It had not occurred for the reason that 2022 Method 1 championship with the F1-75 single-seater that Scuderia Ferrari received two consecutive Grand Prix races. Within the Mexico Metropolis Grand Prix, Carlos Sainz did what his Maranello teammate had managed to do every week earlier on the Circuit of the Americas in Austin. A decisive and well-deserved victory for the Spaniard, who additionally took pole place for Ferrari, which is all the time a sophisticated feat considering the traits of the SF-24 automotive, in a weekend with fewer points than those encountered by Charles Leclerc. Lando Norris got here between the 2 reds, denying the Prancing Horse the possibility to realize one other superb one-two end after the one in Austin. Nonetheless, a primary and third place are necessary ends in the Constructors’ standings with simply 4 races remaining within the 2024 Method 1 season.
Ferrari is now second within the Constructors’ standings and is the true challenger of McLaren. The consistency of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz may very well be the additional weapon Ferrari must win the title.
The SF-24 has develop into the true antagonist of the English workforce main the constructors’ championship, with Pink Bull fully out of the image at this stage, and even Max Verstappen himself admitting they haven’t actually been within the combat in latest weeks for essentially the most coveted title of many workforce house owners. Ferrari’s comeback may very well be thought-about exceptional, because the Charles Leclerc – Carlos Sainz duo has clawed again 46 factors from McLaren in two weekends, placing them in second place, 29 factors behind, with 4 Grands Prix to go. The previous automotive of Italian aerodynamicist Enrico Cardile has been put again heading in the right direction with the aerodynamic replace packages launched within the Italian Grand Prix on the Monza circuit and within the Singapore Grand Prix, proving abroad that the progress made is greater than vital.
Is Ferrari now globally the very best automotive? The Maranello technicians and engineers don’t need to hear it, partly as a result of they’re certain the Mexican GP would have been a lot more durable to win with out the important thing skirmishes between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris. The latter confirmed the very best race tempo after switching to exhausting tires and with the observe cooling, though he was clearly slowed by Max Verstappen within the first a part of the race, the place Ferrari managed to open up a niche that assured Carlos Sainz’s victory on the 4.304-kilometre Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico Metropolis.
The British McLaren driver used the brand new flooring all through the Mexican weekend, which was not sure at first, indicating that the numerous enhancements anticipated by the Woking workforce have been evident on the observe within the second free apply session. As for Charles Leclerc, he needed to handle loads, with fixed lift-and-coast that prevented him from sustaining his teammate’s tempo and from preserving the tires within the optimum window. It’s additionally price noting that skipping the primary free apply session and being unable to work considerably on setups in FP2 as a result of hour and a half devoted primarily to Pirelli tire testing didn’t assist the Monegasque driver. Charles Leclerc, who had already tailored extra slowly to the brand new steadiness created by a way more versatile entrance wing debuted within the Singapore Grand Prix, solely discovered an edge with setup modifications between the Dash and Foremost Race that allowed him to dominate on the American Sunday. In Mexico, time was restricted for the Monegasque, who approached the qualifying session virtually blind when it comes to setup, which saved him from acting on par along with his Maranello teammate.
Mexico has eliminated any doubts concerning the enchancment of the SF-24 single-seater, however will Interlagos shut the circle?
The Italian facet is now clearly the primary opponent of McLaren, and the hole to the highest, after the newest developments dropped at the SF-24, appears to have virtually disappeared in sure phases and technical areas. So, the consistency of the Charles Leclerc – Carlos Sainz duo may very well be the additional weapon in an unlikely pursuit, at the very least till a couple of weeks in the past, of the Constructors’ title, which Ferrari has not seen for the reason that 2008 F1 marketing campaign. If the automotive is able to competing for victory, it appears extra probably that there will probably be at the very least two red-clad drivers on the rostrum relatively than these in orange, and this may very well be a substantial benefit. McLaren, with Oscar Piastri’s restricted expertise and an inconsistent Lando Norris, alongside Pink Bull, with a declining Sergio Perez, fall brief on this respect in comparison with Ferrari’s driver lineup.
On the Interlagos circuit, it is extremely probably we are going to see each McLaren vehicles geared up with the newest aerodynamic updates, not simply Lando Norris’s MCL38, in an try to answer Ferrari’s robust problem within the final two rounds. The Brazilian observe will conclude the three-race streak that started in in the US and it’s fairly complete because it options sluggish sections, in addition to lengthy and high-speed banked curves, together with climate that is still unpredictable, particularly for Sunday’s race, as defined by F1 consultants Rosario Giuliana and Piergiuseppe Donadoni for formu1a.uno.
Pink Bull and Max Verstappen left Mexico with few constructive facets, aside from the minimal factors misplaced by the Dutchman to Lando Norris. Nonetheless, the RB20 nonetheless has a whole lot of technical floor to make up in comparison with Ferrari and McLaren, even after the developments launched on the Circuit of the Americas. These have improved the McLaren automotive when it comes to front-to-rear connection however haven’t considerably expanded the working window. Because of this we now continuously see Max Verstappen racing defensively, resorting to even unsportsmanlike maneuvers to disrupt his rival’s race, in a approach favoring Ferrari, a transparent ally of the three-time world champion. For his or her half, Maranello is aware of they nonetheless have an opportunity in Brazil to increase the SF-24’s finest technical second of the season, with solely Qatar’s structure as a priority. No updates are anticipated for Ferrari in Brazil, because the workforce from Maranello will proceed to work on extracting the utmost from the SF-24 in one other weekend that can happen based mostly on the Dash format.
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