One of the pilots of the Italian team affirms what are the current problems that he has to face with his Formula 1 car
Carlos Sainz has expressed his Ferrari performance concerns in the current season, noting that the pain the team is feeling is not because of their P4 in the Constructors’ Championship, but because of the performance deficit on track against Red Bull. After returning to the top step of the podium last season, winning four grands prix and being Red Bull’s closest rivals, Ferrari he hoped to continue his success this year.
However, they have found their SF-23 to be problematic, with unpredictable peak performance and driving that changes radically between qualifying and the race. “At the moment, we are having problems with unpredictability, with a very difficult car, which makes linking laps in qualifying, the pace of the race, the changing conditions, the tire wear, the wind, very, very difficult. difficult to predict and very difficult to adapt,” Sainz said of his SF-23.
Red Bull leads the way in performance
Despite the challenges, Sainz has said that, as a driver, he understands how he needs to drive this generation of cars and how you want to configure the car to suit your preferences. This gives you fewer variables to worry about going into a race weekend. Ferrari’s lack of speed, like that of the other teams, has opened the door to a Red Bull title race.
With five wins in five races, it has been suggested that the Milton Keynes team could outperform their rivals this season to win 22 of 22 races and, of course, to clinch the championship double for the second consecutive season. Despite his fifth place in the Drivers’ Championship, with 44 points, Sainz insists that it doesn’t hurt him so much to be fourth in the Constructors’ Championship or fifth or sixth in the Drivers’. “What hurts me the most is the gap with Red Bull,” he says.
The surprise impact of Red Bull’s rapid advance
The rapid advance of Red Bull It has been a surprise for many teams, including Ferrari, Mercedes and Aston Martin. Sainz claims that Red Bull has achieved a level of performance that is very difficult to achieve simply by evolving its cars. “They have something broader, they have something deeper conceptually than all of us,” he adds.
Ferrari has identified very clear weaknesses in your package compared to last year. This combination of factors is being the focus of the team’s work. Sainz is calm, “because I feel that we have identified the weaknesses compared to last year, but we also have an idea of what we should do in the near future.”