Christian Horner has suggested that the pecking order in 2022 could be different as he is hearing a lot of positive noises from a rival.
Red Bull and Mercedes have dominated the pecking order in the last two seasons. However, Red Bull boss Christian Horner believes that this might change in the coming season as he is hearing a lot of positive noises from Maranello.
Ferrari has the best-resourced team and they halted the development of their 2021 car early in the previous year. They shifted their focus on the development of their 2022 powertrain following the new technical regulations.
Ferrari has not been at the front of the grid for the past three years. With the new changes that the FIA has introduced to the aerodynamics of the car and Ferrari being one of the firsts to start working on them, Horner thinks that the Scuderia could be a team to watch this season.
“With such a sweeping regulation change, how teams have adopted these regulations is going to be fascinating to see,” Horner said.
“Ferrari started pretty early by all accounts. There’s been a lot of positive noises coming out of Maranello. So you shouldn’t underestimate them, that’s for sure,” he said.
Christian Horner thinks a midfield team might also surprise
Talking about his thoughts about the competitive order of teams in 2022, Horner thinks that a midfield team could also surprise them.
He said, “Mercedes will be strong, that goes without question. Then there could be some curveballs in there, whether it’s McLaren, Alpine, or Aston Martin. They may have come up with something.”
However, Horner is not worried about any team taking advantage. The current regulations prevent any lasting advantage for a team with an innovative idea.
When asked if he has heard anything concrete about other teams’ expected performance levels, Horner said, “It’s only Chinese whispers this time of year. I think the regulations are sufficiently tight that it doesn’t allow for a loophole like a double diffuser.”
“Inevitably, there’s always going to be the creativity of engineers that [are] pushing the boundaries of regulations – that’s what they do.”
“There’ll be some interesting innovations on the cars, for sure, but it’s all relatively tightly regulated. So it’ll be fascinating to see the different solutions that teams have come up with.”
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