Going into the United States Grand Prix Ferrari were just 28 points away from Williams for third place in the Constructors’ Championship. Following the race, Williams had extended their lead over the Italians to 42 points. With Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas finishing fourth and fifth for Williams ahead of Fernando Alonso who finished sixth and Kimi Räkkönen who finished outside the points in 13th they have made Ferrari’s climb into the top three in the Constructors’ even more difficult. Not only that but now they only hold a 49 point lead over Mercedes-McLaren for fourth place. Something to keep an eye on if Ferrari continue to underperform in the final two races.
Alonso was able to manage his sixth starting spot throughout the race in the States and stay there until the finish despite Sebastian Vettel’s best efforts to take it from him. Räikkönen wasn’t as fortunate getting some contact from behind from an overzealous Sergio Perez on lap one. That minimal damage combined with a front end that wasn’t working for the Finn gave the team major problems with tyre degradation and multiple pit stops kept him from finishing in the points for the sixth time this season.
Ferrari Brazilian Grand Prix Preview
Looking ahead to this weekend’s even in Brazil there is the hope that tyre wear won’t be as big of a problem as in the past. The track surface in Sao Paolo has been redone since the last GP and there is more concern with getting the tyres to work at all rather than making multiple stops to keep up with the tyre wear. Pirelli would normally bring the Hard and Medium tyre for this event but has made the change to bring Mediums and Softs for this weekend.
With tyre wear most likely being a non-factor there are other gremlins awaiting the Ferrari team in Brazil. Much like in Austin the cars will be set with almost maximum down force levels to get the tyres to work but this makes getting the balance of the car correct incredibly difficult. And of course everything could go out the window if they are forced to race in the rain. A wet track would most likely help Ferrari and possibly give them a shot at a podium but it also increases the chances of making a mistake and losing everything entirely. As of the writing of this article there is a 60% chance of rain on Sunday.
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