Ferrari’s strong display at the 2022 pre-season testing in Barcelona was enough to worry the Mercedes and Red Bull outfits.
The first pre-season test of 2022 came to a close with a Mercedes 1-2 and Red Bull 3-4 on the final day. However, throughout the course of those three days, it was Ferrari who turned the maximum number of heads.
Coming into testing, most eyes were already on the Italian team’s F1-75. They were rumored to have the strongest and most reliable power-unit ahead of the upcoming season. Many people expect 2022 to be the year Ferrari start their path back to redemption after being in the shadows of Mercedes and Red Bull for over a decade.
An intense, but exciting week. How we’ve missed driving these cars 😍#essereFerrari 🔴 @Charles_Leclerc @Carlossainz55 pic.twitter.com/cCkUr6P3dv
— Scuderia Ferrari (@ScuderiaFerrari) February 26, 2022
Sky Sports analyst Ted Kravitz feels that Ferrari’s strong pace in Barcelona is a cause for their rivals to be worried. The Italian outfit completed a total of 439 laps, more than any other team on the grid.
Team principal Mattia Binotto downplayed their title expectations this year, but Kravitz thinks otherwise. The Scuderia are probably saving their best performance for when the season starts. As a result, we won’t understand just how good they are compared to Mercedes or Red Bull, until the first Grand Prix of the year kicks off.
Max Verstappen on the harder tyres was close to matching the Mercedes drivers’ lap times
Despite Mercedes and Red Bull topping the timing charts on Day-3, Kravitz feels that Ferrari was the strongest team over the entirety of testing.
The Sky Sports pundit went on to share his assessment on Red Bull’s showing in Barcelona. Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez couldn’t leapfrog Hamilton or Russell on the final day. However, the pace showed by the RB18 on harder tyres, is an optimistic sign for the Austrian team.
“Today was the day where the top two of last year showed what they had in the bag,” said Kravitz. “Actually, it was Max Verstappen at Red Bull with the most impressive lap on a harder tyre.
Well over the 💯 lap mark for the Team. Solid work out there. 🤜🤛 pic.twitter.com/siVbu6Vtk5
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) February 25, 2022
“Not as quick as the Mercedes. But certainly on a harder, supposedly slower tyre, he was there or thereabouts. It was a 1-2 at the end of the day for Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton and George Russell topping the timesheets. “But really I think the test still belongs probably to Ferrari.”
“They’ve shown enough in the first two days to have Mercedes worried. The only question is what have Red Bull got, and we learned a bit of that today.”
Also read: Ferrari doubted to be on par with Mercedes and Honda after the successful Barcelona testing
