Ferrari not taking third place in constructors’ championship for granted after Qatar GP. Ferrari’s fight with McLaren “not over yet” as lead grows again in Qatar.

Scuderia Ferrari are not taking third place in the constructors’ championship for granted despite the fact that the Maranello team was able to extend its lead over closest rivals McLaren at the Losail International Circuit. Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc only finished seventh and eighth in the Qatar Grand Prix, but it was still enough to end the race ahead of both McLaren drivers: Lando Norris was running ahead of the pair until his suffered a puncture in the final stages of the Qatar Grand Prix, while Daniel Ricciardo never managed to get into the top ten.

Scuderia Ferrari trailed McLaren by 17.5 points after the Russian Grand Prix, but has now extended its lead over McLaren to 39.5 points, having out-scored them in each of the last five races. With just two events until the end of the championship, Scuderia Ferrari has a strong chance of beating their rivals to third place in the constructors championship, achieving the pre-season target set by team principal Mattia Binotto.

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But the Ferrari boss remains wary of a potential reversal by McLaren, who was able to score 45 points in a single weekend as they secured a one-two finish in the Italian Grand Prix at Monza:

“I believe the championship is not over yet. There are two races to go and we are focusing and trying to do the best in the last one.” – he said.

At the same time, Mattia Binotto is pleased by the turnaround the team has made after the poor 2020 Formula One season: “No doubt if I look at where we were last year, sixth, very little points in the championship, I think we we made the most we could do with the current regulation where most of the car was closed and very limited opportunities of development, as well as the budget cap. In 2021 we have to put priorities on 2022 to develop instead 2021. So overall, I think that the team has made great progress for what was possible to do for that, and so I’m happy because yes, the third position is a great output of the effort.” – the Ferrari Team Principal concluded.