Ferrari refusing to believe 2021 title fight had a negative impact on Red Bull and Mercedes’ 2022 cars

Ferrari sporting director Laurent Mekies believes the team would be "foolish" to believe that Red Bull and Mercedes are lacking behind in their car development after an intense championship battle in 2021. The two top running teams fought it out all season long last year.

Meanwhile, teams like McLaren and Ferrari opted to stop the development of their 2021 cars, focusing all their time and effort on the 2022 cars instead. Many fans have thus speculated that the Italian team has a better chance against the two 2021 championship rivals due to their lack of development in the second half of the season.

Laurent Mekies, however, shut down any such claims, saying it is too early to come to any decisive conclusion about the new season. The exec also believes it is foolish to underestimate the engineering potential of Red Bull and Mercedes, the two teams that have been at the front of the pack for years now. He said:

“I’m sure they had to develop. However, they are, in both cases, incredible organizations and it’s enough to look at the results to see it. Therefore, I will not underestimate for one second their capability to produce a great 2022 car. Yes, they had to spend more [in 2021] but if you look at the results they’ve produced in the last 10 years, you would have to be very naive to think that it’s going to be easy to close the gap.”

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Ferrari has reportedly bridged the 20 horsepower gap they had to Mercedes engines in 2021

It seems things are faring much better for the team from Maranello. They placed third in the constructors' standings last year, comfortably beating rivals McLaren. Further, thanks to fuel partner Shell, the team has been able to bridge the 20 horsepower gap it had to Mercedes engines in 2021. It was this lack of power that caused Charles Leclerc to lose out on a podium place at the Italian Grand Prix in 2021.

Team principal Mattia Binotto spoke about the lack of power, saying:

“We confirmed at Monza that Ferrari is missing 20 horsepower from McLaren’s Mercedes engine. We lost most of the time on the last stretch before the Parabolica, with a similar loss on the finish straight. The lack of performance is also noticeable when restarting and overtaking. It was nothing new for us, but we are working at full speed on an evolution of the engine that we want to bring to the track this year as soon as possible.”

With the new regulations set to reportedly equalize the playing field, fans can hope for a three-way battle between Ferrari, Red Bull, and Mercedes. Meanwhile, the Italian team will be hoping to see the top step of the podium after years of absence.