'It's never been this fun': Red Bull feel 'sorry' for Ferrari in 2022 title race

Red Bull Racing advisor Helmut Marko admitted to feeling "sorry" for Ferrari after seeing their main title rivals fall behind in the championship. The Italian team started the 2022 Formula 1 season as the early favourites, but cannot blame anyone but themselves for their current plight.

Charles Leclerc and Ferrari were leading both the Drivers' and Constructors' Championships by a healthy margin after winning two of the first three races. Red Bull were struggling with reliability issues at the time, but have since turned their fortunes around.

As the Austrian team began dominating, cracks began to appear within the Ferrari camp. Leclerc has seen two wins chalked off due to reliability issues, while also sacrificing the lead on more than one occasion due to Ferrari's poor strategy calls during the race.

In the 10 races since Australia, Ferrari have managed just two wins compared to Red Bull's eight. The Maranello-based team's reliability woes combined with their strategy mishaps have seen Leclerc drop 80 points behind title rival Max Verstappen, while the Italians trail Red Bull by 97 points.

Marko almost mocked Ferrari by admitting a title race has rarely been "so much fun," especially since their 2021 battle with Mercedes saw every mistake penalised. The 79-year-old, however, feels Ferrari will bounce back when the season resumes in Belgium later this month.

Marko shared as quoted by the Mirror: "Almost every weekend is a pleasure, quite different from last season where everything cost a lot of nerves. It's just a bit of a shame that Ferrari makes so many mistakes. They are beaten below their value – we really feel sorry for them."

"But once again, they will be back. They have such a strong car." And he went on to insist that "we really can't lean back yet," as "we still have nine races, that's 225 points for nine possible wins plus sprint and fastest laps."

Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto is confident the Italian team can bounce back. He was also adamant that no drastic changes are required despite his team making numerous errors which may cost them a potential double championship win.

The Italian feels Ferrari have to simply learn from their mistakes and begin their fight back against Red Bull. The 2022 F1 season resumes at the iconic Spa Francorchamps circuit in Belgium following the ongoing summer break.