After the pre-season and the first races of the course, there was practically a unanimous opinion that Ferrari was one step ahead of Red Bull, but that difference has been narrowing since then and even seems to have turned the situation around.
If we look at the numbers, it seems obvious that the energy drinks team has managed to overtake those from Maranello, since between Max Verstappen and Sergio Pérez they have managed to win the last four races of the course.
However, looking back a bit more, Ferrari could have gotten two relatively easy victories with Charles Leclerc in two of those rounds. In Barcelona, the Monegasque driver retired due to a problem in his power unit when he was leading with a wide advantage, while in Monaco, Leclerc and Carlos Sainz occupied the front row for Sunday’s start, something that practically assured them the double in a track where it is almost impossible to overtake, but a series of wrong decisions in the pits ended up giving victory to Checo Pérez .
Historically, Red Bull has been one of the teams or the team that has improved the most over the course of a single season, whether it started stronger or weaker, so if the dynamics remain the same this year, the Italian team could end up paying dearly for the points lost due to their own mistakes at the start of the season.
To date, it’s obvious that the RB18 has made more steps forward than the F1-75 since the first round of the campaign at the 2022 Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix, a dead giveaway that the Milton Keynes outfit would be doing it again. its great progression, while Ferrari , for its part, seems to be a little more stagnant in that aspect.
If the line of progression of both teams continues along the same path, the structure of the Maranello team could be seriously damaged in the fight for both world titles, since both Leclerc and Sainz would be inferior during the second half of the year or the last. course runs.
However, this year Red Bull ‘s progress could be reduced as the rounds progress, as the budget cap could hold back the updates the RB18 has received during the first races of the year almost constantly, contrary to its maximum rival, who have preferred to go little by little and take big improvement packages every three or four grand prix.
Due to the nature of the new Formula 1 technical regulations in 2022, both the drivers’ and constructors’ titles could be largely decided by the development of both teams, so if they manage not to conflict with the cost cap , all the antecedents point to Red Bull as the great favorite.
