Brundle: F1 a better place with Ferrari on the pace

The Briton was commenting on the 2022 Bahrain Grand Prix in his column for Sky Sports F1, and wrote: "That was a promising start for the new aerodynamics and 18-inch wheel era of Formula 1."

He touched on the fight Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen had during the race: " It was very interesting to observe those two slugging it out. Max would slice up the inside into turn one having used the slipstream, DRS rear wing open, and superior straight-line speed to remarkable effect down the pit straight, along with late braking.

"Charles was measuring this constantly in his mirrors, accepting the inevitable, and then intelligently ensuring he was second car past the DRS detection point, meaning he could get the rear wing open on the way up to turn four and regain the lead.

"Verstappen's defence was firm but very fair, and with significantly less aggression than he dished out to Hamilton last season. Indeed, it was Leclerc who sliced across his nose into turn four on one occasion.

"It will be fascinating to see how this plays out as the championship unfolds," he added.

"F1 feels in a better place when Ferrari are genuinely on the pace, unlike 2019 when there were fuelling question marks," Brundle believes.

"Ferrari didn't have to fight for last year's championship thereby freeing up plenty of resource and focus for this new era, and the latest regulations designed to keep the tallest and best performing 'sunflowers' in the shade for a while mean that Ferrari have 10 per cent more aerodynamic development time than Mercedes. And they've used it very well," he explained.

"Furthermore, we've moved to E10 sustainable fuel and fundamental engine development has now been frozen and homologated until 2026, and from September this year the energy recovery systems are similarly locked off from development.

"Judging by how well the Ferrari-powered Alfa Romeo and Haas teams went in Bahrain, along with their own one-two, then Ferrari have aced the power unit too," the Briton mused.

The former F1 driver with nine podium finishes said he, like anyone believed Red Bull were favourites for the win in Bahrain " given their pure pace and data from longer runs", only for Leclerc to come and change everything, as "he was on sensational form and had other ideas" both in qualifying and the race.

"Verstappen seemed angry for much of the race," Brundle added. "Angry that he perceived he was not allowed to push hard enough after his first two pit stops to undercut Leclerc and have track position out front, angry that his tyres faded quite quickly, then very angry that his power steering had taken a knock after being lowered off the front jack on his final pit stop, and then the cruel race-ending reliability issues."

Brundle tried made an attempt to understand what was the reason behind Red Bull's DNF as well as their sister team's AlphaTauri of Pierre Gasly.

"I'd mentioned earlier in our Sky F1 show that few teams had done a hot run-out fuel test with the new E10 fuel; it's quite a difference when the remaining fuel gets ever hotter in the tank in the closing stages of a race. I know these things only because knowledgeable people tell me," he revealed.

Brundle believes that the new fuel might have been the cause behind Red Bull's double retirement saying: " I don't yet know, but after the safety car period this could well have counted for the double Red Bull retirement."

The veteran of 158 Grands Prix weighed in on the situation at Mercedes and their radical W13 which he thinks "is currently the third-fastest car in F1" as with out Red Bull's troubles, Lewis Hamilton wouldn't have made it the podium.

"The W13 looks a technical beauty and for me seems like a car which is a couple of aero updates away from joining the Ferrari and Red Bull party," Brundle pointed out. "Or could it turn out to be similar to the 2003 McLaren MP4-18, a car that was an equally tightly packaged beauty but never raced?

"The W13 has now raced of course, and the irony here is that Lewis' third position is one better than his opening race finish for his last world championship in 2020, and fourth place is George Russell's best F1 result in a race which actually took place, unlike Spa last year.

"There's significant latent potential all round at Mercedes and no doubt they'll be back soon enough," the 62-year-old predicted.