Ferrari have been tipped to fight back and take the Formula One championship to the wire by their former team boss, Stefano Domenicali.
Max Verstappen won Sunday’s Canadian Grand Prix to extend his victories for the season to six, triple that of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
But F1 chief Domenicali said he expected Ferrari to fight back from the next round, the British Grand Prix, in two weeks’ time, and predicted Mercedes would also return to being frontrunners.
He told Standard Sport: “If you remember after three races of the season, the comment from Max Verstappen was that the game was over and Ferrari was leading by 40 points or so. Now, it’s the other way around, because Max is leading the championship by 46 points.
“I would say we need to be prudent. The championship is very long and is going to have lots of ups and downs. It’s too early to say the championship is finished, and I say that not because I hope that but I do believe that.
“We’re just one third of the season in. There are a lot of races and I’m sure the championship will be tight.”
In Montreal, Leclerc had to start from the back row of the grid after a complete change of his power unit for the race but managed to climb his way back up to fifth overall come the chequered flag.
The Ferrari of Carlos Sainz was 0.2-0.3 seconds per lap quicker than Verstappen’s Red Bull and the Spaniard came close to passing the Dutchman in the dying laps of the race, thanks, in part, to the safety car being deployed after Yuki Tsunoda’s crash as he exited the pitlane.
“[Leclerc] is in great shape and Ferrari are very close,” added Domenicali. “I also see signs that Mercedes are getting faster, so the scenario for the championship is to be close.
“It all depends how the cars adapt to the circuits and how, with this budget cap, the teams relay upgrades to the car. That’s the beauty of the situation we’re in.
“For sure, Mercedes are going to be closer, because they are an incredible team and all the titles achieved in the past — eight in a row.
“They’re going to be there — they will not give up. And that will help for the situation to be a little more mixed up.”
