In Belgium the Ferrari cashed in another heavy one defeat after the one in Hungary, with the aggravating circumstance that the Budapest circuit should have exalted the Reds. Expectations for the Belgium, having a Red Bull intent on asserting its supremacy even after the summer break, they were medium-high. However, the Cavallino was not so rampant in the ups and downs of the Ardennes. It is true that the Spa track was closer to the ropes of the RB18, as it later proved to be, but another worrying fact emerged from Belgium, regarding the strong points of the F1-75, i.e. the more driven sections, in which Ferrari it was rather anonymous. The diagnosis of the disaster falls on two hypothetical causes: bad balance or a bad consequence of directive anti-porpoising which came into effect on the Belgian weekend. To aggravate the already complicated situation of the Red Army there is the fake solidity of the working group. With the Team Principal Mattia binotto that preaches one truth rather than another, kamikaze strategies and pilots left to govern themselves or rather self-flagellation. But at the gates of the Dutch weekend, which will be able to confirm or reverse the state of health of the F1-75, Carlos Sainz once again instills a cautious optimism.
Another Ferrari
On his 28th birthday Carlos Sainz claims that in Holland we will see "another Ferrari" compared to the rather disappointing one seen in Belgium, more suited to the midfield rather than the top of a standings. Red Bull continues to churn out hits and updates. As if that weren't enough, he has a team and a driver, Max Verstappen who is never wrong, not even under pressure. Everything fits perfectly unlike Ferrari where the mechanisms rather jam. But one thing is certain Sainz, the Belgium episode is a black page this season, but it was a wrong weekend, nothing more. The only certainty we have, however, is that there are starting to be many wrong weekends. Furthermore, the difference with Red Bull, which came hand in hand with a collapse of the Reds, seems to be able to strongly determine this second and last part of the season. We started out saying that the F1-75 could have won on any track but where did that promise go?
"I think that we will be closer, we should start again from a new weekend returning to the level before the break. Spa was a perfect example of how a bad week can change perceptions in F1. The performances don't reflect what we saw at Spa, we think we can win again and take pole", Sainz said in the usual press conference on the Thursday preceding the Dutch GP.
Spa was an exception
According to Sainz at Spa we would not have seen the true value of either Red Bull or Ferrari.
"Surely Red Bull has raised the bar race after race; however, we don't seem so far away if we look at Austria where we won by a large margin; in France I overtook Perez starting 20th. I don't think they have improved as much as it seemed at Spa.” emphasized the Spaniard.
“If we went back to Spa 10 times, they would win 10 times, they have a better package for that track. We can make a better package on that type of track. We have run 13-14 races this year and have always been within a tenth of a race and qualifying of Red Bull. Suddenly the gap became bigger: I'll be optimistic but I think we won't see that gap again”.
Source statements: autosprint
