Scuderia Ferrari Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc confirmed that the positive Bahrain Grand Prix qualifying results scored by Ferrari customer teams Alfa Romeo and Haas highlights the “strong” step the Italian side has made with the power unit for the new Formula 1 championship.
Charles Leclerc was able to take pole position at the Bahrain International Circuit ahead of Red Bull Dutch driver Max Verstappen. But at the same time Ferrari-powered Alfa and Haas – the teams which finished second-to-last and last in the 2021 F1 constructors’ standings – ended the qualifying session sixth and seventh with Valtteri Bottas and Kevin Magnussen.
Ferrari and its customer squads are on the back of two very difficult F1 campaigns in 2020 and 2021 during which the Ferrari power unit was behind the Mercedes and Honda engines in terms of power due to a technical directive issued by the FIA in 2019.
But Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto had said ahead of the first round of the current season that he is confident Ferrari it had caught up a 25bhp power deficit to Mercedes and Honda (now working as Red Bull Powertrains) with its development plan for 2022, with his drivers and those at Ferrari’s customer squads going on to enjoy strong showings as a result in Saturday’s qualifying at the Sakhir track.
When asked what he felt today’s outcome of the qualifying session meant regarding the potential of Ferrari’s engine gains, Leclerc agreed it was “a step in the right direction”, but also insisted Haas and Alfa also deserved praise for their respective 2022 chassis designs.
He said: “I haven’t seen the data [from qualifying] yet, but it definitely felt better than last year and it’s a step in the right direction. I think that obviously one Haas and the Alfa shows the we’ve made a step forwards. But it’s not to underestimate the work that they’ve done, because they were also very quick in corners. I think it’s a combination of both – the car and the engine. But speaking of ourselves, it’s definitely a step forwards and we look quite strong on the straights now. So, it’s good to see this.” – he explained.
In Bahrain GP qualifying, Red Bull topped the speed trap at 323.2km/h with Sergio Perez, with Verstappen clocked in at 0.3km/h slower in second.
Ferrari, which has bigger sidepods than its closest rival and therefore could be being held back by additional straight-line drag as a result, was 11th and 12th on 316.6km/h for Charles Leclerc and 315.9km/h for Carlos Sainz.
The top Ferrari powered car in the qualifying speed trap was Mick Schumacher, who scored his best qualifying result of the season in 12th, at 318.4km/h – sixth in the ranking, with Magnussen seventh.
“A big thank you and a great job to everyone in the power unit department,” said Carlos Sainz. “Because for sure it’s also helping the other teams.”
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