Charles Leclerc cheered after an undisputed fourth place in the 2021 United States Grand Prix: “That was a very, very good race. Every lap felt like a qualifying lap. I didn’t leave anything behind.” At the finish his lead over the first pursuer, Daniel Ricciardo, was 24.608 seconds. McLaren had to acknowledge: “Ferrari was clearly stronger. We had to do more tire management and can be happy to have left at least one Ferrari behind us.” The red car was more careful with the tyres, and was much faster that anyone except the top three.
In qualifying, the extra grip of the tires covered the disadvantages of McLaren. In the race, the red competition was on average almost half a second faster per lap. “On paper this track does not fit our car ideally. The fact that we were so fast makes me confident for the rest of the races,” explained team principal Mattia Binotto.
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Ferrari was able to trim its car for maximum downforce without paying for it on the straights. That would have been unthinkable a few weeks ago, but has been possible with the hybrid upgrade since Russia. The SF21 has more power at the exit of the corner and more electrical reserve at the end of the straight. Ferrari was good on all types of corners at Austin – fast or slow.
Carlos Sainz could have finished fifth and not seventh if he had started better or if his second pit stop hadn’t gone bad. The swap took 5.6 seconds. “Otherwise I would have easily passed Ricciardo.” The gap in the lap before the pit visit was 1.4 seconds. “There was a problem pulling off the right rear wheel. It got stuck. We have to analyze that in Maranello,” explains the team boss. In the tough duel against Daniel Ricciardo, Carlos Sainz got the short straw and then was not able to defened against the faster Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas in the final stages of the 2021 United States Grand Prix.
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