Lewis Hamilton no longer looks to be Max Verstappen and Red Bull's biggest F1 competition in 2022. Sunday's masterclass from Ferrari at the Bahrain Grand Prix, during which Charlers Leclerc and Carlos Sainz claimed the race's top two spots, proved that Ferrari is ready to compete this season. After placing second behind Leclerc, Sainz had a bold statement that should get Ferrari fans worldwide fired up. Sainz told a reporter after the podium finish that “Ferrari is back,” words F1 fans have been longing to hear for quite some time.

“Ferrari is back. The hard work has paid off. Congratulations to Charles, and I managed to bring the 1-2 back for the team.”

Sainz was over the moon with his team's results at the F1 race on Sunday, and rightfully so. Ferrari have been criticized heavily over the past few seasons in F1, but it looks as if Mattia Binotto has everything figured out for this year, and the Ferrari's were both flying in Bahrain.

The 2022 F1 debut race could not have gone better for Ferrari, as Leclerc and Sainz topped the leaderboards with 26 and 16 points respectively. Lewis Hamilton and George Russell came in third and fourth for Mercedes, combining for 27 points. It was a race to forget for Verstappen and Red Bull, as they placed 19 and missed out on points entirely. A late DNF from Verstappen saw him lose out on what seemed to be a secure second-place finish, and things didn't fare much better for Segrio Perez who also missed out on points in what was a dreadful start for the club.

Ferrari are off to a roaring start, and Sainz said, the team is officially back. This could be the year Binotto's side reclaims its glory atop the F1 charts, and they took a huge step towards achieving that on Sunday.