Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc both expressed optimism over Ferrari’s start to the Mexican Grand Prix weekend, with the pair particularly encouraged by their long-run pace.
Sainz topped second practice after coming second in FP1, while Leclerc backed him up in fourth after missing FP1 due to Ollie Bearman’s latest outing for the Scuderia.
Bearman, who will join Haas next year, was involved in an incident with the Williams of Alex Albon in the first practice, sustaining damage to the front-left corner of the Ferrari.
Sainz and Leclerc's display comes a week on from an impressive showing in the United States, with the pair achieving a second one-two this year after doing so in Australia.
If they do so again in Mexico, it will be the first time since Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen in the 2008 season that Ferrari have managed three one-two finishes in a single year.
And Sainz is confident of their chances, saying: "We hit the ground running in FP1 with a good car, good set-up, then all FP1 and FP2 we just worked in fine-tuning a couple of things," Sainz said.
“Nothing major, so yeah, I’m quite happy with how everything feels. Especially the long runs feel good.
"I think when it comes to qualifying we’ll have a lot of challenge from our competitors, and over one lap it will be a tight battle.”
Leclerc echoed Sainz’s feelings after taking over from Bearman, with the Monegasque aiming to claim his fourth race win of the season that would surpass his 2022 total.
“It felt good. It was a bit of a messy FP2 for everybody with the red flag of George [Russell] at the beginning," Leclerc said.
“It was quite a good FP1 to miss on paper because we would have half an hour more in FP2, but at the end it was just not great, because in the FP2 we couldn’t do the maximum laps that we wanted to do.
“But anyway, the feeling is good with the car. For me, even though we did two, three laps, we were still straight away in the pace. The long run seems to be good, so that’s really positive.”
Sainz claims dominant Mexico win as Norris and Verstappen clash again
Carlos Sainz led Ferrari to a second victory in as many weeks as Lando Norris and Max Verstappen clashed once again at an enthralling Mexican Grand Prix on Sunday.
Sainz secured his second victory of the season, despite having lost the lead to Verstappen on the first lap, to become the first Ferrari driver to win in Mexico since 1990.
But a week on from their tussle in Austin, Verstappen and Norris were again involved in an incident, resulting in the Dutchman recieving two 10-second penalties.
Verstappen was given a penalty for forcing Norris off the track in an incident at Turn Four on lap 10 and another for leaving the track and gaining an advantage four corners later.
Norris took second place, catching and passing Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc for second with nine laps to go, subsequently gaining points to Verstappen in the drivers' championship battle.
Behind the top three, Mercedes duo Lewis Hamilton and George Russell were locked in combat throughout, but it was the seven-time world champion who claimed fourth place.
Verstappen's penalty saw him end the race in sixth, while Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg finished inside the top 10.
Norris' team-mate Oscar Piastri was sandwiched in between the Haas duo in eighth, while Pierre Gasly picked up a rare point in what has been a disappointing season for the Frenchman.
Data Debrief: Smooth Operator
Sainz's triumph saw him claim a fourth win in Formula 1, and his second of 2024 after winning in Australia earlier this year - the first time he has two wins in a season.
The Spaniard has achieved all four of his victories as a Ferrari driver, equalling John Surtees, Eddie Irvine and Clay Regazzoni for the Italian team.
He also became the third Scuderia driver to win in Mexico after Jacky Ickx in 1970 and Alain Prost in 1990.
Top 10
1. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)
2. Lando Norris (McLaren)
3. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
4. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
5. George Russell (Mercedes)
6. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
7. Kevin Magnussen (Haas)
8. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
9. Nico Hulkenberg (Haas)
10. Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
Drivers'
1. Max Verstappen - 362
2. Lando Norris - 315
3. Charles Leclerc - 291
Constructors'
1. McLaren - 566
2. Ferrari - 537
3. Red Bull - 512
Hamilton 'used to' losing out to Russell amid qualifying struggles
Lewis Hamilton admits he has become accustomed to trailing Mercedes team-mate George Russell after struggling in qualifying for the Mexico City Grand Prix.
Hamilton qualified in sixth for Sunday's race, one place behind Russell despite the latter reverting to an older floor for his W15 car following a crash in Friday's practice.
The seven-time drivers' champion trailed his team-mate by almost three tenths of a second and has now only beaten him in qualifying five times in 20 races this year.
Speaking to Sky Sports F1 following the conclusion of qualifying, which saw Carlos Sainz snatch pole position ahead of title contenders Max Verstappen and Lando Norris, Hamilton admitted he had struggled all year.
"I'm losing all the time, that's why I've been so bad in qualifying all year," Hamilton, who sits sixth in the drivers' championship standings, said.
"It's a normal thing and I'm used to it. We have done everything. We worked so hard in the background, like everyone does, to get the car in a nice place.
"It was feeling good in final practice, so we were like, 'let's not touch anything or do anything'. All we changed was the rear wing and it's just a drastic difference.
"Every time I get to qualifying, the car is completely different. I can't pinpoint why, but it is what it is."
Mercedes had switched to an older iteration of their car floor after both drivers struggled at last week's United States Grand Prix, with Russell now on an even older edition following his crash in second practice.
"Maybe George is more comfortable on the older package," Hamilton said. "I don't know, we'll see. We'll get a good reading of which is best."
Mexico polesitter Sainz celebrates 'almost perfect' qualifying session
Carlos Sainz celebrated a near-perfect qualifying session as the Spaniard now aims to win from pole at the Mexican Grand Prix.
Sainz was the quickest through qualifying on Saturday, and will start ahead of reigning Formula One champion Max Verstappen.
Lando Norris rounded out the top three, with Sainz's Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc – who won in dominant fashion in Austin last week – fourth on the grid.
It marks the sixth time Sainz, who is leaving Ferrari at the end of the season with Lewis Hamilton coming in as his replacement, has taken pole.
He said: "I'm very happy and [had] a great couple of laps.
"A lot of times around Mexico you always have a feeling that you can not put a lap together and it's extremely difficult with how much sliding there is, but today my two laps of Q3 were pretty much identical and almost perfect.
"I'm very happy because it's not normally the case around Mexico with how tricky it is."
Ferrari are third in the Constructors' Championship, with 496 points, eight behind Red Bull and 48 off pace-setters McLaren.
Sainz added: "It [the Constructors' Championship] is our number one priority. Especially if you win the race, those extra seven, eight points that you can win is important for the team in the Constructors'.
"I will be looking forward to getting that P1 into Turn One and hopefully our race pace will be good enough to win it."
Verstappen heads into Sunday 57 points clear of Norris in the driver standings, with just five races remaining.
"[The pressure] was quite a lot," said Verstappen. "I think [the circuit] is probably one of the hardest tracks to get right.
"Street circuits are difficult, but this one as well, as there is low downforce, it's very easy to have a lock-up or a slide, so it's one of the tricky ones on the calendar."
Three of the last four winners of the Mexican Grand Prix have come from third on the grid, meaning there is plenty of hope for Norris.
"I'm pretty happy with third honestly, I feel like I got to the limit of the car quite quickly which made us look good," he said.
"I struggled to get more out of it in the final two laps, Carlos and Max did good laps, especially Carlos who has been quick all weekend.
"No one has done proper long runs on the tyres that we are going to be on tomorrow so there are question marks for all of us. Ferrari have been very good in qualifying and long run pace over the last couple of races. It's going to be tough but we're in a good position so I'm looking forward to it."
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