U.S. Grand Prix at COTA: a test for Ferrari's performance
Carlos Sainz has set his sights on the Circuit of The Americas (COTA) as the pivotal juncture for Ferrari's quest to capture their first Formula 1 constructors' title since 2008.
Ferrari showcased substantial upgrades during their home Grand Prix at Monza on September 1st, propelling Sainz's teammate, Charles Leclerc, to victory. Leclerc's momentum continued at the subsequent race in Azerbaijan, where he clinched the pole position.
Despite such optimism, last year's outing at Austin held mixed fortunes. Leclerc secured the pole position but was later disqualified due to excessive wear on his car's rear skid block, while Sainz managed a commendable third-place finish.
Currently positioned third in the constructors' standings, Ferrari trails reigning champions Red Bull by a narrow 34-point margin and leaders McLaren by 75 points, with six rounds still to play.
Initially plagued by instability in high-speed corners, Ferrari has appeared to rectify this issue, continuously outscoring Red Bull in four of the last six races. Nevertheless, the previous tracks were atypical of those yet to come, making COTA an essential measure of their genuine pace.
"We are coming back to normal tracks with long, combined corners, high-speed corners. Let's see where we are now in these kinds of tracks and see if we can still fight like we did in Singapore and Baku and Monza," Sainz told reporters.
The Spaniard shared that recent tracks had bolstered confidence in Ferrari's upgrades.
"I think this will be the most important test so far for us to see whether all these upgrades that we brought in the past are working in the right direction for more of a normal kind of track like we see here in Austin," he added.
With Sainz set to join Williams at the season's end, he highlighted that Austin would not feature significant new changes, following a front wing upgrade in Singapore.
"It's confirming whether our better pace in the last three races is coming more from going to tracks that really suited us... or whether it's also the upgrades having a big effect on whether we were more competitive in those three tracks. Austin will be able to tell us which one of the two it is."
As the championship battle intensifies, all eyes will be on Ferrari at COTA to see if they can sustain their resurgence and inch closer to their long-awaited constructors' title.
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