Ferrari denies its engine is superior: 'Red Bull had more top speed than us'

Ferrari denies its engine is superior: ‘Red Bull had more top speed than us’. Ferrari denies its engine is superior.

Scuderia Ferrari Spanish driver Carlos Sainz has hit back at the early statements regarding the Ferrari all-new power unit for the 2022 Formula 1 championship. The Maranello team was heavily focused on the project for this season from the early stages of 2021 and the results could be seen in the first race of the new F1 campaign, with an incredible 1-2 finish at the Bahrain International circuit. Now many believe that Ferrari is leading the field with its 1000-plus horsepower engine.

But Carlos Sainz does not agree: “Our engine is not superior to the others, but it is a good engine,” he said, in a recent interview for Spanish news agency EFE – “Red Bull had more top speed than us and nobody talks about the Honda engine. They were 5kph ahead of us. So I think we also need to talk about the others, not just Ferrari.” – Carlos Sainz added – “Due to the engine development freeze regulations, we have all reached a point of being very even,” he said, referring also to Renault and its new 2022 power unit.

According to Red Bull advisor Masashi Yamamoto, Ferrari is “slightly ahead” of Red Bull’s power unit: “Mercedes is probably a little below that and Renault is almost the same as Mercedes,” he told as-web.jp. “Looking at the Aston Martin and Williams teams, it looks a bit tough for Mercedes while Haas and Alfa Romeo, who have Ferrari power units, had a good race in Bahrain.”

Carlos Sainz’s Maranello teammate, Charles Leclerc, who is currently leading the 2022 Formula 1 world championship ahead of the Saudi Arabian GP, admitted that he would not be surprised to see Max Verstappen edge ahead of the F1-75 car on the long Jeddah straight this weekend: “Seeing what Red Bull showed on the straights in Bahrain, they could be even stronger on tracks such as this,” he said ahead of the Jeddah race – “As soon as they solve the small problems they had in Bahrain, they will be the biggest threat. That doesn’t mean Carlos is less strong than Max, I’m just saying that I think Red Bull will be very strong.” – the Monegasque driver concluded.