Ferrari plan double upgrade; Mattia Binotto acknowledges Mercedes fear

Scuderia Ferrari are not ready to throw away their 2022 Formula 1 campaign despite Red Bull Racing holding a commanding lead in both the Drivers' and Constructors' Championships. The Italian team is planning to bring at least two more upgrade packages to future races in order to continue challenging the Austrian team.

Red Bull are all but certain to win both championships in 2022 after a dominant showing since the fourth race of the season. Max Verstappen holds a 116-point advantage over Charles Leclerc, while the Austrian team are 139-points ahead of Ferrari with just six races remaining.

The Dutch racer won his fifth consecutive race at the Italian Grand Prix, which was already his 11th win for the season. Red Bull have been insurmountable thus far in the second-half of the season, but Ferrari are hoping to put a halt to that at the next race in Singapore on Oct. 2.

According to Motorsport Italy, the Italian outfit is readying an upgrade package for the Singapore Grand Prix, which could include a new floor and wings for the high downforce circuit. Ferrari feel the race in Asia is their best chance to end Verstappen's winning streak.

The Maranello-based team is said to be buoyed by their second place finish in Monza after being trounced at the Belgium Grand Prix when they had no answer for Red Bull's pace. They are keen to add to their five wins in 2022, and hence will stretch their budget for not one but two upgrade packages before the end of the season.

Meanwhile, Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto has acknowledged Mercedes' growing threat in the championship. This scenario would have been difficult to comprehend at the start of the season, when the Italian team were miles ahead of the reigning Constructors' champions.

The Silver Arrows have since made impressive strides forward, while they have also been aided by Ferrari's strategy and reliability mishaps over the course of the campaign. Mercedes are now just 35 points behind Ferrari, and Binotto admitted "it will be painful" if his team finished behind the Brackley-based outfit.

Binotto told Sky Sports' Martin Brundle at Monza: "I think it will prove that we have not been good enough in improving the car through the season. And that there have been too many mistakes. But we are ahead and our intentions are to keep ahead."