Mercedes had a struggling start to the 2022 championship as they battled to find the foundation of their new W13. The Silver Arrows were forced to deal with the porpoising troubles and the lack of performance early in the seasons. However, it seemed like things turned around in the Mercedes camp in Spain. George Rusell fought hard to keep the Red Bulls at Bay after Charles Leclerc was forced to retire. Eventually, the Mercedes driver finished third to secure his second podium of the season. Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton finished fifth after dropping to the back of the field due to an early puncture in the opening lap.
Both Hamilton and Team principal Toto Wolff were thrilled by the team\’s achievement in Barcelona after a horrific start of the season. Moreover, Wolff was quick to declare that Mercedes were back in the title contention after being the fastest race car on Sunday. However, the Ferrari team principal does not agree with the Mercedes boss. Mattia Binotto downplayed Mercedes\’ competitiveness in Spain and said that the Silvers Arrows were no faster than Ferrari was last year.
Ferrari Not Worried About Mercedes While Red Bull Thinks Things Can Turn Around Very Quickly:
The Ferrari boss thinks that Mercedes still have a long way to go to compete with Ferrari in the championship. He congratulated the Silver Arrows for their recovery and the improvement in W13\’s pace. Moreover, Binotto stated that Mercedes were seven-tenths off the pace during the qualifying lap in a short circuit. In the race, the German racing team finished 30+ seconds from Red Bull, and Binotto thinks that the gap would have been forty seconds to Ferrari if Leclerc had not retired. Moreover, the Ferrari boss added, \”Forty seconds, 66 laps, is still six, seven tenths per lap, which is still signifact. It\’s like Ferrari last year.\”
While Binotto played it cool towards Mercedes\’ progress, Christian Horner did not underestimate their former rival\’s potential. Red Bull struggled with a couple of retirements early in the season, which resulted in Charles Leclerc taking a massive lead. The team principal stated that Red Bull went home from Australia with 40 points behind the Italian racing team. However, things changed quickly after three consecutive wins, and Red Bull now has a six-point lead over Ferrari. Thus, Horner refrained from writing off Mercedes with plenty of points still available to bag in the season.
Further, Christian mentioned that Ferrari has a very fast car this season. But, the Red Bull boss also acknowledged things change and swing very quickly in F1. Hence, Horner also thinks that Mercedes still have a great chance of coming back and challenging Red Bull & Ferrari in the 2022 championship, with so many races still left. The racing team will meet again on the weekend for the seventh Grand Prix of the season in Monaco.