In two of the first three races of the new Formula 1 season, Ferrari was clearly faster than its rivals. In addition, it was clear from the first moment that its superiority was not only a matter of downforce, but also due to the power of its new engine.
Beyond the fight between Ferrari and Red Bull for the first positions, the step forward of the Maranello customer teams has also been evident, especially Haas, which has gone from fighting for not being last to trying to reach Q3 and add points in every race weekend, along with an Alfa Romeo that has joined the competitive midfield of the grid.
Last year, the Ferrari engine was not considered to be one of the most powerful, which means that the Italian engineers managed to find extra power during the winter. Or they may have just found a way to lose less power than other motorists due to the transition to the new E10 fuel .
Contested the first three races of the Formula 1 season in 2022, in addition to showing a performance superior to that of its rivals, Ferrari has also stood out thanks to its reliability, since only Carlos Sainz left the Australian GP, but it was due to a pilot error.
Meanwhile, his main rival, Red Bull, has already seen his cars withdraw on up to three occasions, seriously damaging Max Verstappen’s options in a fight for the title that currently has only one name, that of Charles Leclerc.
Having checked the step forward of the Maranello structure, there is a question that is constantly repeated in the paddock… How powerful is the new Ferrari engine?
Toto Wolff , Mercedes’ F1 director, responded to the question after the Australian GP: “We are seeing a big step forward from Ferrari since last year. Previously they were about 14bhp behind, but now they are another 14bhp behind. in front of”.
“Never before in this championship have you seen such a breakthrough in such a short time. But we have seen that they have been able to do it, so I can only congratulate them,” Wolff said.
Due to the various problems of the Mercedes W13, the Brackley team have not yet been able to compare directly with Ferrari on the track. However, the large amount of data that the teams collect through GPS have allowed these virtual comparisons to be made.
