Ferrari is Red Bull's 'B team' and wants it to 'become World Champion' in 2022, jokes former F1 driver

Former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher joked that Ferrari desperately want Red Bull to win the world championship, calling them the latter's B team.

The Scuderia developed one of the best cars in 2022, having seemingly nailed the new aerodynamic regulations. The team has also found a very strong driver pairing between Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, with the former being a championship protagonist in 2022. However, a major fault within the team is their poor strategic choices, with Mattia Binotto and co's decisions being the reason for the team's failure.

Ralf Schumacher hilariously joked that Ferrari are acting as Red Bull's B team in 2022, helping them secure the world championship with their poor strategic choices. He told Sky F1:

"If Ferrari, your B team or C team, continues to help you, then it's going well. One gets the impression that they really want Red Bull to become world champion."

The Italian team has also been plagued with reliability issues since the start of the year, with the most recent incident occurring at the 2022 Austrian GP. Carlos Sainz was likely to finish behind his teammate with an overtake on Max Verstappen when his F1-75 burst into flames, leading to his retirement.

Max Verstappen surprised by Ferrari's performance in Austria

Max Verstappen lost out to Charles Leclerc at the Austrian GP as his Red Bull suffered from too much tire degradation. Speaking to the media after the race, the Dutchman reflected on his first loss to Charles Leclerc on track since the Australian GP. He admitted that he didn't expect Ferrari to be as strong as they were.

Verstappen was overtaken by the Monegasque driver three times on track throughout the race, unable to hold a candle up to his rival's monstrous pace. Additionally, Red Bull were forced to pit early every time because of tire degradation. Meanwhile, the Scuderias were able to manage their tires without considerable problems.

Max Verstappen commented on his rivals' performance, saying:

“I expected them to be strong. I just didn’t expect them to be this good. And I think we were just a bit down on what we expected. It was a bit more difficult than I expected it to be. Basically, on any tyre I was just struggling a lot for pace after a few laps, just a lot of deg.”

With his most recent win in Austria, it would seem that Charles Leclerc is right back in the title hunt. However, with half the season yet to come, it is still unclear which way the tide will shift.