Ferrari team principal, Mattia Binotto, has conceded that he is not entirely sure what Red Bull have been doing to improve their performance, or save weight.
The cars are heavier than ever this year, with the minimum weight set at 798kg due to the reintroduced ground effect aerodynamics under the new technical regulations.
The Italian side, along with Red Bull, appeared to nail the new car specification at the start of the year, but it was Binotto’s team that had an early edge.
Charles Leclerc led home Carlos Sainz for a one-two in Bahrain, before the Monegasque won again in Melbourne.
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A Jeddah success for Max Verstappen was sandwiched in between those two races, so it was looking like an exhilarating battle was about to ensue.
Indeed, the two teams have been extremely close at every race on raw performance, but the Scuderia have failed to capitalise on their exceptional qualifying pace.
Verstappen and Sergio Perez have won 12 of the 16 races between them, with 11 going the way of the Dutchman, who is now strolling towards his second title.
He leads Leclerc by 116 points in the championship, after a series of costly errors across the board ultimately put pay to the Maranello-based team’s chances.
Errors have not been the decisive factor since the summer break though; Red Bull have simply had the quicker car, so Binotto is on a mission to change that heading into 2023.
“In the last few races, the performance of the Red Bull has been better than ours,” he said, quoted by GPFans.
“Not in qualifying, because in quali we still have good pace, so we can see the pure performance is still there.
“But then in the race pace, we are suffering tyre degradation and in that respect, the Red Bull is a better car.
“They have been capable of developing their car for a better balance but certainly as well, for a better car in terms of tyre degradation that we haven’t.
“The reason is something we are looking at because we need to address it, if not for this season then certainly for the next.”
It is difficult to emulate the success of your rivals when you do not actually know what they are doing, and Ferrari are not sure whether Red Bull have made minimum weight yet, or whether they are still getting there.
“I don’t know what they are doing, where they are with the weight,” explained Binotto.
“I can only see what I read on the internet and not much more than that, so the comparison is certainly not the right comparison.
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“Having said that, if they would have been overweight, certainly there is potential that if you are attacking it, it is giving you a car performance advantage.
“But in terms of the minimum weight, maybe they do not have any more that type of development that is possible.”
Red Bull lead Ferrari by 139 points in the Constructors’ Standings, and the Prancing Horses have been forced to turn their attentions to Mercedes, who are now just 35 further back.