"They had a very strong car"- Ferrari could have had a 1-2 finish in 2022 F1 Austrian GP due to Red Bull's 'tyre deg' issues, claims Christian Horner

Ferrari could have secured a one-two finish at the 2022 F1 Austrian GP because 'they had a very strong car', according to Red Bull team principal Christian Horner.

The Scuderia looked to have the result in the bag with the faster package on the day at the Red Bull Ring during round 10 of the 2022 F1 season.

Power Unit (PU) reliability issues that have plagued the Italian outfit in 2022, however, came to the fore once again in the final phase of the race.

Carlos Sainz had Max Verstappen in his sights when his Ferrari F1-75 broke down horrifically with the engine blowing up. That allowed Verstappen to cross the line in P2 despite the Dutchman having to deal with extensive tire degradation.

Speaking in an interview after the race, the 48-year-old said:

“They [Ferrari] had a very strong car – they could have well finished first and second. Up until about Lap 12, the weekend had gone pretty well in terms of the pole position and the sprint victory. But, unfortunately, that tyre deg just hit us pretty hard.”

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2022 F1 Austrian GP engine failure a 'big, big loss of points' for Ferrari, according to Carlos Sainz

Carlos Sainz believes his retirement from the 2022 F1 Austrian GP was a heavy loss of points for Ferrari in the championship battle against Red Bull.

The Spaniard looked destined for a podium finish and even a possible 1-2 finish with teammate Charles Leclerc in P1 when his car caught on fire.

Speaking to Sky Sports F1 after the dramatic implosion, Carlos Sainz claimed that there was no data to suggest a power failure of that magnitude was incoming. The 27-year-old said:

“There was no feedback coming from the engine that this was about to happen. Very sudden, and yeah, a bit lost for words because it’s obviously a big, big loss of points on a huge result for a team – I think it would have been an easy one-two today.”

When asked to share his assessment of the damage to his charred Ferrari, Sainz said:

“Well, fire, a lot of fire, a lot of damage for sure, which is not ideal and something that we will keep need to look in at. At least today, the pace was there, the degradation was very low on our car, we were fast. So yeah, I will take it and turn the page as soon as possible.”

The Spaniard went on to add, saying:

“For sure it is more difficult to take because we were about to cut the points to the leaders of the championship, both Max [Verstappen] and Red Bull. We were about to do a very big result for the team and one of the cars DNF’d. So it’s heart-breaking, but we need to keep pushing, turn the page and it’s still a long season ahead.”

Sainz could be forced to take some penalties with a host of new PU parts like Leclerc did in Montréal.