Qatar Grand Prix – Ferrari buries McLaren
Despite a mediocre performance in Losail, Ferrari leaves Qatar with nearly a 40-point lead over its British rival. Is the matter settled for the third place in the constructors' championship?
When you are called Ferrari, seeing your cars finish more than a minute and twenty seconds behind the winner (anonymous seventh and eighth) is not very pleasant. Yet, this was enough for the Scuderia last Sunday to increase its lead in the championship against McLaren, which only scored two points in Qatar.
Carlos Sainz, who missed sixth place by seven tenths against Lance Stroll, suffered from radio problems during the race but is still pleased with the lead taken over McLaren despite a complicated weekend for Ferrari.
« We had a little issue with the radio, which made me miss the right window to change tires,” he explained to the F1 journalists after the race. « Overall, it was quite a boring race, I mainly focused on my left front tire which caused so many issues for all the teams. Nevertheless, we made a good move in the championship as a team (compared to McLaren).
Charles Leclerc had a more complicated weekend than his teammate, the Monegasque having been eliminated in Q2. The number 16 nevertheless made a decent comeback in the race, finishing just behind Sainz.
« It was a positive race,” he declared at the end of the Grand Prix. “The result may not be exceptional in terms of the result, but when we were alone on the track, without disturbances, the pace was as good as that of the Alpines who did a great job today. I am especially pleased with the pace following our chassis change during the weekend. Otherwise, we maximized our result as a team so it’s rather positive.”
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To secure its third place in the World Constructors’ Championship, Ferrari will need to score five more points than the Woking team in Jeddah. Based on the recent results of the two teams, the Scuderia should be able to do so unless McLaren stages a sudden comeback.
