Christian Horner believes Ferrari are F1 championship contenders this season

Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner has said that he expects Ferrari to be challenging for the Formula 1 world championship this coming season.

The 2022 campaign looks a very exciting one on paper with all-new regulations coming into the sport with a view to them generating closer, more exciting racing.

Certainly, the hope is that some new faces are going to be challenging for victories and even the championship this year and many think that Ferrari could return to the top step after a season of progress in 2021.

Indeed, speaking to talkSPORT on Monday morning, Red Bull chief Horner appears to believe that the Scuderia will be a rival to his team over the coming months of the 2022 campaign:

“I think they’re the dark horse. They weren’t in the championship fight last year but there’s been a big regulation change this year and they probably started [developing their 2022 car] earlier than any team. They’ve been a sleeping giant for a few years now and you just get the impression they might be waking up so I never write off Ferrari.”

In Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc, Ferrari have one of the best driver line-ups in Formula 1 and if the car is quick enough, both have the talent to deliver race victories.

2022 is a year of the unknown, though, and we won’t have a true idea of the pecking order until the first Grand Prix in Bahrain which is in March on the 20th.