Ferrari have more power at their disposal should they want to use it after their exceptional one-two finish through Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz at the 2022 Bahrain Grand Prix, according to reports.
Leclerc took pole for the first time since the Azerbaijan Grand Prix last year, before Sainz capitalised on a late reliability issue for Max Verstappen to seal second place and the team’s first one-two finish since the 2019 Singapore Grand Prix.
It was also the first time in 12 years that they have begun the year with a maximum points result, suggesting that the most successful team in the history of Formula 1 are well and truly back.
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Red Bull boss Christian Horner noted that the Scuderia looked quicker in the twisty second sector in Bahrain, while Red Bull’s Honda-built power unit made them more competitive in the first sector of the lap.
However, it now appears that the Maranello squad have an abundance of engine capacity left at their disposal and, due to the budget cap and previous education on the necessity of longevity in a title fight, will preserve their power unit as much as they can.
“Yes, we knew that Ferrari would start cautiously in using high-speed power,” said Italian journalist Giuliano Duchessa.
“This does not mean that it will increase it now, on the contrary, managing is the plan, i.e. increasing the power only on tracks where the car should shine less. But that doesn’t seem the case in Jeddah.”
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has recently testified that his team and Red Bull are the “most overweight” under the new technical regulations and, in anticipation of their rivals solving their discrepancies, Duchessa confirms that Ferrari have more up their sleeve.
“Basically they have not pushed to the maximum and they will not at least until the level of the car is that seen in Bahrain, relative to the rivals. In Maranello they do not rule out a return of Mercedes and an increase in performance by Red Bull, should it soon drop in weight,” he explained.
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Sir Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes was seven tenths of a second slower than polesitter Leclerc in Bahrain, displaying the validity of the Silver Arrows’ concerns that issues posed by the new technical regulations are manifesting themselves.