Ferrari team boss Fred Vasseur believes the Scuderia holds a momentum advantage over Mercedes ahead of the pair’s showdown in Abu Dhabi for the runner-up spot in the F1 world championship.
With one round to go, Mercedes still enjoys a marginal four-point advantage over the Italian outfit. However, save in Qatar, Ferrari has consistently outscored its rival in every race in the back half of its campaign.
And last weekend in Las Vegas, Ferrari took a 16-point bite out of Mercedes edge, its superior performance relative to the latter boding well for next weekend’s epilogue at Yas Marina.
The prestige of concluding the season as second-best behind Red Bull Racing is but a minor incentive, with F1’s prize money fund more central to each team’s motivation.
“If you consider that we were 60 points behind them a couple of races ago, we are on a good path,” said Vasseur. “But Abu Dhabi will be another story, four points it's nothing or a lot.
“And again we were able to perform in Monza, in Singapore, in Mexico during this weekend on different tracks with different weather conditions, different compounds, and we can be more than motivated before Abu Dhabi.
“The momentum is for us, and let's see what happens."
In Las Vegas, Charles Leclerc was in command of proceedings during the first half of the race. But the Monegasque’s charge was largely derailed by a mid-race Safety Car that put both of Red Bull’s drivers back in contention.
Leclerc was eventually reeled in by both Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez, but he recouped second place from the Mexican was a daring move on the Mexican on the final lap of the race.
©Ferrari
Carlos Sainz complemented his team mate’s impeccable performance with a solid drive of his own, the Spaniard recovering from a P12 start due to a grid penalty and from a first corner spin to end his day sixth in the running order.
“For sure on our side it's a strange feeling,” he said on Saturday evening. “You do the pole position, you overtake three times the Red Bull in the race, and you do P2. It's not usual!
“But I think also the timing of the safety car was the worst-case scenario for us, four laps after our pitstop. Okay, it is like it is.
“Charles did a mega good job. But even Carlos, and if you consider the Thursday story, the FP1 story, plus the incident in Turn 1, he was P20 or P18, and he was coming back P6. For us overall it's a good weekend."
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