The 2022 Formula 1 season has now ended, with Max Verstappen and Red Bull taking both titles. The Mercedes – Red Bull dominance therefore continues in terms of Constructors’ title won, given the fact that since 2010, the title has taken the direction of Milton Keynes or the one with destination in the not too distant Brackley.
Scuderia Ferrari is waiting for a Constructors’ title since 2008 when Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen secured the Constructors’ Championship. The F1-75 had deceived the fans and Charles Leclerc in the start of the 2022 Formula One season, but already at the time of summer break in August, Max Verstappen and Red Bull were in full control of the situation and there was no chance for the Maranello team to recover the gap to the Austrian side.
In fact, the Maranello team suffered far too many reliability problems and also lost many points due to wrong decisions from a tactical point of view. Charles Leclerc took responsibility for losing 32 points due to two of his driving errors, at Imola and at Paul Ricard in France, when he lost the rear of his Ferrari while leading the race (Max Verstappen was making a virtually successful undercut attempt). The Monegasque doesn’t have to too much to regret about those lost points as the Red Bull driver celebrated winning his second consecutive title with four races to go, which means that the Dutchman would have be crowned world champion regardless of that incident.
Charles Leclerc’s off-track in France recalled that of Sebastian Vettel in Germany four years ago, when the Ferrari driver ended up in the barriers at the Sachs corner at Hockenheimring as race leader. The four-time world champion once again spoke about that episode in an interview with the French sports newspaper L’Equipe:
“When I look back at that moment, I think I could have braked earlier, but in any case it wasn’t the biggest mistake of my career. It hurt me a lot, that’s for sure, because it happened in front of my fans, on a track that I really like and it was a mistake that cost me dearly. But Mercedes was far superior in terms of developments compared to us” – former Scuderia Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel pointed out.
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The Maranello team’s lack of in-season developments has been a key topic of discussion also this year. The F1-75 was a car that started the championship very strong, while Red Bull constantly improved throughout the year, just like Mercedes: the German side had a car almost two seconds slower in the first races, but was able to win the Brazilian Grand Prix in the final part of the season when it also proved faster than the F1-75 car in certain conditions.
Scuderia Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto explained that his side could only improve from an aerodynamic point of view, while Red Bull was able to raise the performance level by losing the extra weight.
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