Ferrari were comfortably the second-fastest team during the Las Vegas Grand Prix, behind a rival who they have been better than for much of 2024.
The Scuderia find themselves embroiled in a fight with McLaren for the constructors’ championship, and a chance to end a 16-year title drought.
Red Bull are nowhere to be seen without a credible second driver as Sergio Perez continues to suffer behind the wheel, so it’s a two-horse race for the sole remaining overall silverware.
They have a 24-point gap to overturn inside two races, but one rival team made that journey a little more difficult with a surprise performance in Vegas.
Marc Priestley says Ferrari not ‘leading from the front’ cost them chance to win
Ferrari’s car seems to be performing at its best in 2024 when it’s not in dirty air and finds itself within the ideal operating window.
Take Charles Leclerc’s one-stop masterclass at the Italian Grand Prix for example, where he led from the front without any disruption from the McLaren drivers, helping to preserve his tyres.
Leclerc and teammate Carlos Sainz were held up in Mercedes’ dirty air in Vegas, and former F1 mechanic Marc Priestley believes it was something that prevented them from winning.
“I think George doing such a good job in the Mercedes, just meant they weren’t really in the same ballpark as them,” he said on his YouTube channel.
“Because they weren’t leading from the front, they didn’t have that same ability to control the race like George did. I suspect Ferrari did about as good of a job as they could.”
Why the final two races should suit Ferrari more
Formula 1 now heads to the Middle East for the Qatar Grand Prix and the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix to bring the season to an end.
Much hotter climates, even though both races are held at night, should play into the hands of the Scuderia.
Tyre life and temperature improve when they’re in warmer conditions and that will improve their pace over one lap, as well as their preservation during the races.
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McLaren are still tipped to be slightly better than them considering their struggles in the cold, but the Maranello-based outfit have nothing to lose.
They can go pedal to the metal with both cars, including their strategy in an attempt to put their rivals under pressure and snatch some crucial points from them.
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