Carlos Sainz Jr. and Ferrari hoping to capitalize in Las Vegas GP as they chase McLaren
Ferrari has a tremendous opportunity to inch closer to McLaren in the title race at the Las Vegas Grand Prix
The main storyline when the grid arrived in Sin City for the Las Vegas Grand Prix was the battle for the Formula 1 Drivers’ Championship. With Max Verstappen on the cusp of clinching his fourth consecutive title, the main theme of the week has been whether he can fend off Lando Norris in that clash, or if the McLaren driver can keep his title hopes alive for at least one more week.
Not to be outdone however is the three-way fight between McLaren, Ferrari, and Red Bull for the Constructors’ Championship. At the moment McLaren holds a 36-point lead over Ferrari, with Red Bull sitting 49 points behind McLaren in third. But with Carlos Sainz Jr. starting second later tonight in the Las Vegas Grand Prix — and teammate Charles Leclerc starting fourth — the Ferrari duo is starting ahead of both Norris and Oscar Piastri.
Which gives Ferrari a tremendous opportunity later tonight to shave into McLaren’s lead.
Speaking after qualifying in the FIA Press Conference, Sainz pointed to that opportunity and put it in the context of the Qatar Grand Prix, which Ferrari fears might not suit the SF-24.
“Yeah, I’m a bit worried about Qatar because if you see Turn 1 and Turn 3, it’s exactly the type of corner you have in Qatar. Fourth, fifth gear, long combined, which is exactly where we’ve been struggling,” began Sainz Friday night. “And just in that sector today to the [Mercedes], we were three tenths off. So if you keep adding those corners up, it could be a tough one for us in Qatar.
“So tomorrow is a good opportunity to get points because we might lose them in Qatar. So, yeah, I think we’re going to go into the race trying to win because that’s what we need to target. Also knowing McLaren is behind and with the two cars trying to get the maximum points possible because we know in order to beat McLaren, we’re probably going to go through a weekend in Qatar where we’re also losing points. So we need to make sure we gain them and knowing that, yeah, there are 30 something points ahead. That is quite a lot.”
Sainz also made it clear that for him and Leclerc, the Constructors’ Championship is the goal.
“I think we are both the first one interested in winning the Constructors’. I’m not going to lie,” declared Sainz. “I think we’re both very motivated to do so, and we are collaborating with each other more than ever before, also because I’m very far off him in the championship with the two or three zeros that I had this season.
“And even though I’m driving well, I think there is not personal battles for the Drivers’ Championship going on. And this means that we have a common interest of clinching the Constructors’ because we both have that left for us in the in the championship, and we are collaborating more than ever before, as I said, and cooperating as much as we can,” added Sainz. “And yeah, we will go into tomorrow knowing that that is the number one priority.”
Time will tell if Ferrari can maximize their opportunity in the Las Vegas Grand Prix.