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Scuderia Ferrari is one of the biggest names in Formula 1's history. The team has been one of the most integral parts of F1's journey by competing in every single world championship season since the sport's inception in 1950. And in all those years, it has won a record 16 constructors' championships and 15 drivers' championships.
The Maranello-based team, however, has massively struggled since 2019. It has not won a single race since Sebastian Vettel's magnificent Singapore Grand Prix victory that same year. The 2020 season was one of its most disappointing ones with only three podiums and a sixth-place finish in the constructors' championship.
Since then, the Prancing Horse has been on a solid recovery. In the 2021 season, the team finished third ahead of their main rival McLaren with two poles and five podium finishes. Post the mid-season break last year, it introduced significant engine upgrades to its power deployment system that gave it a huge boost late in the season.
With the 2021 season finished, a major shakeup in technical regulations is making its way into the 2022 season. The Italian racing outfit can expect a change in its fortunes in F1's new era of racing.
Scuderia Ferrari would be keen on avoiding mistakes of 2009 and 2014
In the last couple of decades, F1 saw two of the most significant technical regulation changes in 2009 and 2014. Both times, Ferrari massively failed to cope with the changes.
In 2009, freshly coming out of the closely fought title decider against McLaren, the Italian outfit could not switch to modified aero rules and significantly dropped the order.
Similarly, with the introduction of the Turbo-Hybrid era in 2014, the team produced their most uncompetitive car that failed to win any race that year, the first such instance since 1993.
The team finished sixth in the constructors' standings in both seasons and faced a massive challenge to gain back the momentum in the subsequent iterations. It also required Alonso's genius to get them back in the title fight in the 2010 season. It spent two more years in the Turbo-Hybrid era to mount a title challenge for the 2017 season.
The Scuderia would be keen to change this unfortunate history. Their team principal, Mattia Binotto, spoke about Ferrari's realistic chances for the 2022 season in an interview with GPFans, saying:
“At Ferrari as a first, we identified 2022 as our top priority, so no compromises have been made in developing the 2022 cars. I think the reason for putting 2022 as a top priority is quite straightforward and obvious. It’s a new era in terms of regulations and more than that I think that knowing that we are behind in terms of team capacity compared to the best competitors this is why it was important for us to really focus on the future and try to do our best for whatever will be our medium or long-term future.”
Scuderia Ferrari aiming to be back on top
Ferrari recently announced a massive restructuring going into the 2022 season. With Mattia Binotto remaining as the team principal, these changes have been made to push boundaries for all technical innovations and focus on taking on the new era of F1 head-on.
The team has also hired staff from its competitors Red Bull and Mercedes in an attempt to capitalize on its resurgent performance last season. Maranello has been incorporating the new hires into its development units while also bringing in new tools and simulators.
Along with these personnel changes, Ferrari has also made significant innovations in their power unit with a new hybrid system that focuses on the energy recovery system necessary for the 2022 F1 car. Speaking in an interview with The Race, Binotto said:
“There will be some changes to the hybrid system for 2022 as first for the regulations because more sensors are required from FIA in all the systems. But the overall system is very similar to the one we raced at the end of the season. The rest, especially on the internal combustion engine, I have to say, is significantly different.”
Along with these improvements, the team has also optimized the new 10% Ethanol fuel design and is looking to improve new ideas beyond the surface aero components.
Scuderia Ferrari has been struggling for quite a long time in recent years. Their rekindled late surge in the 2021 season, however, has given them a necessary boost to carry forward in the new era of F1 this year. The last season saw a P5 and P7 finish respectively for its drivers Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc. The pair will be eager to get the Prancing Horse on the top step of the podium for the first time since 2019 and hopefully take the title fight to Mercedes and Red Bull.
