Ferrari’s ‘clear objective’ to beat McLaren to P3

Henry Valantine
Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc and McLaren driver Lando Norris. Russia September 2021.

Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris run side by side in Sochi. Russia September 2021.

After reducing the deficit to McLaren in the Constructors’ Championship, Ferrari say their “clear objective” is to overhaul them into P3.

The 10-point swing in Ferrari’s favour at the Turkish Grand Prix has narrowed the gap to their rivals to just 7.5 points – with a significant amount of extra prize money on offer for those who come out on top in that battle.

With the financial incentive coinciding with an apparent return to form of late, team principal Mattia Binotto says the team are all pulling in the same direction for the final six races, adding recently that they will aim for a podium at each of the remaining rounds this year.

“It’s certainly a target that we have already communicated to the team,” Binotto said, per Motorsport.com. “I think everybody is on board with that. It would be great to finish third.

“I think even working with the clear objective by the end of this season, it’s important for us because it’s a way of working under pressure and being trained to that.

“So yes, our objective is to finish third at the end of the season.”

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Carlos Sainz took a new power unit in Turkey and managed to recover from the back of the grid to get back into the points, winning the fan-voted Driver of the Day award in the process.

He admitted it is “tricky” to tell how much of a positive impact that will make for Ferrari heading into the latter stages of the season, but he still believes it’s a nip-and-tuck situation between the Scuderia and his former team for the final races.

“You saw [in Turkey] we were quicker than McLaren,” said the Spaniard. “In Sochi, they were quicker than us. So I still believe it’s going to be up and down until the end of year.

 

“What this engine should give us, I think it’s the possibility for the circuits where we are behind to be a bit closer to them, and in the circuits where we are in front, to be maybe a bit further up.

“This is what we were looking for since the upgrade was pushed forward, and what we hope is going to give us that little edge to try and make the fight a bit more complicated.

“[In Turkey] we managed to cut 10 points on them, which in the points we are fighting is quite a big cut.

“We are fighting and six races to go, anything can happen.”

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