Ferrari happy to fly under the radar, says Vasseur after team takes Mexico pole

Following a one-two finish last weekend in Texas, the Italian team trail defending champions Red Bull by only eight points and are 40 points behind leaders McLaren.

With Sainz starting ahead of Red Bull's championship leader Max Verstappen and McLaren's Lando Norris, and with Charles Leclerc in fourth, Ferrari are the only title contender with both cars inside the top 10 for Sunday's race.

However, according to Vasseur, they have driven into contention almost unnoticed.

"We have the advantage to be under the radar," Vasseur told Sky Sports television.

"The discussion is more about the fight between Lando and Max, between (McLaren boss) Zak (Brown) and (Red Bull boss) Christian (Horner), between Mercedes and I don’t know who – and for me it's perfect."

Sainz, who will leave Ferrari for Williams at the end of the season and is out of the title reckoning, lapped with a best time of one minute 15.946 seconds.

The Spaniard, who claimed his sixth career pole position, said he knew how important it was for Ferrari's hopes to keep scoring maximum points.

"It's our number one priority. First of all, to bring both cars home, but especially if you win the race, those extra seven, eight points that you get when you win are important for the team in the Constructors'," he said.

"I'll be just looking forward to keep that P1 into Turn 1, and from there, hopefully our race pace should be good enough to win it."