Sainz believes Ferrari can outperform McLaren
Carlos Sainz, Ferrari's new driver since the start of the season, believes that the Ferrari can outperform the single-seaters from his former team, McLaren, on circuits that better suit the Italian team, judging by the progress made since the start of the season.
Ferrari has comeback from afar, a long way back, after its catastrophic 2020 season due to an asthmatic engine and an overall underperforming car. Their failures resulted in a sixth place in the constructors’ championship, the worst result for the prancing horse team since 1980. However, this season the Italian team is coming back with a whole new face, seeming to have corrected their shortcomings with the SF21.
Indeed, Carlos Sainz and his teammate Charles Leclerc have been fighting at the top of the midfield for these first two Grand Prix of the season, with the Scuderia Ferrari totaling 34 points after these first races. The Woking team, McLaren, on the other hand, has a total of 41 points, seven points ahead of their Italian rival, greatly aided by a strong Lando Norris at the start of the season, currently third in the drivers’ standings with 27 points.
This Monday, part of the Motors Inside team was live on Twitch to give you a brief recap of the 2021 Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix and notably discussed the duel between McLaren and Ferrari. Unanimously, the editorial team was impressed by the performance of young Lando Norris who undoubtedly carried his team this Sunday. Of course, we must be wary of the very enticing line-up that McLaren offers this year with Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo, who has not yet adapted well to this car and therefore has not fully unlocked his potential.
However, Ferrari seems to be on an upward trend as our Editor-in-Chief of Motors Inside, Alexandre Lepère, confided during this live. The Ferrari duo secured the fourth and fifth places in this Grand Prix. Carlos Sainz, missing out on qualifying by starting only from eleventh place on the starting grid, still manages to finish in fifth position by remaining discreet throughout the entire race. A positive sign for Ferrari, which seems to be in harmony with its new Spanish driver. The Scuderia has proven that it has solid foundations to evolve throughout the season.
For the moment, the advantage remains in favor of McLaren, however, Carlos Sainz believes that on circuits better suited to the characteristics of his car, Ferrari can beat the British team. When asked which team, McLaren or Ferrari, has the better car at the moment, he replies: « I think it’s very close, honestly. It’s very difficult to choose. »
« I think the McLaren has its strengths and weaknesses. But what makes the fight really enjoyable is that we are fast in very different places on the track, and that makes the battle very fun.
« It seems that in Imola, Lando did a very good job in exploiting the full potential of the car, he was above everyone all weekend, especially from Saturday, and he had a good race. »
« Maybe they had a bit of an edge this weekend, and they had a slight edge the past two weekends, but as soon as we have a very good weekend and go to a track that maybe favors us, I think we can be ahead.
« I think we will be ahead »
Ferrari has shown great progress between last season and this year and continues to improve between the Grand Prix, as we have been able to notice between Bahrain and Imola. The engine still seems to require some improvements but the team appears to be on the right track to compete for third place in the constructors’ championship this season. Nevertheless, McLaren seems to have the weapons to offer a fierce battle to maintain their position, it remains to be seen if the Woking team will be able to keep up the pace during this long season.
However, although McLaren as well as Ferrari have had a good start to the season to vie for third place in the constructor’s championship, it is important to quickly take advantage of this dominant position to score important points in order to ward off any potential comeback from a team like Aston Martin, Alpine, or AlphaTauri.
