“Next year won’t be a battle between two teams”: Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto expects Mercedes to join 2023 Championship fight

After eight years of dominance, 2022 turned out to be a season of learning for Mercedes. Ferrari and Red Bull adapted to the regulation changes far better than the Silver Arrows, and as a result, the latter lost out on a chance to fight for the Title.

So far, they haven’t even won a race which is surprising considering the fact that they won the last eight Constructors’ Titles. If they don’t win in the remaining two rounds this year, it will be Lewis Hamilton’s first win-less season in his career.

In spite of having these problems, it has been clear that Mercedes is improving as a team. Throughout the course of the year, they have become better and the gap between them and Ferrari has been reduced. Heading into Sunday’s Sao Paolo GP, Mercedes are 36 points behind the Scuderia. George Russell starts the race from P1 and Lewis Hamilton from P2, so a strong result will further close the gap in the standings, or possibly allow them to take the lead.

For Ferrari, 2022 has been a different story altogether. In the opening stages, it seemed like they had the strongest car. However, reliability issues and team errors kept piling up, which allowed Max Verstappen and Red Bull to coast home toward an easy Championship win.

Also read: George Russell becomes only the 3rd driver to win F1 Sprint race after beating Max Verstappen in Brazil

Mercedes’ progress in 2022 is not surprising, says Ferrari boss

In a recent interview with Motorsport, Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto shared his thoughts on Mercedes’ recent resurgence. He admitted their engine was not suited to the high altitude of Mexico City which led to a disappointing outing at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez two weeks ago. However, the same problems were not visible at Interlagos yesterday according to Binotto.

Talking about Mercedes’ strong pace, Binotto admitted that it wasn’t surprising. The Silver Arrows have brought in upgrades every single race weekend. This is contrary to Ferrari’s approach for the remainder of the year, as the Maranello-based outfit stopped all developments after the Japanese GP.

“We have focused on next year’s car for some time,” he said. “We stopped developing the 2022 car very early. They continued to bring developments to the United States and Mexico as well. This makes it clear that next year will not be a battle between two teams.”

Also read: “Checo wasn’t close enough”: Red Bull chief explains why Max Verstappen didn’t swap positions with Sergio Perez at Interlagos

Carlos Sainz’s race pace gives hope to Tifosi for Sao Paolo GP

On Friday, Ferrari had to endure a disastrous qualifying session. Carlos Sainz could manage P5 whereas Leclerc qualified in 10th. During yesterdays Sprint race, however, it was clear that the F1-75 has some great race pace to offer.

Sainz had a very good race overall, and managed to climb up from fifth position to second, passing Max Verstappen on the way. He will start the race from P7 because of his engine penalty, but the Tifosi expects him to climb his way up the field once again.