Former Formula 1 driver backs Ferrari to be 'in the mix' next season

Former Formula 1 driver Romain Grosjean, currently competing under the French flag in the NTT IndyCar Series, has shared his disbelief at Scuderia Ferrari’s 2022 Formula 1 championship, but has highlighted that the Maranello team can come back stronger next year.

Scuderia Ferrari finished second in both the Constructors and Drivers’ championship (with Charles Leclerc) which in theory can be seen as a positive result if compared to what the Italian side achieved in the previous seasons, but if we take into consideration the strong form of the F1-75 car in the start of the 2022 F1 campaign and how Ferrari lost valuable points during the year, it is clear that there was anything but a happy camp at the end of the championship.

Ferrari was finally expected to challenge Red Bull for the titles based on the performance in the start of the season, with two race wins for Charles Leclerc in Bahrain and Australia. The Maranello team was sadly not able to build on the positive form and gradually fell behind its rivals, until Red Bull were a speck on the hill as they disappeared over the horizon and easily secored both titles thanks to the dominant form of Max Verstappen.

Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz would go on to take just two more wins in 19 races, far less than what the potential of the F1-75 car was, due to a combination of power unit reliability issues and poor strategical calls from the pitwall. In the final part of the season Ferrari even had to look over their shoulder as Mercedes recovered the performance gap on track and proved faster than the Italian side in certain track conditions.

While he never raced for Scuderia Ferrari, former Formula 1 driver Romain Grosjean is somewhat familiar with how the Maranello team works and operates given the fact that he raced for Haas between 2016 and 2020, which is a Ferrari customer team. The Frenchman admitted that it was “crazy” to think that neither Ferrari or Charles Leclerc would be fighting for the title following the first three rounds:

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“After the first three races you’d be crazy not to think that Ferrari is going to be World Champion with Charles Leclerc,” the No. 28 Honda driver for Andretti Autosport said in a recent discussion during the Motorsport Magazine podcast. “And here we go, they almost did finish second. So I guess that’s where the disappointment comes from for Charles. If George [Russell] finished second in the Championship, it would have meant something but when you actually lead the Championship by, what was it, 45 or 65 points over Max [Verstappen] and you finish behind, it hurts.” – the French driver added.

Yet Romain Grosjean is confident the Italian side will be able to recover the gap to Red Bull next year and can avoid the operational mistakes that affected their campaign in 2022, with the goal of successfully challenging Red Bull and Mercedes in what is expected to be a three-way fight for the championships:

“I think Ferrari is going to be strong next year,” the 179-race starter added – “I think they definitely had a very fast car in qualifying. Charles has been doing a great job, he made a few mistakes, but it’s always when you try to catch up that you make mistakes. If you’re at the front and things are very smooth, it’s kind of easier than when you’re trying to catch up because there were a few things that put you on the backfoot. So I’m very impressed with Charles and I think Ferrari’s going to learn from this year and I think they will be in the mix next year.” – Romain Grosjean concluded.