Ferrari wants to regain its aura in Formula 1

“Ferrari's DNA is winning,” emphasizes skipper Mattia Binotto and Scuderia seems to have taken advantage of the change of regulations in 2022 to regain prestige and aura in Formula 1 after two seasons in white.

The last victory for a red car was at the 2019 Singapore Grand Prix. In 2020, the legendary Italian brand finished 6th in the constructors' ranking, the worst since 1980. And his last drivers' title dates back to 2007 with Finn Kimi Raikkonen, a year before his last constructors' championship.

Under Binotto's leadership, Ferrari took care of preparing to get back up in 2022 last year, taking advantage of the new technical regulations. Its drivers remain the same, its new engine was released in the second part of last season and this winter the new original chassis was introduced, with hopeful results.

With 800 laps made, the car has shown great reliability. “It's certainly one of the easiest preparations I've had before a season. No major problem, despite the fact that with a new project you always expect to encounter obstacles”, says Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc.

- “Optimize the car” -

Between the first preseason session in Barcelona at the end of February and the second in Bahrain last week there was no revolution, unlike Mercedes, which presented a completely different body. Ferrari worked mainly on solving the 'porpoise effect' (car shocks on the straights) that has affected all teams, explains Binotto.

“We have introduced some modifications for this, then it's about optimizing the car we have,” he adds, “These cars are so different from the past that we have to understand them to get the full potential. We're on it. We can get more out of the current package. We focus on that before we bring developments during the season.”

Thanks to his times in the winter tests, especially with Leclerc's third-best time in Bahrain with harder tyres than the fastest, champion Max Verstappen with Red Bull), the 'rampant cavallino' has already attracted attention.

“They are fast, that is clearly seen in both long and short runs,” Verstappen remarked in Bahrain. “The car that currently seems most stable on the track is the Ferrari”, agreed its skipper Christian Horner.

- “The fastest” -

Same speech from Mercedes, the other big favorite to the championship, although “for now” he is not in a position to win, according to his driver Lewis Hamilton. “Ferrari seems globally the most solid, with little gas and on the laps in a row,” said his new teammate George Russell. “Ferrari seems to be the fastest and maybe Red Bull; then there's us or McLaren, I don't know,” Hamilton said.

This impression is shared by much of the paddock, although preseason tests are always a game of poker and the main stakeholders hide their cards.

“It's typical for Mercedes to praise the others before crushing rivals in the first race,” recalled Spaniard Carlos Sainz Jr, in his second season as a Ferrari driver, before implying that GPS data shows that the German team has not squeezed its full potential.

In times “everyone seems to be around,” added Leclerc. “We know how much room we have, but we have no idea how much the others are hiding. That's why we have to be extremely cautious.”

You won't have to wait long to discover the cards of all the teams: no one will reserve anything from Saturday (15h00 GMT) when the Bahrain GP qualifying session starts at the Sakhir circuit.

pel/mcd/dr