Can Ferrari leapfrog Red Bull and McLaren to F1 title glory?
Have Ferrari brought themselves into F1 constructors’ title contention after a 1-2 at the US GP?
A 1-2 finish in the United States Grand Prix has Ferrari dreaming about the prospect of ending their 16-year wait for an F1 title.
Charles Leclerc headed teammate Carlos Sainz for a comprehensive win at COTA, marking Ferrari’s first 1-2 in the United States for 18 years. The manner of victory was most impressive, with Leclerc in complete control from the moment he went from fourth to first at Turn 1 thanks to a brilliant start.
Ferrari also got their strategy - something which they have come under heavy criticism for in recent years - spot on. Sainz successfully undercut Max Verstappen with an earlier pit stop and finished more than 10 seconds ahead of the Red Bull driver at the chequered flag.
The resounding triumph, Ferrari’s fourth win of 2024, has seen the Italian team close to within eight points of second-placed Red Bull. Meanwhile, Ferrari trail McLaren by 48 points.
With five grand prix and two sprint races remaining and a maximum 250 points still left up for grabs, Leclerc believes Ferrari could yet overhaul their rivals and clinch a long-awaited constructors’ crown.
"We've got to target winning the constructors' title,” the 27-year-old Monegasque said.
“It’s an optimistic goal but that's what we are here for. We will do the math like any other season, until then the best thing we can do is to focus on ourself, on our own performance, just like we did this weekend.
"It's been a really good weekend for the team and for the constructors' title. We will try to reproduce that as often as possible, and hopefully at the end of the year when we do the math we will have won the constructors' title.”
Ferrari have made encouraging progress with recent upgrades and Sainz, who is entering his final few races for the Scuderia before moving to Williams, reckons two upcoming tracks in particular should suit the SF-24.
"If I would have to bet, I would say Mexico and Vegas are good tracks based on last year,” Sainz said. “I’m basing myself a bit on last year. This year everything seems a bit different.
"I think Qatar is going to be a bit our bogey track, if I would have to bet again my money and then I'm not sure what we can achieve in Abu Dhabi, but let's see. I just hope this pace shows itself again before the end of the season and gives me another chance of going at it.”
In the drivers’ championship (something Ferrari have not secured since Kimi Raikkonen's 2007 triumph), Leclerc is still in mathematical contention. But considering he is 79 points behind Verstappen with only 146 available over the remaining rounds, he knows it will be a tough deficit to overturn.
"If we do everything perfect until the end of the season, no matter what McLaren does, if we do better than them I think we can still clinch that title [the constructors’],” Leclerc asserted.
“With the drivers' I see it a bit in a different way. If we do everything perfect it will require a bit of luck to get that title, we cannot really rely on luck. The drivers' seems quite unlikely but I will believe it until it's mathematically impossible... but [it's] trickier."
