Ferrari believes that it has overcome the 25 bhp engine power deficit that it had across the 2021 F1 season with its latest power unit. Ferrari had the most powerful engine in 2019, but technical directives related to the fuel flow rendered its engine underpowered which was one of the main reasons for its disastrous 2020 season. Since 2020, it worked on a minor upgrade for its power unit which helped it get P3 in the constructor's championship and, now based on its pre-season test performance where the car seems easy in handling, low on propoising, and rather powerful in the straights.
Mattia Binotto, its team boss, who has overseen an overhaul of the infrastructure and the operational structure of the team, has said that the team now is on par with the competition in terms of engine power ahead of the engine development freeze that comes into force with beginning of the season.
Mattia Binotto Ferrari's F1 boss has said that the team will be competitive
Photo Credit: AFP
''Last year we were about 25hp behind the competition. We tried to calculate that now on the data (from the winter test). For now, we are at the same level, maybe a bit better. We are very happy with what we have achieved," he said, pointing towards the fact that now Ferrari may have the most powerful engine on the grid.
This is something that's been indicated by both Toto Wolff, the Mercedes boss and GPS data which has revealed that Ferrari has been running its engine at lower power settings. The sudden surge in the pace of the Haas is also an indicator that Ferrari has done well with the engine as it is a car that borrows heavily from Ferrari including the power unit.
Ferrari also displayed bulletproof reliability as its car finished the maximum number of laps over the course of the two pre-season tests. That being said, Max Verstappen and the Red Bull RB18 pulled in the fastest times of the Bahrain leg of the tests which has led many to believe that it may have the fastest car. Even Binotto believes that and said, " ''I think we will be competitive from the start. How the proportions are I don't know. Red Bull is very strong, especially Max (Verstappen). Maybe Max will be in front of us, we will drive behind him and only then will the other one (Sergio Perez ) come."
That being said, Ferrari didn't bring any updates to the Bahrain leg of the tests, while Mercedes and Red Bull brought huge updates. This coupled with the fact that it was running its engine at very low power levels and had high fuel loads as revealed by Carlos Sainz Jr, it could be the team to beat in 2022.
