Ferrari made a strong start to the 2022 Formula 1 pre-season at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, completing more laps than any other team. Its drivers, Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc, finished at the top of the classification on several occasions, and that caused members of Mercedes, the absolute dominator of the hybrid era, to talk about the performance of those from Maranello.
Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton wondered if the decision to suspend development of the car at the start of 2021 to focus on the following season might have put Ferrari “several months ahead” of the others.
However, Italian boss Mattia Binotto commented that he expected Mercedes to bring a number of upgrades to the W13 at testing in Bahrain.
“I’m pretty sure [Mercedes] will be two or three months ahead of us when we get to Shakir,” the red-suited manager said when asked about Hamilton’s comments.
“I think that today it is very difficult to judge the performance and the competitiveness between the teams. The important thing for us was to collect data, and I think we can be satisfied with the number of laps we have done and the information that will be analyzed in Maranello” , he continued.
“I’ve heard rumors that our rivals will bring updates and improvements, so I’m more concerned about myself than Hamilton is about us,” said Binotto.
Ferrari took a major modification to its power unit at the 2021 Russian Grand Prix , allowing it to put more resources into the new regulations as it attempts to return to the front of the pack.
Since the 2019 Singapore Grand Prix , no red-clad driver has returned to the top of the podium, and in 2020 he sank on what was his worst run in over 40 years. However, last season, hope was restored among Prancing Horse fans thanks to finishing third in the constructors’ world championship.
“A lot of fans have high hopes for us as a team, and as we are Ferrari fans too, we have high hopes. I think the car, so far, has performed well, with no problems, and that’s what has been done correctly.” Binotto said.
“Will it be enough? We must not forget that last year and at the end of the season, we were more than a second a lap behind the best, so they are very strong. We think it will be good to be competitive in 2022, but today is very soon to judge”, concluded the Italian.
