Will Scuderia Ferrari return to winning ways in 2022?

Some people may enjoy watching the Prancing Horse team battle for wins and podiums, but it’s not healthy for the sport.

Red Bull and Mercedes dominate, but there have been twists and turns, especially when Daniel Ricciardo took McLaren’s first win since 2012. It was the Aussies’ first win in three years.

Imagine if Ferrari were competitive and put pressure on Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton too. Well, Christian Horner believes the legendary F1 team will return to winning ways in 2022. So he might be into something.

Focus on the new regulations

2021 is a strange year for Red Bull and McLaren. Although both teams have their eyes on the new rule changes for 2022, they can’t put all their eggs in one basket. Christian Horner and Toto Wolff are expected to achieve results under all circumstances. As team bosses, you can’t give up a whole season.

Ferrari is usually a team that follows the same strategy, but it has been a difficult couple of seasons for Scuderia. To put it in perspective, the motorsport betting odds rank them as +50,000 underdogs for the constructors’ championship, compared with +150 for Red Bull and -188 for Mercedes.

However, without the pressure to win that is holding Ferrari back, Mattia Binotto can prioritize next season. In fact, he has already said that the 2022 engine will be ready, which means that upgrades for the engine will be rare in 2021. This preparation time could give Ferrari the advantage it needs to start at the front next season.

Minimizing the damage

P3 is not where Ferrari fans want or expect the team, but it’s not an unhealthy position considering it’s out of favor. In 2020, for example, the red cars only managed a total of 131 points. This year the jumping horse already has 201.5 points. Since McLaren is also +50,000, they are neck and neck for third place.

Two pole positions and three podiums underscore the progress the team has made in a single off-season. And many might argue that Ferrari could have held onto a first win in 2021 had it not been for Charles Leclerc’s car breaking down in Monaco.

LAP 50/52

Hamilton passes Leclerc at Copse # BritishGP

# F1 pic.twitter.com/bKTqjdYDgH

– Formula 1 (@ F1) July 18, 2021

As a result, not only does Ferrari have the leeway to focus on the results in Australia in 2022, but the team has shown that they can make great strides in a short period of time. That could pose a threat to the Silver Arrows and RBR.

In Charles we trust

That is the motto of the team and the F1 fans. While some high profile riders are making their way through the ranks, not many have Leclerc’s allure. After all, Mercedes essentially swapped Valtteri Bottas for George Russell because Ferrari had a precedent with Leclerc.

The Monegaske is +100,000 to win this year’s drivers championship. In reality, he never stood a chance before an engine turned up in anger. But that’s not because of the sport’s potentially hottest quality. Leclerc has underscored his pace by firstly surpassing Sebastian Vettel, his hugely experienced team-mate, and secondly achieving results that he was not entitled to in the last two seasons in the car.

Leclerc is just as good in the real car as Verstappen or Russell. If Ferrari produces one according to its capabilities, it will place it on the first and second row of the grid most weekends.

It all depends on the car. The team had a year to break the kinks so it could look promising, especially with Leclerc at the wheel.