Ferrari has revealed that it was compelled to halt the development of its F1-75, not to switch its focus to its 2023 car but because it had simply run out of money.
Ferrari's 2022 contender had the early edge over its Red Bull rival and maintained its lead during the first part of the season, although the Scuderia's results were impacted by several strategic missteps and mistakes.
But over the summer, as the season unfolded, Ferrari was forced to wind down its development programme much earlier than Red Bull as it neared its approximate $144 million spending ceiling.
"It was not a choice; we simply finished the money for the budget cap," explained Scuderia boss Mattia Binotto in Sap Paulo last weekend.
"So simply we were at the cap - no more opportunity of developing the car, so we simply stick where we were."
Binotto made clear that halting development – and especially the production of new parts – due to funds drying up did not mean that the Italian outfit had pared down its research on next year's car.
"Obviously we didn't compromise next year's car development," he said. "But certainly we decided to stop the current one, because on top of this normal development on the current [car], you will need to produce the parts to bring them on track.
"And that was the extra costs that we couldn't afford."
©Ferrari
Ferrari's lack of updates had inevitably weighed on its performance in the back half of the 2022 season relative to Red Bull but also to Mercedes.
The Brackley squad's performance has been trending higher in the last few races. So the team's strong display in Brazil and George Russell's win hasn't come as a surprise to Binotto.
"It's not a surprise. I think that they were fast in Brazil," he said.
"It’s not surprising because, if I look at the last races, maybe with a different tyre choice, they would already have won races. And I think that they simply didn't win because they missed the right choice of tyres.
"They have been the fastest car in the last races, so not surprising coming here in Brazil. They brought a new aero package in Austin, which I think worked well, and they are capitalising on it."
Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter
