Carlos Sainz says Ferrari has thrown down the gauntlet in its battle against McLaren for the 2024 Formula 1 Constructors' Championship.
After a surprising qualifying session that saw Sainz secure P2 on the grid, just 0.098 seconds behind George Russell, Ferrari is in a strong position to capitalize on a critical weekend in its battle against McLaren.
With the latter leading the Scuderia by 36 points, Sainz emphasized that only victories would suffice to keep their hopes alive.
“We need wins to beat McLaren,” commented the Spaniard. “It is not like we can afford to just be in front of them because they have a big gap in the championship.”
Ferrari’s unexpected one-lap pace in qualifying on Friday has given Ferrari an opportunity to strike against McLaren. Sainz will start second on the grid, with teammate Charles Leclerc in fourth, ahead of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri who will launch their race respectively from sixth and eight on the grid.
This performance comes at a pivotal moment, as Sainz acknowledged the challenges of upcoming races.
“We are going to Qatar next which will not be a good track for us - we will struggle there,” he admitted. “We need to win, so it is not that it changes my approach.”
Reflecting on the intense qualifying session, Sainz recounted the thrill of nearly beating Mercedes’ George Russell to pole position.
“That was a tough, tight quali, and I was a bit closer to pole than I was expecting,” he said. “I thought I had it and then George came in very quick at the end.”
Sainz’s optimism extends to Ferrari’s race pace, where he believes the team has a genuine chance to convert its qualifying performance into a victory under the neon lights of Las Vegas.
“I was P2 last year, but was P12 on the grid because of the famous drain cover, and this year I start P2, so hopefully we can make a better one,” he noted, referring to last year’s freak incident during practice.
“We need to stay confident that we can be fighting at the front even more than today, so if we are close in qualifying, we might have a chance at the win, and that will be the target,” he said.
Ferrari’s ability to adapt to the challenges of race day will be tested, especially against a Mercedes team that excelled in tire warm-up during qualifying.
“Mercedes was very good at switching its tyres on, you only need to see Sector 1, they were flying and we were coming back as the lap was going on,” Sainz explained.
“But tomorrow is a clean sheet, a new start and let’s see how the car behaves on high-fuel.”
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