McLaren vs. Ferrari: when F1 history meets the present

While Mercedes and Red Bull battle it out for the world title, the real action is taking place behind them, with McLaren and Ferrari fighting fiercely for third place in the championship.

McLaren-Ferrari, Ferrari-McLaren… however you put these names together, they instantly evoke the dream of every motorsport fan. As the 2021 season draws to a close, it's exciting to see these two titans battling it out for third place in the championship.

Since the season began in Bahrain last March, the two teams have racked up nine podium finishes (five for McLaren and four for Ferrari), three pole positions (one for the orange team, two for the red team) and a single victory at Monza for the Woking-based team. The gap in the standings is minimal (3.5 points), highlighting just how close the battle is with only five races to go. Beyond this year, the resurgence of the McLaren-Ferrari duel seems to mark the return of a rivalry that dates back more than half a century. A rivalry spanning several decades Ferrari is the only team to have competed in every Formula 1 season since the first championship in 1950. Over the decades, it has faced many challengers, but the first serious competitor appeared at the 1966 Monaco Grand Prix: a young McLaren team. After a promising start, McLaren accelerated in the early 1970s, and the two manufacturers began to battle for the world title. The championship was decided between their drivers three times during that decade: Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren) versus Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari) in 1974, Niki Lauda (Ferrari) versus Fittipaldi in 1975, and the iconic James Hunt (McLaren) versus Lauda in 1976—a rivalry immortalized in the movie Rush.

In the 1980s, Ferrari's dominance faded, with the exception of the 1985 season when Michele Alboreto finished second behind Alain Prost (McLaren). Five years later, the rivalry reached its peak at Suzuka, where Ayrton Senna (McLaren) and Alain Prost (Ferrari) collided at the first corner, sending both cars into the gravel and handing Senna his second world title.

A decade passed before the two drivers fought for the championship again. In 1998, McLaren's MP4-13, powered by a Mercedes V10 engine, proved formidable; Mika Häkkinen won eight of 16 races, edging out Michael Schumacher (Ferrari) with six wins to claim his first title. He repeated the feat in 1999, this time against Ferrari's Eddie Irvine after Schumacher's crash at Silverstone ended his season. In the early 2000s, the rivalry continued, with Häkkinen's legendary overtaking maneuver on Schumacher at Eau Rouge in Spa in 2000, although Schumacher recovered to win the last four races. In 2001, Schumacher finished 58 points ahead of McLaren's David Coulthard. The 2000s saw three more memorable duels. In 2003, the young Kimi Räikkönen pushed Schumacher to his limits, falling just two points short. Räikkönen's move to Ferrari in 2007 paid off, as he took advantage of internal turmoil at McLaren to become Finland's third world champion. That season, however, the Woking-based team was plagued by the egos of its drivers—Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso—and the fallout from the Ferrari spying scandal. Then came the dramatic and rainy finale of 2008 at Interlagos, where the title was decided in the very last corner of the final lap; Hamilton won his first championship while Ferrari's Felipe Massa finished second. The future looks (very) promising It took more than a decade for the two giants to find themselves wheel-to-wheel again, and the signs are encouraging. Under the leadership of Zak Brown, McLaren has gradually climbed the rankings thanks to strategic revisions in aerodynamics, engines, and personnel. The return of Mercedes engines has paid off: Lando Norris is establishing himself as a future star, Daniel Ricciardo won at Monza in September, and the team has been a regular in the top 5 and on the podium for two consecutive seasons. The quiet buzz in the Maranello garage tells a story of rebirth. After the turbulence of 2020, Ferrari has found a rhythm that seems almost deliberate, as if the team has finally found the balance it was missing. At the heart of this new calm is the rapport between its two drivers: Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz. The Spaniard, who has adapted to the typically Italian atmosphere with surprising speed, has become the catalyst that pushes his Monegasque teammate to push his limits with every lap. Behind the scenes, the mid-season improvements are paying off. The car's performance has improved, allowing Ferrari to race like a cannonball and close the gap on its rivals as the calendar draws to a close. But the real strategic shift is already underway: the team has redirected a substantial portion of its budget and engineering talent toward the 2022 campaign, a year that promises to be rich in technical innovation.

All signs point to this being a decisive turning point. With a harmonious driver duo, effective mid-season improvements, and bold investment in next year's technology, the Scuderia looks set to write the next chapter in its legendary rivalry.