Formula 1 Italy, humiliated, tarred and feathered in recent years, finally has reason to celebrate again. Ferrari is back at the top of Formula 1 for at least one day. Reason: Charles Leclerc put the F1-75 on pole position at the season opener in Bahrain. Understandably, team boss Mattia Binotto was delighted: “The expectations were high, we created them ourselves. But that’s Ferrari. Everyone was waiting for us after a few difficult seasons.”
For the Scuderia it is the first pole in 16 races (also Leclerc, Baku 2021). Ferrari has been waiting for a win for 45 Grand Prix (Sebastian Vettel, Singapore 2019). The chances were no better than on Sunday in Bahrain.
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“It’s great for us to be up front. We’re very happy with that. The team is pushing hard. All the better that we’re performing,” says Binotto with a smile under the mask. But he warns the euphoric Tifosi in particular: “Tomorrow will be tough. At least qualifying shows that the car is going well, but the season is long. It will remain tight all year long.”
Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto
But one thing is already certain: the fact that Ferrari concentrated fully on the development of the new car early last year is paying off. After two years of suffering you are back in the fight for victory. Gone are the days when the Ferrari drive was downgraded to an air pump after the deal with the FIA at the beginning of 2020 and only found its old strength again at the end of last year. Alone: Instead of Sebastian Vettel, who had to spur the lame farm horse in 2020, his successor Carlos Sainz is now benefiting from the Ferrari resurrection alongside savior Leclerc, which began during the tests.
But a pole position does not make a world title. Binotto also knows that world champion Max Verstappen did not qualify perfectly on Saturday, but Leclerc did. “We got the maximum out of our potential,” admits the team boss. Not so Verstappen: “Max made a small mistake in the target curve, which cost the crucial time,” reveals Red Bull team boss Christian Horner.
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The Dutchman is still satisfied with a gap of only 0.123 seconds: “It’s the first race and we are competitive. That’s a good start to the new era,” summarizes Verstappen, who wants to go for victory in the race despite the slide in Q3.
What is striking: At Red Bull, the joy about the (current) deficit of archenemy Mercedes seems to be greater than the concern about the wonderful renaissance of Ferrari.
Max Verstappen
In any case, Horner is not surprised that the duel for victory on Sunday will be between red bull and red goddess: “But Ferrari has been strong all winter. With a new engine and petrol (Shell; ed.) you have one did a good job, you can see that in Haas and Alfa Romeo.” The Ferrari customer teams surprise positively in qualifying, with seventh place for Kevin Magnussen (Haas) and sixth for Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo).
But the works Ferraris are supposed to bring the big hit on Sunday: Carlos Sainz Jr. rounds off the strong result for the racing team from Maranello with third place on the grid. But pole-sitter Leclerc doesn’t want to celebrate too soon: “The last two years have been difficult for us. Today we were actually sure that Red Bull would be faster. That’s why I remain cautious.” After two years of setbacks, Monegasque still doesn’t trust peace. No wonder with a reigning world champion as an opponent in the first row.
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