Hill: Title fight still 'wide open' despite Ferrari setbacks

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Damon Hill says Ferrari's chances of challenging Red Bull for the world title are still intact despite the Scuderia and Charles Leclerc's recent setbacks.

The Monegasque has been unrivalled in qualifying in the last four rounds, but retirements in Barcelona and last weekend in Baku have relegated Leclerc to third in the championship standings, 34 points behind archrival and leader Max Verstappen who conquered in Baku his fifth win of the 2022 season.

Meanwhile, the Scuderia's reliability woes and double DNF in Azerbaijan have put the Italian outfit 80 points behind Red Bull in the Constructors' standings.

But Hill insists the title fight between F1's two front-running outfits is no where near being done and dusted in favour of the bulls.

"It must be immensely frustrating, but the championship is still wide open," the 1996 F1 world champion told Sky Sports F1.

"It was a terrible day for them but I don’t think it’s a disaster. It’s too early to start talking about that. And Red Bull have had problems as well."

With engine performance gains limited by F1's freeze on power unit development, Hill's Sky F1 sidekick Johnny Herbert underscored the importance of the House of Maranello getting on top of its reliability concerns.

"It’s how you delve into all those mashed-up bits and try to find what the issue is because it will be a big headache for them in the latter part of the season as that’s when you need the power to be strong," contended Herbert who pointed out the statistically strong reliability of F1's engines.

"For the championship, it’s a total disaster. It’s something you don’t probably expect to see in Formula 1, the modern sort of era we’ve got.

Red Bull: Red Bull has 'no doubts' that Ferrari will solve reliability issues

“And I think that’s where we saw the mechanical issue they had in Barcelona, now we’ve had another that looks like an engine failure.

"So it will be a really tough time for them to be able to get everything back on track because they have to do it quick, and we thought it had to be done [in Azerbaijan]."

Like Hill, Herbert suggested that Ferrari can remain in the mix if it gets on top of its issues, as Leclerc's form this year is scintillating.

"We know it’s brilliant what he did in qualifying [in Azerbaijan] and he was racing well, so he knows he’s driving brilliantly at the present time.

"So once they get everything sorted and fixed, so they don’t have these failures, as a driver you’ll be able to deliver the job quickly."

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Phillip van Osten

Motor racing was a backdrop from the outset in Phillip van Osten's life. Born in Southern California, Phillip grew up with the sights and sounds of fast cars thanks to his father, Dick van Osten, an editor and writer for Auto Speed and Sport and Motor Trend. Phillip's passion for racing grew even more when his family moved to Europe and he became acquainted with the extraordinary world of Grand Prix racing. He was an early contributor to the monthly French F1i Magazine, often providing a historic or business perspective on Formula 1's affairs. In 2012, he co-authored along with fellow journalist Pierre Van Vliet the English-language adaptation of a limited edition book devoted to the great Belgian driver Jacky Ickx. He also authored "The American Legacy in Formula 1", a book which recounts the trials and tribulations of American drivers in Grand Prix racing. Phillip is also a commentator for Belgian broadcaster Be.TV for the US Indycar series.