Ferrari drivers put McLaren on notice with "pumped up" warning

Ferrari has stayed within touching distance for most of the year but hasn't often been spoken about. The attention has been focused on McLaren and Red Bull, while Ferrari has kept a low profile and flew under the radar. F1 is two-thirds of the way through a triple header, and Fred Vasseur's team scored 96 points in the World Championship in those two races. That's nearly twice as much as what McLaren has managed. It's more than the points McLaren and Red Bull scored combined.

This has now placed Ferrari within touching distance of McLaren. Just 29 points separate the two teams, with four Grands Prix and two sprint races remaining on the schedule. Ferrari currently has one key point of difference: both drivers are scoring big points. Ferrari haven't won an F1 title since 2008.

Can Ferrari win the F1 Constructors' Championship?

Sainz and Leclerc finished on the Mexico podium a week after their one-two finish in the United States Grand Prix. They now admit they are in the fight for the title. "It has to be our target. I think the best way to achieve it is by just focusing on our own self and trying to maximise the package of our car, which is what we have done since two weekends. The Constructors’ now is realistically possible," Leclerc said, who was sure to grab the bonus point for the fastest lap with a late pit stop in Mexico City.

Leclerc stressed that it's in Ferrari's hands. "It relies on us doing well more than others doing something wrong, which I've often said is probably the case for the Drivers' Championship. For the Drivers’ Championship I need to do everything right and I need a lot of bad luck to happen elsewhere. So the Constructors’ is definitely our main target and if we continue in that form it's a realistic one," Leclerc said. Unlike Sainz, Leclerc still has a mathematical chance of winning the Drivers' Championship but is 71 points down on Verstappen's tally.

Sainz revealed the Italian team are talking about it now. "We both believe it is possible and we are actually talking about it more and more often now. We pump each other up a bit, knowing that there's a chance and we are like, ‘yeah, come on’. We have a good relationship and I think we both know there is a chance and we both know we are in a good moment in our driving, the way we're driving," Sainz added.

"One of the keys is going to be consistency and having the two drivers always up there. I think this weekend, We did a really good job on that on a tricky track where you could see Q1 and Q2 was a bit of chaos and anything could go right or wrong. We just need to keep ourselves in that fight. We're going to keep doing the best we can and keep pumping each other up to win it," Sainz concluded.

After securing pole position, Sainz admitted he was annoyed by his current situation. The Spanish driver will leave Ferrari just as they are starting to compete for the World Titles. He will make way for Lewis Hamilton's arrival in 2025, while Williams has secured Sainz's talents next year.