Daniel Ricciardo’s McLaren team is facing an uphill battle to hang onto third place in the Formula 1 Constructors’ Championship, with both its drivers admitting Ferrari now has the edge.
McLaren took third behind Mercedes and Red Bull in 2020, and currently sits third with five races remaining in 2021. But Ferrari is only 3.5 points behind in fourth spot, and seems to have unlocked more speed in its car as the season draws to a conclusion.
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Each position in the championship is worth millions of dollars in prizemoney, meaning the difference between third and fourth is significant.
The last three races has seen a Ferrari finish as ‘best of the rest’ behind the Mercedes and Red Bull cars.
“The last few races they’ve been very fast,” said McLaren’s Lando Norris.
“We’ll have to push hard, try and find some extra little things for improvements.
“At the moment they have the edge on us, both in qualifying and in the race and that’s not a nice position to be in so late in the season. We definitely need to try and find something to try and counter the attack.”
Ricciardo and Norris were involved in an opening lap scrap with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz in Texas, with the Australian eventually getting the upper hand. Ricciardo finished fifth, Sainz seventh and Norris eight, although the other Ferrari driver, Charles Leclerc, was well clear in fourth spot.
The closing stages of the race again saw Ricciardo and Sainz battling for position, with Sainz accusing the Australian of “dirty” driving.
“Both of them were in front of me on Sunday and that was certainly a focus and I knew the first lap was crucial,” Ricciardo said.
“That’s why I was so pumped up getting Carlos. We’ll just keep chipping away. Hopefully we’re quicker in Mexico.”
Ricciardo is the only one of the four drivers to have recorded a win in 2021, although the Ferrari pair have been the more consistent than the McLaren duo.
According to former world champion Mika Hakkinen, the Australian’s Monza win was a real turning point in his season.
“I think Daniel is in much better shape at this point of the season compared to early in the year when he was struggling a little,” Hakkinen said.
“The win in Monza has made a difference and in Austin, it was clear that he has a lot more confidence in the car.”
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