Why 2022 success should matter more to Ferrari than any other F1 team

It’s that time of year: Formula 1 launch season. There will be new cars, new liveries, new drivers. Online-only, sneak-peek reveals, physical launches, “oh dear, the YouTube livestream has died again and aren’t the comments just repellent…”

Still, overall, with plenty of buzz to be generated and excitement for another year of racing awaiting, it’s an integral part of the year, paving the way for the new championship that’s now just ahead. And what a year F1 wants this to be, with its long-awaited design regulations overhaul finally set to bear fruit.

PLUS: Unpacking the technical changes behind F1 2022's rules shakeup

One part of the whole pre-season show is going to get old fast – because it does every year. That each competitor must “wait for testing” then “wait for the first qualifying session” before possibly offering any meaningful comment on their chances with their new package.

Fine, expectation management is part of the game – one that has led the first 2022 test taking place at Barcelona later this month being labelled a ‘shakedown’. But it’s a test alright – every time the teams run their latest cars, there’s something to be learned.

But even if something is understandable, it doesn’t make it any less frustrating. So, if F1’s competitors are going to stick by their robotic PR training, and will likely be even more guarded this year with the rules reset naturally masking the competitive picture, the assessment of reality has got to come from elsewhere.

The key point right now is that every team is hoping 2022 will be their year. For Mercedes and Red Bull, that means their successes continuing. For the rest, the hope is that the changes upend F1's current form book and vaults them either back into contention or to places they've never previously reached. But, of course, only one can win.

Getting back to winning ways is vitally important for Ferrari, which hasn't won a drivers' title since Kimi Raikkonen in 2007

Photo by: Jerry Andre / Motorsport Images

That stunningly obvious deduction nevertheless ratchets up the pressure. And at one team in particular, the outside expectation is significantly higher. It’s Ferrari. Weighed in results of the only thing that matters – titles – and the team has been found wanting for the last 14 years.

Now, McLaren has a worse record overall, as do Alpine and Williams. But all three of those squads have been through significant and problematic upheavals in the many years since their last titles. None of the remaining squads – Alfa Romeo, AlphaTauri, Aston Martin and Haas – have title pedigree in their DNA.

PLUS: The changes edging McLaren closer to an F1 title challenge

The pressure is elevated higher for Ferrari, simply because it lacks the excuses of its front-running rivals from the last and start of the current centuries. It is F1’s longest standing squad and since Ferrari last won a championship there has been no turbulent change of ownership or management, or competitive slide due to previous underinvestment - a la McLaren, Williams and Alpine - and a dramatic engine saga for the first-named of those.

Ferrari spent 2021 training to overcome its previous shortcomings as a race operation while the pressure of a title fight was off

Ferrari’s problem in the generation since Kimi Raikkonen’s 2007 title triumph and the constructors’ championship that followed the next year is that it has consistently failed to produce the package to beat. It must have this in 2022 with the F1-75.

In F1 history terms, it’s worth acknowledging that Ferrari hasn’t generally ever been an innovation leader, but its sheer power – including financial and political muscle – and facilities mean shouldn’t be overlooked. It has the capabilities. And when looking at its rules reset track record, things aren’t too bad.

If we ignore non-engine regs overhauls, as is the case this year, this takes us back to 1983 – notable because the rule changes were essentially a reverse of what is happening for 2022, with ground effect banned. Then, Ferrari navigated the changes well, retaining the constructors’ title, although Rene Arnoux and Patrick Tambay were defeated in the drivers’ standings by Brabham’s Nelson Piquet and Alain Prost (Renault).

It also retained its competitive position during the switch to narrow-body cars for 1998, although McLaren vaulted ahead. In 2017, Ferrari made a substantial cut to Mercedes’ advantage at the head of the pack but did not lead the way. The outlier is 2009, where Ferrari slumped from champion to fourth amid the mandated design changes that cut downforce levels significantly.

Ferrari retained its constructors' championship title with the 1983 126C2B following the banning of ground effects

Photo by: Motorsport Images

Ferrari made a major step back towards the front last year, regaining a top three constructors’ championship in a season when development was vastly restricted. It did that with its engine gains and superb, and finally well-balanced, driver line up.

PLUS: How Ferrari triumphed in the battle for F1 2021's best of the rest

This year is different – it feels like something of a watershed moment for the team. Its long-standing title sponsor has departed and alongside the good results (compared to 2020 at least) its new line-up hauled in; it spent the last season training to overcome its previous shortcomings as a race operation while the pressure of a title fight was off.

Some F1 paddock insiders have already picked Ferrari as the year's dark (prancing) horse. It may not pan out that way and the suggestion is generally coming up because of previous examples of new rules cycles giving one squad an new advantage (Brawn and the double diffuser from 2009), something F1 hopes will not happen this time around but is still pretty like likely.

But Ferrari's immense historical reputation deserves the current Scuderia adding a new winning chapter to its legend. There’s the pressure.

Significant pressure lies on the shoulders of Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto this year

Photo by: Ferrari