Ferrari's engine for 2022 is "very optimistic"

Despite caution, Ferrari is reportedly "very optimistic" about the powerplant for 2022.

There are all sorts of predictions about Ferrari's prospects for the new season, with Red Bull team principal Christian Horner half-jokingly saying they could "blow us out of the park" in Bahrain's opening race as Ferrari didn't have a title fight last season to distract them.

Sky Sports Karen Chandhoek and Todd Kravitz have been hearing encouraging signals in gossip, with the latter hearing "a lot of positive voices from Ferrari" and the former being told "they feel like they've made great strides in the powerplant".

Chandhoek's claims, which are now supported by Spanish media outlet MARCA, refer to "not only relative optimism, but also very optimistic about the work that has been done for more than a year".

However, as the team's athletic director Laurent Mekis suggested, this does a good job of closing the gap with opponents, but what if those opponents also make their own progress in the offseason?

MARCA quoted a newspaper based in Italy as adding: "The engine data looks very good enough to be on par with Honda and Mercedes for the 2021 season. The aerodynamics and in-corner data are also good, but they don't know what other teams did or found? Still, people feel like they (Ferrari) are doing a good job, so full of expectations. ”

Wolf Zimmerman-designed the engine was nicknamed "Super High Speed" in Maranello, but that description is unlikely to be heard from the mouths of Mequis or team leader Mattia Binotto, who set the goal of challenging Mercedes and Red Bull and didn't have enough confidence to beat them.

"Obviously, we think Mercedes and Red Bull have tools, methods, calculations, simulations and other deterministic things and have been fine-tuned over time, so I think it's self-righteous today to say we're going to beat Mercedes and Red Bull, and I think the right goal is to compete with them," Binotto said. ”