---
title: "Wolff: Ferrari could have 0.2s advantage at start of 2022 F1 season"
canonical: "https://readmotorsport.com/2022/02/22/wolff-ferrari-could-have-0-2s-advantage-at-start-of-2022-f1-season/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Hamilton Lyndon-Griffiths"
section: "F1 News"
published: "2022-02-22T10:39:26Z"
modified: "2022-02-22T10:39:28Z"
---

# Wolff: Ferrari could have 0.2s advantage at start of 2022 F1 season

Ferrari could be as much as a “couple of tenths” ahead of its Formula 1 rivals at the start of the 2022 season due to extra wind tunnel time, according to Toto Wolff.

F1 introduced a sliding scale for aerodynamic testing at the start of 2021 that allows teams a specific amount of R&D work in the wind tunnel depending on their championship position.

Ferrari’s poor 2020 season, when it finished sixth in the constructors’ standings, as well as its P3 finish last year means it can conduct more time in the wind tunnel than reigning champions Mercedes.

This is particularly significant due to teams designing their cars to meet the all-new technical regulations for this year, and Mercedes F1 chief Wolff believes Ferrari will enjoy a performance advantage early on in the season.

“The ability of having more wind tunnel time is of course something you need to you need to bear in mind,” Wolff said, as quoted by Crash.net.

“The advantage of finishing sixth versus first over the course of the season is a couple of tenths \[of a second\].

“And of course you need to catch up, but we are part of these regulations. I think it’s good to create competition, so we shall see where everyone is.”

F1 boss Ross Brawn recently played down the idea of a team finding a silver bullet in the new regulations like his own outfit Brawn GP did in 2009 with the double diffuser, insisting the new governance is “robust” enough to ban any potential innovations.

But Wolff stresses he isn’t ruling out any team from coming up with a design that has the potential to be a “game changer”.

“Personally, I’m not discounting any teams,” Wolff added. “Everyone could be high up in the standings at the beginning of the season.

“We’ve seen it in 2009 with a double diffuser, if a team has innovated and discovered opportunities that could be game changers, \[then\] anyone can be ahead at the beginning \[of the season\].”

Ferrari is aiming to end its long wait for a world title in 2022, with its last championship success coming in 2008, and Wolff hopes the Italian outfit will be in the championship picture this season.

“As a fan, I love Ferrari,” Wolff said. “They they are the greatest name in Formula 1, and it cannot be that Ferrari is not competing for race victories and titles.

“Winning championships is something different, many things have to come together to achieve that, but I think for all us fans of the sport Ferrari needs to be in the mix and we’ve missed them in the last few years.

“The passion of everyone at Ferrari and also the Tifosi in Italy, it’s important to see that the car is competitive. So I hope there will be a few of us who are able to win races and \[are\] fighting hard on track.”