“I don’t think so" - Ralf Schumacher dismisses Ferrari's potential F1 title challenge in 2023

Former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher has said that he does not see Ferrari challenging Red Bull for the championship in 2023.

The Italian team have had a less-than-expected result at the Bahrain GP. Carlos Sainz finished P4, while Charles Leclerc retired due to a power unit issue. Red Bull, meanwhile, finished 1-2 almost 40 seconds ahead of third-placed Fernando Alonso.

Speaking to Formel1's YouTube channel, Schumacher said:

“I don’t think so. I think it will take too long (to close the gap) and that Red Bull will time is already out of the picture unless, of course, there is technical bad luck. I would like it, but I fear that this will be a relatively boring season. It will revolve around two fighting teammates.”

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“We never expected to have something like this" - Ferrari team boss

Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur said that he did not expect the team to face reliability issues on the power unit in the first race of the season.

Speaking to F1.com, he said:

“We never expected to have something like this because it’s the first time that we have had it and we haven’t faced the same issue at all during the six or seven thousand kilometers that we did with the engine last week, with the three teams (Ferrari, Alfa Romeonand Haas) and … with the dyno. Again we did need to do a full investigation before we give you an answer.

“We had an issue on the engine, and we have to investigate to understand what exactly has happened. It’s not the engine itself, but it’s an accessory. I would say that it’s a shame, but it’s the real picture of the situation … it is what it is."

He also spoke on SF-23 overall performance during the first race of the season, adding:

“On (one-lap pace) we were able to match Red Bull, but it was not the case in a long stint ... Charles probably would have been able to do P3 but … we were not able to finish the race. The picture is also that on reliability; we have to make huge improvements. We have to consider the race today to be the real picture: to start from there, to improve and change the situation.”

Ferrari will need to resolve their issues as quickly as possible to challenge Red Bull for the constructor's championship this season.