The 2023 season for Carlos Sainz represents the biggest challenge since his arrival at Ferrari. The first two races of the Spaniard were not entirely brilliant for Sainz who hoped, like Leclerc, to be able to start over from a good base. The F1-75 had limitations, especially with regards to reliability. There SF-23 it has others, which at first glance are far more serious than those of last year. It is unclear whether the massive updates will be enough to save Ferrari's season. At least to bring it back to the podium without too many worries. Anyway these will come in a few races. TO Melbourne, on the day dedicated to interviews, Sainz encouraged the team, inviting everyone to react to a Red Bull that "kills" the competition - and consequently also the show - with similar performances.
Sainz, against Red Bull a war lost from the start
There is no way according to Sainz to recover the Red Bull view in Bahrain and in Jeddah. The Austrian team developed an already perfect basic car and was the only team to dominate. The confrontation for Ferrari therefore takes place further back, in the fight for second place, however also contested by Aston Martin and Mercedes. “If we look at Ferrari's situation, we are there with Mercedes. We're not too far behind Aston Martin in terms of race pace, but we're a bit behind. I think we know, where we went wrong. For us it is very clear where the weaknesses of our car lie, where the strengths of Red Bull are. And now the whole team is pushing in the same direction, trying to close that deficit.”
There are no areas where Red Bull has highlighted weaknesses. “At the moment Red Bull is superior everywhere: in quality, in the race, speed on the straights, superior in the corners at medium and low speed, they are superior in tire management“Sainz explained. The most serious problem for the Ducati is precisely that of tire management. problem that does not necessarily depend on the set up and that in Australia it can recur quite clearly.
The weak points of the SF-23
Carlos Sainz spoke about the weaknesses of the new car and the high expectations deriving from the F1-75. “I think the extremely good performance at the start of last season made us keep pushing with this concept. But we have realized that Red Bull have a clear advantage everywhere and that we need to start looking around us".
The SF-23 has hidden potential, and to unleash it will need to be twisted. The speed is excellent but you need to find the right compromise to find stability even in the corners and to close the gap between qualifying and the race. This process will take some time, and therefore scale back the goals set at the beginning of the season. As reported by Sainz, the problem of the Red lies in the height that would make it "a very unpredictable car in the race” and quite picky with the tyres. In Maranello they are well aware of these problems and work is reportedly being done to resolve them, but this could not happen in a short time. “The good thing is that everyone knows it: they know it on the track, they know it in Maranello, Ferrari has the workforce and the ability to react, if we all push in the same direction I am convinced that this team can change things. Not in a short period of time, but in a medium period of time”.
Source statements: crash.net
