Hill on Ferrari's struggles: 'Like they're always running with one leg'

F1 world champion Damon Hill says Ferrari's persistent struggles this season, with one car or the other, make it feel as if the Scuderia is "always running with one leg".

A pre-season favourite to shine this year, Ferrari is currently fourth in F1's Constructors' standings after seven races.

The Italian outfit's SF-23 contender has so far been no match for Red Bull's runaway RB19. But Ferrari has also been outpaced overall by Mercedes and Aston Martin.

Hill noted how the running order directly behind Red Bull has often been reshuffled from race to race. However, Ferrari's lack of consistency and struggles is a constant.

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"It’s a funny season in a way because we have seen quite a lot of disparity between apparent form on one circuit and the same form, or expectations, on another circuit," Hill told the Sky Sports F1 podcast.

"Everyone is scratching their heads apart from Red Bull, who are delivering on every track.

"We can’t say we can look at Barcelona and say that is now the formbook for the rest of the season because Canada is a different track, so is Silverstone. There will still be variety through the field.

"Then what can you say about Ferrari? When one is up, the other is down. It’s like they are running with one leg all the time. There always seems to be a problem with them."

Ferrari rolled out a heavily upgraded car in Barcelona that featured a new sidepod-floor package. However, both Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc said the changes had done little to solve their mount's tyre degradation and consistency issues in race trim.

Scuderia boss Fred Vasseur says the team's engineers in Maranello are working tirelessly to solve those issues, and once they are cured, Ferrari will battle fight on par with Mercedes.

"I think as soon as we will unlock the situation with consistency we can imagine to fight with them all over the race," Vasseur said in Spain.

"With Red Bull it's another story, especially with Verstappen. He is still much faster than us in quali, much faster in the race."

Assessing Mercedes’ double podium result in Spain, Hill commended the Brackley squad on its progress, but the Sky pundit especially noted Lewis Hamilton’s positive comments on his team’s upswing in performance, a "good sign" according to the Briton.

"Maybe this has unlocked more potential. But whether it's able to unlock more potential to beat Red Bull is questionable because I think they are stuck with the fundamental chassis they have underneath [the car]," Hill said.

"To hear Lewis say 'I'm enjoying driving the car'. That's a good sign and an indication for him because he's been saying, 'I told you we should have done something earlier'.

"They have gone and done what he has been pleading with them to do and they have seen some progress, so well done Lewis."

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