Rivals McLaren and Red Bull weigh in on Ferrari's title charge: 'Difficult'
F1 News
In the first of two triple headers that bring an end to the 2024 Formula 1 season, it is Ferrari who are flexing their muscles. At the United States Grand Prix, they were able to take a 1-2 victory, and then a week later at the Mexican Grand Prix, they backed that performance up with a P1 and a P3, sitting just 29 points behind McLaren in first after overtaking Red Bull, who now sit in P3.
After a disappointing Singapore Grand Prix before the month-long autumn break, upgrades that were bought in by the Scuderia are now beginning to work extremely well on the SF-24. Team principal Fred Vasseur, along with Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, said that they would know if the updates were working properly at the Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas. Leclerc then stormed to victory, with Ferrari taking their first 1-2 finish of the 2024 season.
Sainz then found himself standing on the top step of the podium in Mexico City, giving Ferrari back-to-back wins as they become the most in-form team on the gird with just four races remaining. Points hauls like that have been vital in their late charge for the constructors' championship, and what seemed like a long shot is now very quickly becoming a real possibility, now sitting in string distance behind McLaren to take their first constructors' championship since 2008, while Red Bull's downward spiral down the standings continues.
Horner and Stella acknowledge the pace of the Ferrari
Both Horner and Stella were asked about the improvements of Ferrari since the autumn break, and the Red Bull team boss knows that clawing back the advantage that Ferrari now have over his team will be extremely tricky come the season finale in Abu Dhabi: "I think it will be very difficult, but we never give up, and we’ll fight very hard. But we need both cars obviously scoring. Ferrari had another big score today. As far as the constructors' is concerned, we're certainly on the back foot."
But what does Stella think about his team's chances to win their first title since 1998? "I thought the Ferraris were faster today [in Mexico]. But, as we were going through the first stint, Lando, as soon as he got clear of Verstappen, showed that he had very competitive pace. Then, in the second stint, he proved that the pace was as fast as Ferrari. In hindsight now, when I look at the incidents in the early laps of the race, there's a little bit of disappointment, because, without that couple of incidents, I think Lando could have fought for the victory today."
There's a lot more confidence coming from the McLaren camp, and they still hold onto a 29-point lead with just four races remaining, and he hopes that the changes made to the papaya-coloured car will be enough to keep up with a rejuvenated Ferrari: "For me, the important fact is that we have seen that the car is competitive. The upgraded car seems to be now on par with Ferrari at the track that we thought would be more in favour of Ferrari. So this is encouraging for the remainder of the season."
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