If Christian Horner’s team is now confident that they can finish this season with a double championship win, missing only a few points to secure the Constructors’ title, the feeling inside the Formula 1 paddock remains less serene, as we head to the United States for the race at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA).
Scuderia Ferrari is trying in every way possible to take at least one more win until the end of the current campaign. After the Technical Directive 39/22, the Ferrari F1-75 car was slowed down by an evident problem regarding the tire degradation, which had not been seen before the Belgian Grand Prix. In qualifying, the pace of the Ferrari cars has almost never disappeared, but over the race distance, Ferrari has no longer been able to challenge the RB18 cars. In Maranello, however, they are convinced that they have taken the right development path – also thanks to the new floor, which will be further evaluated this weekend given the fact that normal conditions are expected this weekend in Austin, as opposed to the wet conditions experienced at the Suzuka circuit, which made it difficult for the Italian side to gather precise data in Japan.
An unknown factor will be the possible penalty of Charles Leclerc, in case Ferrari decide to use a new engine at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA).
If in Maranello the focus is now entirely on the 2023 championship, with most of the development program completed for the F1-75, as confirmed by Mattia Binotto a few days ago, in Austin Mercedes will instead bring its last major update of this year. Team principal Toto Wolff has made no secret that his side are ready to exceed the budget cap if Red Bull does not receive a harsh penalty, but his team is currently working within the rules.
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The spending limits therefore still grant an important development that will be the starting point from which the team will continue to develop the W14 project. For the last remaining races of 2022, Mercedes’ goal is still to win a race and attack, if possible, Ferrari’s second place in the constructors’ championship.
As anticipated, however, the fight is also off the track. The topic of Red Bull’s budget cap breach for the 2021 Formula 1 season is very hot and in Austin all the protagonists should find themselves in the paddock, after a few weeks of break.
Zak Brown also joined in this debate in a decisive manner, with a letter to the FIA in which he argues that an infringement like that of Red Bull is equivalent, in any case, to cheating and should be punished just like in any violation of the technical and sporting regulations. The feeling is therefore increasingly tense between a 2021 season for which Mercedes seeks justice, a 2022 campaign for which Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto has long been expressing his strong doubts about the work of Newey’s technicians and a 2023 championship that is already beginning. In all this, the FIA remains hidden in the trenches without making any clarifications, which leads to rumors and speculations, increasing the pressure of a paddock that is already passionate.
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