After the Brazilian Grand Prix, Scuderia Ferrari have become clear favourites to take third place in the Formula 1 Constructor Standings. The Italians have scored more points than their rivals McLaren four times in a row, as Ferrari has had the faster car four times: in Turkey, the USA, Mexico and Brazil. Four tracks on which a lot of contact pressure or even maximum downforce is required. 71 to 22 is the points totals in a direct comparison of this phase.
After the second setback in a week, McLaren is no longer under any illusions. If everything goes normally, Ferrari will secure third place in the championship in the last three races. The standings now show it clear: 287.5 to 256. “That’s a nice cushion for us,” said Ferrari’s team boss Mattia Binotto.
His counterpart, Andreas Seidl, sums it up soberly: “We have to face reality. Even if we don’t give up, it is very likely that we will finish the season in fourth. For us it is now important that we have the positive momentum in the last win back three races – with a view to 2022.”
Ferrari only against Gasly
The incident with Lando Norris in the start of the 2021 Brazilian Grand Prix was labeled as a normal starting accident by Carlos Sainz: “If anything, Lando pulled in a little too early for the first corner. But such a collision can happen. If I did something wrong, I’m sorry. But to be honest, I don’t think so.”
At least the Spaniard was able to continue driving without any problems while Norris hobbled into the pits for a tire change. The underbody around the left rear wheel was also damaged. That cost downforce. And that in turn puts more stress on the tires over the distance. Nevertheless, Norris still worked his way into the top 10. An early safety car helped to get back on the field.
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Ferrari just had to keep an eye on Pierre Gasly on race Sunday. Alpha Tauri’s spearhead stayed in the orbit of the red cars for at least the first two stints. Ferrari geared its tire changes to Gasly. Every time he came in, the Maranello racing team followed suit with their drivers.
In the final part of the race, Ferrari had a quiet afternoon. Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz came back on track ahead of the Alpine. After his second tire change, Gasly got stuck behind Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso, who were protecting each other from him with DRS.
On average, the Alpha Tauri was two tenths of a second slower than the Ferrari. McLaren was on par with Red Bull’s junior racing team. On tracks that require a lot of downforce, Ferrari has the better package. McLaren needs long straights and angular corners, like in Monza.
Next step with 2022 power unit
The Maranello team’s chassis engineers are also happy about the improved power unit: now they are hardly forced to make compromises when it comes to setup configuration. Ferrari no longer has to drive a lower downforce configuration in favor of more top speed. Mattia Binotto promises the Tifosi: “We are working tirelessly on the power unit for 2022. Already at the start of the season, many components will be new. Then we have to see how we proceed until September.”
The V6 engine has to be adapted to E10 fuel. At the same time, Ferrari wants to close the gap to engine leader Mercedes and the Maranello team wants the achieve that at the very latest when the engines are frozen. There are two deadlines for this: engine, turbo and MGU-H have to be homologated by 1 March. In addition, fuel and engine oil. MGU-K, battery and power electronics have until 1 September.
