Why Ferrari and McLaren can have the advantage

(Motorsport-Total.com) – Who will be the favorites in the 2022 F1 season? Opinions differ on this question. During Red Bull’s last test drive in Bahrain with world champion Max Verstappen finished at the top, Mercedes The piles are deep as usual. This is what Lewis Hamilton thinks W13 is currently not victorious yet.

And also Ferrari quenches the euphoria After a strong impression in Barcelona and Bahrain. “We all know that tests don’t say anything,” Carlos Sainz emphasized. “I don’t know why people fall into the same trap every year.”

So who is better to adapt the new rules? “Big teams tend to get there first, although we have a cost cap and wind tunnel time limits to try to make the field more consistent and competitive,” said Martin Brundle, Sky expert.

Ferrari and McLaren: Full focus on 2022

“What is clear is that the world championship battle has not stopped Mercedes and Red Bull with their new car in terms of resources,” the Briton said. At the same time, he believes, “not fighting for the world championship may have helped teams like Ferrari and McLaren.”

Therefore, the hope is great to bridge the gap between them and the top teams. In any case, Brundle expects a much higher rate of development than last year for all teams, especially at the start of the season.

“You have to remember that most teams tried to build a lot of things within last year’s budget so that it wouldn’t affect this year, so we’re going to see a huge rate of change. And we might see some surprises,” looks at a future Formula-1 expert.

Brandl sees “there are not many weaknesses”

“But you have to assume that the usual suspects got it right first. And the others, the smaller teams … The history of Formula 1 tends to indicate that a consistent set of rules tends to unite the whole field. But it does not” This means that it will not be We have great races up front.”

If Ferrari and McLaren are in a sporting position to participate, Brundle is sure to trust them to exploit their potential operationally as well. “As we saw at Monza in 2021, they took the opportunity to win a very good race. So yeah, I think you have to say that,” said the Briton.

“At McLaren, Andreas Seidl knows where he’s going. He has a Le Mans background, which I know very well because I’ve driven there nine times, and logistically this is one of the biggest challenges in motorsport, if not the biggest.”

“So Andreas knows what to do. And I think the team is better financed. They’re better organized and they’re on the way up,” Brandel confirms. “The biggest problem they have, of course, is that you are Wind tunnel not working for some time he is. And then you have to calibrate it first.”

“So that would be my concern because they have some catching up in terms of aerodynamics in a car that is heavily aerodynamically dominated. But apart from that, I don’t see much of a weakness at the moment,” the sky expert analyzes.