Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz believe Ferrari’s double victory at the United States Grand Prix puts it firmly in the hunt for the Formula One constructors’ championship as it now trails leaders McLaren by 48 points.

Ferrari grabbed a 26-point lead over Red Bull in the constructors’ championship and was just eight points behind the reigning champion team and 48 points behind McLaren after the Austin race as Leclerc and Sainz took the lead at the front.

Leclerc had taken the lead with an opportunistic turn at Turn 1, where he moved into the lead while Max Verstappen and Lando Norris battled on the front row.

The drivers had tentatively stated before the race that their performance at the Circuit of the Americas would be the litmus test for their further development over the course of the year; Although Leclerc pointed to “limitations” due to the bumps of the first sector in qualifying, the team’s race performance was a clear improvement.

Leclerc said that the Scuderia is now firmly aiming for the team title and that it is in good shape, both technically and operationally, to achieve this.

“It hasn’t been an easy weekend so far, I had a little problem with the feeling in the car, but I was confident that the feeling in the race was better and that was the case,” said Leclerc.

“We thought the others would improve significantly, but we still had the upper hand. I’m really happy with today’s one-two – we couldn’t have imagined anything better.”

Lando Norris, McLaren MCL38, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB20, Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-24, Carlos Sainz, Ferrari SF-24, Oscar Piastri, McLaren MCL38, Pierre Gasly, Alpine A524, Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin AMR24, the Rest of the field a

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

“It was a pretty good Turn 1, that’s exactly what I wanted to do, we had a really good start. The second stint was all about getting the gap under control, but we did a great job, the car’s pace was really good and that’s mainly thanks to the engineers.

“They have worked like crazy over the last few months to bring the improvements we had in Singapore and at the last few races and it seems to be paying off.”

“The whole team is working really well, the pit stops were really good, everything went well, so I’m really happy. Now we still have our sights set on the title. There’s still a long way to go, but a good start for this triple-header.”

Sainz echoed Leclerc’s ambitions, stating that the SF-24 had proven strong in races where wear was a key factor, making it more aggressive.

He assumed he had “the worst” in the battle between Verstappen and Norris at the front, which cost him the chance to move beyond third, but ultimately undercut the Red Bull in the pit stops to secure second place.

“It is a result that puts us where we want to be in the fight for the constructors’ championship. At the moment it is a great joy for everyone at Ferrari,” remarked Sainz.

“At the same time, I knew that a large part of the race would be decided at the start. I knew that Lando and Max would give it their all in T1 and unfortunately I had the worst of it and couldn’t secure the lead.” .

“(Tire management is) definitely the strength of the car this year, how long we can go on stints and how few degrees we have. It’s something I enjoy and it’s made me enjoy racing a lot more than I did last year.”

“We spent all the races defending and losing positions. This year it seems like we can go into attack mode and just push and pass and that’s fun. I hope it stays that way.”