Red Bull’s Jonathan Wheatley says Ferrari will be the main target in 2022 – He hopes the FIA’s investigation will provide “more consistency “
With the new Formula 1 rules, it’s hard to predict the balance of power for the 2022 season. But a major threat could come from Ferrari, according to Jonathan Wheatley, sporting director at Red Bull.
While Wheatley admits on Jack Threlfall’s YouTube show, “I think it’s very difficult to make predictions at this stage. You only have your own references compared to last year’s car.”
“You can pick up snippets of information from other teams, but you don’t know if they’re telling you the truth or just trying to rattle you. “
Why Wheatley thinks Ferrari are so strong for 2022
Despite this, the Red Bull sporting director has Ferrari in particular on his mind: “The power unit in particular seemed very strong at the end of the year. They were clearly the third fastest team. They also have a great driver line-up.”
At first he wasn’t sure if Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz would go together, Wheatley reveals. “But they seem to have done very well,” he continues, laying down, “I think Ferrari will be the big unknown or possibly the big threat this year. “
After a difficult 2020 season that ended in a disappointing sixth place in the manufacturers’ standings, Ferrari fought their way back to third place last year with a new driver pairing and an engine update in the second half of the season.
If the Reds – or indeed any other rivals – were to go further up the table in the new season, Wheatley would have no problem. “My idea of the perfect world championship is that we win – of course. But I’d like to have a bare-knuckle boxing match from the first race to the last. “
“I would like to have a fight every weekend. I’d like to see six or eight drivers who can win a race, and in the end it comes down to who does best in the championship over the course of 23 races.”
“Who makes the fewest mistakes? Who has the most competitive car on most weekends? Who can capitalise on strategic decisions?”
The Red Bull man insists: “Don’t get me wrong, it would be great to dominate and win 23 races a year! But my ideal championship is one where you’re exhausted at the end of the year but you’ve achieved something extraordinary. “
Red Bull hopes for more consistency in decisions
There is no doubt that Red Bull achieved that with Max Verstappen in 2021, even if the title win was accompanied by the controversy surrounding the events at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Wheatley is in favour of the investigation launched by the FIA and hopes for more consistency in decisions in the future.
“It’s really important that the FIA does its investigation, works with the teams and we all follow the outcome of that investigation,” he stressed.
While Wheatley is aware, “It’s a very, very difficult role that the race director and the stewards have. It’s about consistency of decision-making more than anything else, at all levels. It’s like football: you want to see logical decisions from the referee and that’s not always the case.”
In this context, the Red Bull sports director also sees a certain discrepancy between the “great, overarching philosophy of ‘let them race'”, which is just a racing philosophy, and the “rules in black and white”.
“They often prescribe very precisely what penalty should be imposed. There’s no leeway at all,” Wheatley knows. “I think these aspects of the sport have to be decided at the highest level. The World Motor Sport Council has to say, ‘These are the principles we race by’.”
“Then it’s up to the FIA and the teams to work together to ensure a consistent set of sporting rules,” Wheatley concludes.
