NEW YORK – Ferrari began the 2022 season with a strong one-two finish in the first race and a win in the third, prompting team hopes that they would finally land their first title since 2008.

But they fell short, finishing second in the constructors’ and drivers’ championships.

One of Formula One’s most successful teams, and indisputably the most famous, Ferrari have won more drivers’ and constructors’ championships than any team.

They returned to competitiveness in 2022 after two lacklustre seasons but they were no match for Red Bull, who won both titles.

“I think we achieved our main objective, which was to be back to being competitive in the new era of the 2022 cars,” team principal Mattia Binotto said at the end of the season at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Nine days later, he resigned after four years in charge.

“I am leaving a company that I love, which I have been part of for 28 years, with the serenity that comes from the conviction that I have made every effort to achieve the objectives set,” added Binotto, who will officially depart on Saturday.

Benedetto Vigna, CEO of Ferrari, agreed that Binotto “led the team back to a position of competitiveness” and Ferrari are “in a strong position to renew our challenge to win the ultimate prize in motor sport”.

Then on Dec 13, Ferrari announced that Frederic Vasseur would become their new team principal and general manager.

Vasseur, 54, has a long motor sports career, including having worked with Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc in junior racing.

He has been CEO and team principal of Sauber Motorsport, which runs the Alfa Romeo team, since July 2017.

He will be Ferrari’s fifth team principal in under a decade. By contrast, Christian Horner has been at the helm of Red Bull for 18 seasons, while Toto Wolff is approaching 10 years running Mercedes.

Vasseur’s new role will be effective Jan 9. He will find a team with plenty of strengths on which to build but also problems to solve.

Despite 12 pole positions, more than any team, Ferrari had only four victories. None of those came in the second half of the year; by then Red Bull were running away with both titles.

“Considering from how far we have come from last year, it’s an amazing step forward,” Leclerc said.

“But, obviously, I cannot ignore our middle part of the season that has been super frustrating. We went from leading the championship with quite a bit of points to being behind by quite a bit of points.”

Ferrari’s downfall began in that middle stretch of the season.

Leclerc had engine failures in Spain and Azerbaijan; poor strategy calls and confusing radio communications in Monaco, England and Hungary; and his own error in France. All six races were winnable.

Binotto said after Leclerc’s mistake in France there was “no reason” the team could not win the remaining 10 races of the season. Ferrari did not win even one.

“We just need to take all the mistakes that we’ve done this year and try to improve for next year,” said Leclerc, who finished 146 points behind Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.

Leclerc’s teammate Carlos Sainz had to overcome early unease with the F1-75 race car and was never in title contention.

“There was a challenging first third of the season where I struggled a bit with the car balance, with the driving style, a car that for some reason didn’t suit me straight out of the box,” Sainz, who finished fifth, 62 points behind Leclerc, said.

He described Red Bull and Verstappen as “the quicker car, the quicker driver” and that Ferrari “will need to be perfect” to catch them in 2023.

But the Spaniard, who won the British Grand Prix, also pointed to positives.

“In terms of pure performance, we are not far,” he said. “We just need to put on a bit more power and a bit more downforce in the car, and we’re going to be at the same level (as Red Bull) or faster.”

Divergent development strategies, with Red Bull making weight loss a priority and Ferrari chasing aerodynamic gains, favoured Red Bull.

Because Red Bull reduced weight, that aided tyre wear compared with Ferrari, enhancing their advantage. Another factor was that Ferrari had to turn down their smaller turbo at high altitudes, thus running at less power in, for example, Mexico City.

Leclerc said winning the title must be the 2023 goal.

“I’m confident, in terms of pace, we will manage to catch Red Bull back next year,” he said. NYTIMES