In the high-speed, dramatic world of Formula 1, where every thousandth of a second can determine destiny, Scuderia Ferrari, the legendary team with a glorious history, often finds itself at the center of strategic controversies. In fact, a simple Google search for “F1 Ferrari strategy memes” yields over a million results, a testament to their unwilling “fame” for making decisions that are baffling and, at times, disastrous. From the early days of the championship to the modern era, there have been countless instances where Ferrari’s “catastrophic” strategic calls have turned potential victories into bitter defeats, snatching glory from their drivers and leaving fans in despair.

Here are 10 unforgettable moments—in the least desirable way—when Ferrari’s strategy well and truly collapsed, leaving indelible scars on the history of Formula 1.

1. The Wrong-Sized Wheels Blunder: 1951 Spanish Grand Prix

Back in 1951, during the nascent days of the Formula 1 World Championship, Ferrari showcased its unique brand of “Ferrari” strategy from the very beginning. The championship that year was a direct showdown between Scuderia’s Alberto Ascari and Alfa Romeo’s Juan Manuel Fangio. Heading into the final round at the Spanish Grand Prix in Pedralbes, the tension was palpable. Ferrari made the decision to swap their 18-inch wheels for smaller 16-inch ones. The rationale was to gain better acceleration and a higher top speed on the track’s long straights. While it sounded logical in theory, they overlooked another critical element of a racetrack: the corners.

These smaller wheels made the Ferrari incredibly difficult to handle in the turns, transforming what could have been a championship-winning effort into a dismal performance. Ultimately, this cost Ferrari their first shot at championship glory. Although Ascari and the team would go on to win in 1952, the 1951 mistake remains a harsh lesson on the importance of considering every strategic element. Interestingly, research suggests that “Ferrari did not lose the 1951 championship; Juan Manuel Fangio and his Alfa Romeo won the 1951 World Championship, not Ferrari.” This highlights the complexity and sometimes confusing nature of history, but the blunder was a regrettable mark nonetheless.

2. The Forgotten Wheel: 1999 European Grand Prix

For fans of Daniel Ricciardo, this story brings back painfully familiar memories. In 1999, Michael Schumacher was in a fierce championship battle with Mika Häkkinen until a horrific crash sidelined him. Scuderia Ferrari attempted to replace the German, but when that failed, they turned to their number two driver, Eddie Irvine, to try and secure the crown. Irvine performed admirably, winning in Austria and Germany, giving the Northern Irishman a real shot at a historic upset.

However, at the European Grand Prix, everything went wrong. Mixed weather conditions created chaos on track, and Irvine’s late call to switch to dry tires caused further drama. Ferrari’s pit crew seemed unable to perform a standard pit stop. The timing screen displayed the number 48—the number of seconds Irvine remained stationary in the pit lane while his team fumbled with the tires. In the words of commentator Martin Brundle, the team held a “committee meeting” during the stop before sending him back out. Ferrari President Luca di Montezemolo reportedly called team officials in for a two-and-a-half-hour “discussion” afterward. When you consider that Irvine lost the 1999 championship by just two points a few races later, you can understand why. Still, rumors persisted that this blunder was part of a master plan by the sidelined Schumacher.

3. Covering the Wrong Driver: 2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

As far as Abu Dhabi controversies go, this one is relatively tame, but its impact is still felt in Formula 1 today. The 2010 season was a classic for many reasons: the grand return of Michael Schumacher, confusion over what HRT actually stood for, and a thrilling five-way championship fight. Imagine having a race like that in 2025, only for DTS to still focus on the “rivalry” between Charles Leclerc and his piano.

Four drivers remained in contention as the season concluded at Yas Marina: Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso led the standings, followed by Red Bull’s Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel, with Lewis Hamilton in fourth. After a dramatic opening lap, Mark Webber pitted early on lap 11 and got stuck behind the sister team’s HRT car. This created a potential opportunity for the Scuderia. Ferrari decided to sacrifice Felipe Massa—for the 718th time in 2010—to hold up Webber. However, they botched Massa’s pit stop, leaving them no choice but to use Alonso instead. Fernando managed to stay ahead of the Australian but found himself crucially stuck behind Renault’s Vitaly Petrov. Surely Ferrari could overtake in Abu Dhabi, right? Wrong. Alonso spent the final laps of 2010 staring at the back of Petrov’s car while Sebastian Vettel seemingly emerged from nowhere to snatch the championship in the dying seconds. This race ultimately strengthened the case for implementing DRS from the 2011 season onward, and while it’s easy to criticize in hindsight, it still cost Ferrari a championship.

4. Who Needs Fresh Tires Anyway?: 2016 Australian Grand Prix

This mistake also involved Fernando Alonso’s race being turned “upside down,” but this time more literally. After Alonso’s terrifying crash at the 2016 Australian Grand Prix, a red flag was deployed, forcing critical decisions. Sebastian Vettel had taken a surprise lead at the start, but having just pitted before the race was suspended, Ferrari decided to leave the German out on worn supersoft tires for the restart. Meanwhile, Mercedes fitted fresh medium tires for Nico Rosberg, setting him on a race-winning strategy. Vettel finished third, potentially missing out on P2 had the team made a different call.

Ferrari took this result as proof that they could compete with the dominant “Silver Arrows” for the rest of the 2016 season. However, Ferrari failed to win a single race for the remainder of 2016.

5. Cockiness in Monaco: 2019 Monaco Grand Prix

Now we enter the Charles Leclerc era, which means pain every time the Monaco Grand Prix comes around. This was the Monegasque driver’s first home Grand Prix in the colors of the Prancing Horse, and with a powerful (and totally-not-illegal-in-any-way) engine, prospects looked good for Leclerc’s home race. Qualifying was still vital, and getting through Q1 should have been the first easy step on that journey. Or perhaps not.

After watching Sebastian Vettel’s dementia-fueled drift into the barriers, Ferrari decided to play it safe on the other side of the garage, which meant leaving Leclerc in the pits when the track was at its fastest. They ignored early warning signs of the Haas pair running quicker with over three minutes left on the clock. Then it was the two Alfa Romeos, then the two McLarens, and then teammate Vettel, who had the honor of knocking the second Ferrari out of his home race. The team later conceded they didn’t expect the track to get faster at the end of the session. Sunday wasn’t much better, as Leclerc tried to make up for the previous afternoon’s cluster by leaving it all on the track—and by all, I mean the floor of his SF90.

6. Vettel Appoints Himself Head of Strategy: 2020 Spanish Grand Prix

You’d think with one car already out of contention at the 2020 Spanish Grand Prix, your life would be a little bit easier. That said, Ferrari had already told Sebastian Vettel he was sacked before the year got going and seemingly forgot he was still driving for them in this one. Sebastian was brought in for softs on lap 28. For new fans, that’s the tire compound that is theoretically the fastest but also dies the quickest. Yet, the Scuderia wanted the German to go all the way to the end of the race. Or did they?

The team came over the radio to instruct the German to push for three laps, only to then change their minds. They instead asked Seb to shelve that idea and try to make it to the end. This rather upset the four-time world champion. Ferrari was unable to offer their now-infamous “we are checking” response, as Vettel took it upon himself to instruct his team on what to do next. As the glue factory continued to buffer on the sidelines, Vettel was able to strategize himself to P7 by the flag, which was seen as a minor miracle considering the “shitbox” they had underneath them in 2020.

7. Monaco Disaster, The Sequel: 2022 Monaco Grand Prix

After a much better Saturday in 2022, Charles Leclerc found himself leading the opening stages of a very damp Monaco Grand Prix. Said dampness was drying out fast, though, and it may just have been possible to switch from the full wet tires to dry slicks and skip the intermediate compound. But Ferrari only had this epiphany after boxing Leclerc from P1. That meant the Monegasque got a solid four laps out of the green-sidewalled tires before being double-stacked behind his teammate, who had just inherited the lead.

That gave us the now-iconic team radio from the start of this entry, but the pain wouldn’t stop there. Red Bull performed the overcut of dreams to place Max Verstappen ahead of Leclerc and, more crucially, Sergio Pérez in the lead ahead of both Ferraris. Given this is Monaco, it comes as no surprise that’s how the order remained come the end of the Grand Prix. A single shot from the Leclerc residence was heard later that afternoon.

8. Wrong Tires at the Wrong Time: 2022 Hungarian Grand Prix

It’s the Hungarian Grand Prix, and as per usual, it was pissing it down. That said, we were never quite able to ascertain whether the water was coming from the clouds or just Leclerc fans’ tears. Carlos Sainz led the early stages in what could be a big swing for the championship. Max Verstappen was hampered by a bit of “dirty” AlphaTauri tarnishing his Red Bull. The Scuderia thus orchestrated a swap to allow Leclerc to seize P1 from his teammate, and that’s how the order looked to stay.

However, Ferrari was surprised when Leclerc was identified as a sitting duck on the restart. He dropped like a stone, handing the team a significant advantage and ultimately costing them crucial points in the 2022 championship fight. In hindsight, it probably wasn’t that important, but at that stage, Ferrari fans still had that last ounce of hope. At least Sainz benefited to take his first Grand Prix victory, but the team was so depressed, hardly any of them showed up to congratulate him.

9. Double Disqualification: 2025 Chinese Grand Prix

Just 33 laps after Silverstone, the Scuderia was in hot water once again. As F1 rolled into Hungary, the Ferrari officials realized they’d left their eyes at home. If the early stages of this Grand Prix had taught us anything, it was to stay as far away from the hard compound of tire as humanly possible, like it was the plague. Both Ferraris were in winning contention at this point, only for Charles to pit on lap 40 and switch onto, you guessed it, the hard compound of tire. He might as well have put a shotgun under his chin while they were at it.

This turned the Monegasque into a mobile chicane for the remainder of this one. Max Verstappen enjoyed this overtake so much that he fancied spinning out just so he could do it again. The Dutchman would go on to take a dominant victory while Leclerc’s hards didn’t even have the longevity to make it to the end. P6 by the flag, and any championship hopes were well and truly out the window.

10. Lewis Hamilton’s Frustration: 2025 Miami Grand Prix

Announcing that Lewis Hamilton would join the team for the start of 2025 no doubt generated a lot of hype around the Scuderia this year. And while they still somehow hold onto P2 in the constructors’ championship, at least as of the recording of this video, it’s not exactly been the smoothest of sailing. Having already become the first team to have both cars disqualified for entirely separate infringements at the Chinese Grand Prix, Hamilton got his first taste of Ferrari pain a few rounds later in Miami.

Starting on split strategies, which was already a concern given the team would now have to multitask, Hamilton benefited from an early stop to get on the back of teammate Leclerc. With more pace underneath him, the Briton felt he deserved a swap, only this was a far too complex command for the Ferrari team to understand. With the “glue factory” checking for half a decade, the decision to grant Hamilton’s wish was made on lap 39. By which point, Lewis was already coming out with sarcastic comments like, “yeah, have a tea break while you’re at it,” and his once-fresh tires had been shot to shit by his teammate’s dirty air. That meant the Briton wasn’t able to make any inroads into the next car of Antonelli over the next 12 laps. Though he relinquished the position, when Hamilton was alerted to Sainz’s proximity behind, his frustration was clear: “Do you want me to let him pass as well?” Still my favorite piece of team radio from this entire season. P8 by the flag and a completely silent in-lap into the pits kind of speaks volumes on this one.

Conclusion

And that was 10 of Ferrari’s worst strategies, and really, we’re just scratching the surface. If you’d like a part two, let me know down in the comments with what you’d like to see included. And yes, I’m basically getting you to do my research for me, so tough luck.