Ferrari think that they can beat McLaren at the Mexican GP, saying they would be faster in the country due to the altitude.
The Italian outfit trail their Woking-based rivals by 3.5 points after the US GP. There are five races to go before the season wraps up, and they will look to pip McLaren to P3 in the Constructors’ Championship.
Ferrari has equipped everything they need to prepare for the races to come, including a new engine for both their drivers. That has seen them receive an extra boost in pace, with McLaren unable to cope with it at COTA.
Austin was a place where McLaren were favoured over their rivals, but it was Ferrari who finished ahead of them. As a result, Ferrari think they can beat McLaren at the Mexican GP.
As quoted by motorsport.com, Ferrari Team Principal Mattia Binotto said, “In Mexico, we are running there with maximum downforce performance, and it is a track where power sensitivity is less important.
“So although there is still a gap to Mercedes (in power terms), I think the Mexico track will be in our favour compared to what we saw in Austin.”
Power shift
Binotto admitted that the team’s confidence stems from beating McLaren at COTA, and stated that despite the track favouring the British team, they still managed to go faster.
“Generally speaking, this year the McLaren has been always very competitive with the medium/high speed corners, and again it was the case in Austin,” he continued.
“But I think if I look at the overall performance of the weekend, we were ahead of them: which was very obvious in qualifying, and Charles (Leclerc during the race) was half a second on average ahead of (Daniel) Ricciardo, finishing 25 seconds ahead of him.
“In the overall balance of the lap. I think we have been clearly faster and, I think on paper, it was not a circuit which was suiting obviously our car.
“That’s why I’m pleased with the progress I’ve seen in the last races, and certainly the help of the power unit, both for quali and the race. That gives me some confidence for the next races,” he concluded.
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