseur and his leadership capabilities. In the latest episode of the F1 Nation podcast, journalist Tom Clarkson said, “I think, for Fred Vasseur, team principal of Ferrari, for what now, 2 months? I think it’s been such a reality check for him. I think he’s come in and just seen the scale of the project now at Ferrari.”

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Clarkson also talked about how the first two races have exposed the inherent weaknesses in Maranello’s project.

Frederic Vasseur & Co. 3rd fastest behind Aston Martin

While the red team is struggling, the new challenger, Aston Martin, is making the most of it. Cruising under the leadership of Lawrence Stroll, Fernando Alonso has scored 2 podium finishes in as many races. This has amplified Ferrari’s anguish even more.

Clarkson continued, “Everything about the first two races makes me feel that Ferrari are a little bit undercooked at the minute. They’re just not getting anything quite right. The car isn’t quite fast enough, Charles is already expressing a little bit of frustration over the radio as he did in Saudi. I thought Carlos Sainz had a bit of an off weekend in Jeddah. Just wasn’t quite there in the qualifying, all the race. They just feel they’re half a step behind Aston Martin and two steps behind Red Bull at the moment.”

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Can Ferrari bounce back from their current slump in Melbourne? Can Leclerc replicate the perfect run he put on display last time around? Drop your predictions in the comments.