"We couldn’t have started better than this" - Former Ferrari president congratulates team for being competitive in 2022 F1 season

Ex-Ferrari President Luca di Montezemolo congratulated his old team for their recent resurgence at the top of the grid. The Italian sent his regards to Mattia Binotto and hailed Charles Leclerc’s talent and the team's dominant start to the 2022 season.

Speaking to Corriere della Sera, Montezemolo said:

“It’s great to see such a competitive Ferrari after such a long time. Congratulations to Binotto and all the guys in the team who have worked extremely well, united and determined. Leclerc has been able to prove he is a driver of the highest level. The season is long, the rivals won’t sleep, but we couldn’t have started better than this. Onwards like this.”

Having led the Prancing Horse outfit in the year they won titles in 2007 and 2008, Montezemolo was elated to see the team in its competitive form again. The Italian was the president of the team from 1991 to 2014 and witnessed some of the most successful era’s of the team, including Michael Schumacher’s golden era.

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Ex-F1 driver believes Ferrari performance is related to Rory Byrne’s return to the team

Former F1 driver Marc Surer suggests the Italians' current form has Rory Byrne written over it. The South-African engineer was responsible for the success in one of the Prancing Horse outfit’s most dominant eras with Michael Schumacher. Although Byrne is not a full-time personnel at the Maranello team, he is one of the chief consultants in an advisory role for their R&D department which has produced the F1-75.

Speaking to German publication Autobild, Surer said:

“This year’s Ferrari has similar characteristics to those of the Schumacher-Ferraris from the successful era: they were fast everywhere and, in all conditions, had great traction and always got the best out of the tires. That’s clearly Byrne’s signature.”

Suggesting Byrne was as good as design genius Adrian Newey, Surer revealed the former engineer has also worked on ground-effects and understands porpoising just as well. The Swiss racing driver believes with Byrne as an advisor, it is a guarantee that the Prancing Horse outfit will remain front-runners.

Describing Byrne’s wizardry in car design, Surer said:

“Byrne is just as much a genius as [Adrian] Newey. In the 1980s, like today, we had major problems with so-called bouncing, the extreme jumping of cars on the straight. Rory Byrne was already working on the subject back then. Byrne is guaranteed that the cars will remain at a top level throughout the season.”

While the Maranello team have a huge lead over rivals Red Bull and Mercedes, it will be interesting to see how long they can keep up their winning streak. With a season of development ahead, rivals are expected to catch up to them, but their return to the top has been a Tifosi’s delight.