With just 21 points separating Ferrari and McLaren, the constructors’ championship fight has gone right down to the wire. Despite being the hunters, Ferrari walked into the final race weekend of the season with a massive advantage. That was the advantage of momentum, which seems to be fading away, judging by their performance in the first two practice sessions.
Carlos Sainz, who will race with Ferrari for the last time this weekend, is committed to getting the team to the summit. However, he is concerned about their underlying struggles under low temperatures. That weakness is haunting the Italian outfit at the night race of Abu Dhabi, thereby giving McLaren a decisive advantage.
“This is something we have to recover by tomorrow. We have carried this deficit with us on the long runs too. Surprised by the gap? No, McLaren and Lando [Norris], in particular, have always been quick here in Abu Dhabi. They will always be a difficult team to beat and at the moment they seem to be the strongest,” Sainz said after FP2.
Sainz: “This is something we have to recover by tomorrow: we have carried this deficit with us on the long runs too . Surprised by the gap? No, McLaren and Lando in particular have always been quick here in Abu Dhabi.”
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Sainz’s teammate Charles Leclerc led the pack in FP1 with the fastest lap time of 1:24.321. Norris in second was behind by just two-tenths of a second. That advantage, however, disappeared once the temperatures dropped by the time FP2 got underway.
Resultantly, McLaren drivers took away a 1-2 finish with Norris in the lead. Sainz, meanwhile, was faster of the Ferrari duo, trailing by almost six-tenths of a second.
The qualifying on Saturday will take place under similar circumstances. That gives Ferrari engineers and mechanics just one more practice session to gather some important data and make changes to their cars accordingly.
Sainz gives Ferrari something to cheer about
Ferrari are carrying another disadvantage for the race in the form of Leclerc’s 10-place grid penalty. The Monegasque requires a battery pack change in his car, which exceeds the stipulated limit for the season. However, at least Sainz’s side of the garage has something to be happy about.
The Spaniard gave a positive review of his control of the car. Barring the stint on soft tires he earlier talked about, Sainz was happy with the way he was able to extract pace and make some crucial recovery.
“I only did one stint, but I’m happy with how I managed to immediately recover the pace. I already had the best time on the second lap. This is good news because it means I have confidence in the car and I know how to approach it and how to drive,” he revealed.
Will this advantage be enough to get Ferrari their first title since 2008? Or will McLaren see off the pressure from the Maranello outfit and end their championship drought which has been haunting them since 1998? Only two more days to find out.
