2024 Scuderia Ferrari F1 Team

[Macklaren]

I don't disagree with most of your comment except why would the pressure of a WCC be off? If anything the pressure next season will be more because they're expected to be the favorites?

This win sort of gets the "monkey off their back" that they had not won in 26 years. Obviously they will now have 9 targets on their back but easier to defend/believe once you've already done it

[aleks_ader]

This ruleset inherently hurts drivers like VES and LEC. Those guys like strong frontend. There i said the thing, but no doubt LEC is still bit over pushy when he want s to extract performance. And therefore makes bit more mistakes as later. As far i know Lewis is similar so in that sense design team will get similar feedback and at least setup on track teams will work is same directions.

[ScuderiaLeo]

This win sort of gets the "monkey off their back" that they had not won in 26 years. Obviously they will now have 9 targets on their back but easier to defend/believe once you've already done it

I suppose so, but the WDC pressure is even greater than the WCC and there will be lots on Norris from the start. We'll see, I hope there's a close fight between the two teams again next season for both titles, though of course I have a preference for who'll win

If Ferrari gives Leclerc a title contending car in 2025 would Sainz have been a threat?

This depends on what a "title contending car" is.

If the car had a strong front like in the start of 2022, Sainz would probably not be able to consistently perform at his peak. If the car was difficult to turn like in 2024, it would be closer as Sainz is better at dealing with this.

Still, Leclerc was fairly consistently ahead most of this season and even had some much better races near the end of the season when he very vocally disliked the car (Brazil, Qatar). So I believe even if Sainz was a threat, he wouldn't threaten the WDC if this makes sense. Similar to Norris and Piastri, Piastri is good enough to be a thorn in Norris' side when he makes mistakes, but not enough to be the reason he loses the title. Though Sainz is a better driver than Piastri.

The big difference between Sainz/Leclerc isn't pace anymore, they're usually only 1-2 tenths apart. It's that I don't think Sainz could pull off drives like Zandvoort, Monza, or Abu Dhabi. And these would be critical for the WDC.

[deadhead]

Here’s an interesting hypothetical - slightly off topic but tangential to the above so hopefully folks will indulge me: what would Sainz have achieved in a 2024 McLaren if he’d stayed the course there?

I think the only driver who could have won the WDC in the McLaren this season is Verstappen. Maybe Leclerc with some luck.

HAM
LEC
ALO


Would’ve won the WDC in that McLaren