The Ferrari drivers are delighted by the approach their team has taken to pre-season, feeling that they arrive better prepared than anyone else for the first race of the 2022 season.
The winter tests have already finished and we are at the gates of the beginning of the 2022 season. And it is that the Bahrain Grand Prix starts today at the Sakhir circuit.
And, while its direct rivals – Mercedes and Red Bull – chose to accelerate their development program during the pre-season, Ferrari chose to start from the foundations: know in depth the potential of the F1-75 before beginning its evolution.
“Nobody in the paddock has the same knowledge of their car as we do”
While Mercedes debuted some new specially reduced pontoons in the W13 and Red Bull modified the philosophy of those of the RB18, Ferrari has chosen to keep the car practically unchanged and focus on accumulating many kilometers and experiment with tuning of his new F1-75.
It seems that it has worked well, since the Italian team has been the one that has run the most and many point to it as the favorite at the start of the season. But, regardless of that, its drivers say they are delighted with the strategy designed by Mattia Binotto.
A car without surprises
Charles Leclerc has spoken of all this, stating that “only the first race will tell us if our approach was the best, but I am confident because I feel like probably no one in the paddock has the same knowledge of their car as we do.because they have been changing it».
“The car concepts are quite different and they are extreme. So it’s going to be very interesting to see which one works better. But I am happy with our approach and the fact that we already know our car very, very well.”points out the Monegasque pilot.
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Carlos Sainz is of the same opinion and greatly appreciates being able to focus on understanding the car.
“I think as a racing driver it also helps to keep the car steady, you don’t have to do aero mapping or weird stuff like that. For the team it’s always good, but the pilots feel that we are losing time to understand the car»admits the man from Madrid.
“We managed to focus on developing the set-up, seeing if we could put the car in a sweet spot a bit more. I think it has helped us as drivers. I haven’t done any performance runs yet, pushing the car to the limit, but I’ve done a lot of long runs and all that kind of stuff that will surely help me understand the car better.”Sainz reiterates.
Red Bull the favorite
While Binotto has been fairly cautious about Ferrari’s options this season, Charles Leclerc reckons the Italian team can afford to at least dream of being a solid title contender.
«Mattia is perhaps a little more pessimistic. But I still think that Red Bull are the favourites, so we have to work as hard as we can to be as prepared as possible for Saturday. Let’s hope to fight for victory. But I still see us a bit behind Red Bull », he affirms, however.
Carlos Sainz also points to the Anglo-Austrian team, but does not forget about Mercedes.
“Red Bull is there, they have shown it. But I also think that Mercedes has not shown its full potential, “says the Spaniard. “They’ve done a few laps here and there that, once you put it all together, were good. They lack that and there is much more to come from Mercedes. I think they will continue to be the two teams to beat this year.”.
When asked if he considers that Ferrari has the potential to win in Bahrain, Carlos Sainz points out that “not really, because you still don’t want to fully believe it. In your mind you want to be ready to fight for a win because as a driver you want to be ready, but also not try to believe too much of the hype around us and what we think we are.”
«I am ready for whatever comes because I have been preparing for this weekend. But maybe after free practice I start to put my expectations somewhere higher or lower.”
Source: The Race
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Photos: Scuderia Ferrari