via Reuters
Formula One F1 – Pre-Season Testing – Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir, Bahrain – March 10, 2022 Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in action during testing REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed
via Reuters
Formula One F1 – Pre-Season Testing – Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir, Bahrain – March 10, 2022 Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in action during testing REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed
The official pre-season testing in Bahrain is currently underway. The F1 teams are relentlessly testing the new 2022 cars to get on top of the regulations and come out ahead of their rivals. But it looks like there might be a change at the top of the sport in the 2022 season. Ferrari are looking to be the strongest as well as the most reliable team thus far in the 5 days of pre season testing.
READ MORE: Which Teams Use Ferrari Engines in F1?
Many on the paddock have claimed that the Italian team is currently ahead of everyone. Mercedes and Red Bull both have had their issues in the testing and looked behind Ferrari in terms of pace.
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Is Ferrari really ahead of Mercedes and Red Bull in 2022?
As reported by AutoMotorUndSport, Red Bull chief designer Adrian Newey and advisor Helmut Marko both agree that the Italian team is currently leading the pack. After the 3 days of testing in Barcelona and 2 days of testing in Bahrain, Ferrari have been the only team to not encounter any issue other than porpoising.
#AMuS Red Bull and Mercedes are working on different problem areas. We will only see the true potential of the cars once those are sorted out. Mercedes is extremely fast in slow corners, but loses all in fast corners. Red Bull understeers a lot in slow corners & it is too heavy.
— tami. (@Vetteleclerc) March 12, 2022
A Mercedes engineer mentioned if the race was tomorrow, then the Italian team would dominate it.
“Red Bull and we are in the same boat, and that’s not rowing in normal form at the moment. If there was a race on Sunday, Ferrari would win by a clear margin,” said the Mercedes engineer.
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via Reuters
Formula One F1 – Pre-Season Testing – Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir, Bahrain – March 10, 2022, Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz Jr. in action during testing REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed
Adrian Newey mentioned that the Austrian team is facing some problems as compared to their rivals. He stated the team is currently in unfamiliar territory.
“We are moving in unfamiliar territory. These cars are so new that we first have to understand them,” said the Red Bull CTO.
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Watch This Story: Ferrari Strategy Fails We Will Never Forget
It is still a bit early to judge the pace of every team as it is still preseason testing. We might get a full picture at the practice sessions of the first race of the season in Bahrain next week. But it is clear that Ferrari has an early advantage going into the new season.
