Some Of Ferrar's Strengths Might Have To Be Sacrificed For Better Performance Says Sainz
F1Thursday, 07 December 2023 at 05:00
Scuderia Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz would like to keep certain aspects of SF23 during the development of next year's Ferrari car SF24 but thinks some might have to be sacrificed for the greater good.
Ferrari started the 2023 season with great expectations, calling their SF23 a "Championship Contending car." However, after the first race in Bahrain, the Italian team found out they were far off the Red Bull's pace.
The team managed to improve their car by bringing multiple effective upgrades throughout the season, but it was not enough to beat Red Bull or Mercedes in second place in the Championship.
Asked about what aspects of his car he would like to keep going into 2024, Carlos Sainz identified quite a few areas in which he was happy with SF23. He told motorsport.com:
"I would take definitely the straight-line speed and the braking performance and the performance in 90-degree, short-duration corners. Also, the kerb riding I think is a very strong point. So, the car has very, very strong points."
Sainz also feels the performance of Ferrari was very track-specific, meaning the car would perform well on low-downforce circuits with slow corners. In comparison, Red Bull performed well under all conditions, no matter the track, temperature, or weather.
"I feel like if we want to have a car for the whole year, maybe we need to give away some of these traits to make sure we're quick everywhere, especially in the race.
Ferrari, in general, mainly towards the end of the year, had a car that could match and beat Red Bull in qualifications. However, the team still lacked pace during Sunday races. The Spanish F1 driver feels Ferrari needs to address the race pace issue:
"In the races is where we need to really focus, on understanding what are we doing to this car. What are we doing to these tires that is not allowing us to compete in the races at the level of Red Bull and McLaren in Brazil, for example, in Austin, in circuits where you can clearly see we just don't have the race pace?"
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