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 an advanced feat making an allowance for the traits of the SF-24 automobile, 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 prospect 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 change into the true antagonist of the English crew main the constructors’ championship, with Purple Bull utterly out of the image at this stage, and even Max Verstappen himself admitting they haven’t really been within the struggle in latest weeks for probably the most coveted title of many crew homeowners. Ferrari’s comeback may very well be thought of 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 automobile 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 important.
Is Ferrari now globally the most effective automobile? The Maranello technicians and engineers don’t need to hear it, partly as a result of they’re positive 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 most effective race tempo after switching to arduous tires and with the monitor 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 crew had been evident on the monitor within the second free observe session. As for Charles Leclerc, he needed to handle quite a bit, with fixed lift-and-coast that prevented him from sustaining his teammate’s tempo and from holding the tires within the optimum window. It’s additionally price noting that skipping the primary free observe 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 Important Race that allowed him to dominate on the American Sunday. In Mexico, time was restricted for the Monegasque, who approached the qualifying session nearly blind when it comes to setup, which stored him from acting on par together with his Maranello teammate.
Mexico has eliminated any doubts in regards to 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 most recent developments delivered to 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, not less than till a number of weeks in the past, of the Constructors’ title, which Ferrari has not seen for the reason that 2008 F1 marketing campaign. If the automobile is able to competing for victory, it appears extra doubtless that there might be not less than two red-clad drivers on the rostrum quite 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 Purple 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 doubtless we’ll see each McLaren automobiles outfitted with the most recent aerodynamic updates, not simply Lando Norris’s MCL38, in an try to answer Ferrari’s robust problem within the final two rounds. The Brazilian monitor will conclude the three-race streak that started in in the US and it’s fairly complete because it options gradual 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 specialists Rosario Giuliana and Piergiuseppe Donadoni for formu1a.uno.
Purple Bull and Max Verstappen left Mexico with few optimistic features, apart from the minimal factors misplaced by the Dutchman to Lando Norris. Nevertheless, the RB20 nonetheless has a variety 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 automobile when it comes to front-to-rear connection however haven’t considerably expanded the working window. That is why 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 greatest technical second of the season, with solely Qatar’s structure as a priority. No updates are anticipated for Ferrari in Brazil, because the crew from Maranello will proceed to work on extracting the utmost from the SF-24 in one other weekend that can happen primarily based on the Dash format.
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