Rear-end factor in 2021 fight between Ferrari and McLaren. Rear-end factor in 2021 fight between Ferrari and McLaren.

“When we struggled with the rear tires like in Portugal or Spain, Ferrari turned out to be faster than us, where this didn’t happen, like for example in Imola we were the ones who were much faster.” – McLaren driver So Lando Norris drew an initial assessment after the first four races of the 2021 Formula One season which showed that at the moment the fight for third place in the constructors’ standings is limited between McLaren and the Maranello team.

The Woking team is currently third in the 2021 Constructor Standings with 65 points, five more than Scuderia Ferrari, which has scored 60 points so far. Behind them the void, with Alpine fifth having scored just 15 points. “It is important to continue to bring updates for the next races to keep the battle for third place alive” – added McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl as reported by The-Race.com – “it was positive to maintain third place after the Grand Spain Prize where we have not proved to be as competitive as Ferrari ”.

On the horizon there is now the Monaco stage, where McLaren will bring a historic Gulf livery. Daniel Ricciardo is a specialist of the Principality track, but on paper Scuderia Ferrari is the favorite in the challenge against McLaren, with Charles Leclerc even dreaming of undermining Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen on the streets of Monte Carlo. In Baku, on the other hand, McLaren will be able to focus on power unit advantage to eventually respond to Ferrari’s performance in Monaco.

Scuderia Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto highlighted the lesson learned by the Italian side in Portugal in terms of tire management, with the SF21 proving excellent both in qualifying and in the race: “I am very happy to have found in Spain that the analysis of the data that emerged after Portimao led to a significant improvement in the management of tires in the race.” – said the Ferrari boss.

Charles Leclerc on several occasions during the 2020 Formula 1 season suffered as much from the lack of power of the power unit as from the degradation of the tires in the race: “This year the balance has definitely improved – said the Monegasque – the race pace is no longer our weak point” . – Charles confirmed.