"I don't think the tide has changed"- Ferrari not favorite to win the 2022 F1 world championship despite its success in Silverstone and Austria, says Red Bull's engine consultant

The former head of Honda’s F1 power unit operations Masashi Yamamoto expressed confidence in Red Bull’s chances at winning the championship, despite Ferrari taking successive victories in the last two races.

Yamamoto, who currently works as an advisor to Red Bull Powertrains, believes that the “tide hasn’t really changed”, and expects the championship to go down the wire. Speaking to RN365 following the 2022 F1 Austrian GP, he said:

“I don’t think the tide has changed [in recent races]. I originally thought Ferrari had the advantage in the four races in July, except for the next race in France.”

“I thought it would be two wins and two losses at best, and realistically one win and three losses.”

After a string of bad races between Spain and Canada, which led to the team losing their early lead in both championships to Red Bull and Max Verstappen, Ferrari has bounced back to take consecutive victories in Great Britain and Austria.

According to team principal Mattia Binotto, the key to their success has been a newer spec rear wing they originally trialed at the 2022 F1 Canadian GP, and was formally introduced on both cars from Silverstone onwards.

The wing helped the team cut down their straight-line deficit to Red Bull, although at a slight cost to the overall downforce.

While they have made gains in straight-line speed, they are yet to find solutions to their power unit reliability issues. Binotto previously warned fans against expecting any short-term fixes for the issues, which means the Scuderia is likely to endure more failures in the upcoming races.

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Red Bull Powertrains at a “better position” compared to Ferrari

Masashi Yamamoto said that Red Bull powertrains are in a better position at this point in the season against championship rival Ferrari when compared to earlier in the season, when the Scuderia seemed to have a class-leading power unit, both in terms of horsepower and reliability. Speaking to RN365, he said:

“It is true that they were strong, but looking at Sainz’s blown engine, I think that HRC [Honda Racing Corporation] and Red Bull Powertrains are better in terms of overall performance, including reliability.”

Since the 2022 F1 Spanish GP, the Scuderia’s reliability has worsened significantly, affecting its ability to compete for the constructors’ championship.

While Carlos Sainz seems to be more affected by the issues compared to teammate Charles Leclerc, the latter’s chances at the drivers' standings have also taken a severe hit due to multiple PU-related retirements.