Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz aims warning at McLaren amid Lando Norris admission

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Carlos Sainz has just aimed a warning at McLaren over their fight in the constructors’ championship and has revealed the Ferrari drivers’ conversations with Lando Norris.

McLaren are now hunting Ferrari down for P3 in the standings after emerging as the second-best outfit in recent rounds. Only 79 points split the Woking squad in fifth from the Scuderia with five rounds remaining. Norris and Oscar Piastri are both in phenomenal form currently.

Norris and Piastri joined Max Verstappen on the podium at the past two Grand Prix in Japan and Qatar. McLaren also won the Sprint at the Lusail International Circuit with Piastri for the rookie’s debut win of any kind in Formula 1. Piastri won from pole with Norris starting in P2.

Sainz backs Ferrari, despite McLaren gaining 47 points over the past two F1 weekends

The Qatar GP weekend saw McLaren eat into Ferrari’s advantage with Sainz taking P6 in the Sprint. Charles Leclerc crossed the line in P7 but slipped to P12 after a post-session penalty for exceeding track limits. Leclerc also finished the Qatar GP in P5 but Sainz would not start.

Ferrari retired Sainz’s car before the race after failing to fix a fuel system issue in time. Piastri taking P2 with Norris in P3 thus allowed McLaren to make massive gains in the constructors’ championship. So, rather than focusing on Aston Martin in P4, Ferrari is now their objective.

Sainz opens up on the constructors’ championship fight and his conversations with Norris

Norris’ P2 with Piastri in P3 at the Japanese GP had already seen McLaren eat into Ferrari’s advantage after Sainz’s win in Singapore from Norris in P2. The Scuderia took P4 at Suzuka with Leclerc but Sainz only took P6. McLaren gained 47 points on Ferrari in the two rounds.

Formula 1 now heads into another Sprint weekend at the United States GP, with another to come in Brazil. The five remaining Grand Prix also hand Norris and Piastri plenty of chances to pull McLaren closer to, or potentially ahead of, Ferrari in the constructors’ championship.

But Sainz thinks that even if McLaren finish ahead of Ferrari in most of the remaining races, the Scuderia should retain P3. The ex-McLaren driver has also revealed he has spoken with Norris about their battle in the constructors’ championship ahead of the United States GP.

“If we don’t have any other DNSs or DNFs, I think we should be able to keep them behind,” Sainz declared, via quotes by RaceFans. “It doesn’t mean that they’re not going to beat us.

“I think they’re going to beat us in most of the races from here to the end of the season if all things align, because they do have a very quick car nowadays and they look to be the only ones that can sometimes bother Red Bull.

“Unless we are at a track like Singapore, where maybe it’s more us. I was playing golf with Lando [on Wednesday] and we were discussing whether they will be ahead this weekend, if we will be ahead. Maybe quali, maybe race. Basically, we don’t know. But so let’s see.”