Ferrari could not believe their luck at the season opener in Bahrain, as a struggling Mercedes and a double Red Bull DNF handed the team a one-two finish to start the season.
Charles Leclerc looked like a man possessed having finally been given a car capable to challenging Max Verstappen and Red Bull, while Carlos Sainz was become a regular on the podium.
Eventually, Red Bull cruised to both championships, finishing over 200 points clear of Ferrari, with many blaming the Scuderia’s poor strategy calls and reliability issues for their failure to mount a serious title challenge.
Sainz, who picked up the first win of his career in Silverstone, has however suggested otherwise, claiming that his team were simply out-developed over the course of the season.
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“We didn’t get a win [during the end-of-season run-in]. That was the target but I think, very simply, we got out-developed by Red Bull and Mercedes in the second half, which made our second half of the season relatively weaker than the first half,” explained the Spaniard.
“I think we know why as a team. We’re trying to put in place measures for next year to improve our development rate but also whenever we had our chances of winning, we were maybe not the strongest team at executing races.
“We know these are the main two targets for next season.”
Mercedes claim they lost half a seasons’ worth of development in their efforts to solve the major porpoising problem that hindered the team at the start of the season, however the Silver Arrows were the ones causing Ferrari problems towards the end of the season.
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Ferrari were left looking over their shoulder, as major upgrades brought by Mercedes to Austin put the team in winning contention, seeing them close the gap significantly the faltering Ferrari.
Sergio Perez was beaten by Charles Leclerc in Abu Dhabi, meaning Leclerc narrowly managed to hold on to the runner up spot in the drivers’ championship, but the Monegasque said that splitting the Red Bull drivers is little consolation for a poor season.
Fred Vasseur will be taking the reins at the Scuderia next season following the resignation of Mattia Binotto, meaning both Leclerc and Sainz will be under the control of a new regime in 2023, which they will hope can lead them to championship glory.