Why Ferrari's return as a dominant force has benefits all the way down grid

GUENTHER STEINER is one of the unquestionable stars in the latest series of the Netflix documentary Drive to Survive as the maverick boss of habitual strugglers Haas.

- Matt Majendie

In Bahrain, racegoers were just as likely to stop the Italian for a selfie as any drivers on the grid, such is his relatively recently-acquired star status. And he has been smiling from ear to ear.

Haas had a dreadful pre-season in losing their main sponsor, Dmitry Mazepin, because of his close ties to Vladimir Putin and axing his son, Nikita, as their driver. That they found themselves in fifth place at the end of the Bahrain Grand Prix raised more than a few eyebrows.

But it also indicated quite where the power lies in Ferrari’s new-for-2022 world order. Haas are powered by the Ferrari engine, as are Alfa Romeo, whose lead driver Valtteri Bottas finished sixth.

Steiner was understandably delighted for the Ferrari renaissance, which has been a long time in coming, not least of all for the impact on his team’s cars.

“They [Ferrari] had to take a lot of s*** from people about it,” said Steiner of Ferrari’s years of struggle. “And they just got back, did their homework and came back with something very good. I think the Ferrari engine is now the best engine.”

It is early days to make such pronouncements, just one race in, but as things stand Ferrari have the quickest and also most reliable engine on the grid.