Ferrari: best engine in the paddock in 2022?

A good start

After the first Grand Prix of the year held in Bahrain, we could still notice an engine evolution on Ferrari’s side. The difference between the engine introduced this year in the SF21 compared to the one from 2020 is significant.

Indeed, we can already see it during the qualifying session of this Bahrain Grand Prix where the two prancing horse single-seaters (Ferrari) managed to reach Q3. Moreover, Charles Leclerc even managed to finish fourth in this session, just 0.681 seconds behind the poleman of the session, namely Max Verstappen. However, during the qualifying session of the Bahrain Grand Prix in 2020, the two drivers of the Italian team had failed to reach Q3 by more than 1.9 seconds from the pole position obtained by Lewis Hamilton. We can therefore see that the engineers from Maranello have made real progress during this winter.

Mattia Binotto said: “The power unit has clearly improved and I am happy to see that Alfa Romeo and Haas have also progressed. I think we have made progress in all possible areas. Aerodynamics is certainly better in terms of behavior and correlation, but the power unit, and the car as a whole, wherever improvements were possible, we tried to make them. It’s a complete package, I wouldn’t really divide it into areas, it’s the whole package that is now better and that’s enough.”

« We have made progress in all possible areas »

What to expect in 2022?

However, even though there is a clear evolution, Mattia Binotto remains pragmatic and does not lose sight of the fact that there is still a long way to go. Moreover, in view of the new rules introduced in F1 by 2022, the engineers in Maranello are preparing to introduce a new power unit.

When asked about the improvements he would like to see come first for 2022, Binotto responds: “I would say that we are a bit lacking in all areas.” Despite the engine evolution this year, the Ferrari engineer still believes they are a little behind: “I think we are still missing a bit of engine power, even if it is less than before for sure, and the gap has narrowed, and I think we are converging.”

We are working in the right direction with the right tools

Above all, the leader of the Red team knows that his colleagues responsible for the engine, his area of expertise, have another full season to progress further since the regulations will then be frozen for the following three seasons. It was therefore essential to ensure that all correlation elements are operational and performing well: “But now, the gaps are very tight. More importantly, I believe that we are working in the right direction with the right tools and this will make us stronger in the future.”