After years of Mercedes and Red Bull dominance, it was a welcome surprise to the F1 world when following the change of regulations, it was Ferrari who came flying out the blocks with a 1-2 at the season opener in Bahrain.
Ferrari got off to the dream start this season with Charles Leclerc taking the win and Carlos Sainz coming home in P2.
Both Red Bulls failed to finish the race after technical issues forces both Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez to retire from the race in the latter stages.
Alongside continuing reliability issues for the RB18 in the following races it seemed that Ferrari had really cracked it, matching and often bettering the pace of the Red Bull.
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Technical Chief Officer for the Milton Keynes based team Adrian Newey admits that the impressiveness of the Ferrari early on forced the team to work on the car, and create a more ‘rounded’ package.
“We have a had a good run. I think Ferrari has had a very quick car. Early on, in many races, to be honest, they were probably a bit quicker,” acknowledged Newey when speaking to Sky Sports.
“I think we have managed to round our performance envelope of the car and try to get it working on all circuits and obviously had a good run since the summer break ended.”
Ferrari have become masters of their own downfall in the latter part of this season, with botched pit stops, ineffective strategies, and a flurry of ill-timed decisions putting them behind the Red Bull, while Max Verstappen flew clear of Charles Leclerc to win the title last time out in Japan.
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Red Bull team principal Christian Horner recently credited Newey as one of the main reasons the team has been so successful since entering Formula 1 back in 2005.
Horner claimed that appointing Newey was a ‘litmus moment’ that galvanised the team and changed the atmosphere at the factory.
After success with Williams and McLaren, Horner headhunted Newey in the search of technical direction and with resounding success in both the Vettel and Verstappen era, it seems his appointment was a moment of genius.