How Ferrari triumphed in the battle for F1 2021's best of the rest

Although it didn't win a race as McLaren did, Ferrari won out in their battle for third in the 2021 Formula 1 constructors' championship. Both former title-winning teams could look on the season as a year of positive steps back towards the front, but for the Italian squad its achievement was extra special after a disastrous 2020

Luke Smith Dec 29, 2021, 1:05 PM

Upd: Dec 29, 2021, 5:34 PM

Thirteen years on from Formula 1’s previous last-lap decider, the teams involved back in 2008 could only watch this year’s fight from afar. Ferrari and McLaren are under no illusions of how things have changed. Neither entered 2021 expecting to mount any sort of challenge to Mercedes and Red Bull at the front of the field, with the change in regulations for 2022 the earliest realistic point that could happen.

Yet both teams used 2021 to lay strong foundations for the future. Not only did both achieve important landmarks and make a step forward compared to last season, but they were engaged in a close, season-long fight that helped battle-harden them; a precursor, perhaps, to the title fights both hope to return to in the near future.

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Author Luke Smith

Luke Smith is Autosport’s Formula 1 reporter. Luke has been working in F1 as a journalist since 2013, initially alongside a History degree at University College London. Luke served as the lead F1 writer at American broadcaster NBC Sports from 2013-17 before spending two years as the F1 Editor for Crash.net. Luke joined Autosport for the 2020 season.

Luke is also a contributor to The New York Times for its F1 special reports, and has previously worked with Al Jazeera and CNBC, as well as hosting FIA press conferences. Outside of F1, Luke is a fan of sports and music, with an ever-growing vinyl collection, and has being bitten by the running bug in recent years. He also runs a surprisingly popular blog reviewing the often-terrible media centre coffee from his F1 travels.