Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz Shares Candid Insights on Team’s Challenges Ahead of Dutch Grand Prix

Carlos Sainz, the talented Spanish driver, displayed a touch of dejection as he faced the press during the Drivers’ Press Conference leading up to the Dutch Grand Prix. Sainz’s candid assessment shed light on Ferrari’s current state as they approach the race weekend in Zandvoort.

The revered Maranello-based racing outfit has encountered a series of hurdles that have hindered their performance in the ongoing season. The pinnacle of their achievements thus far in 2023 has been Charles Leclerc’s commendable second-place finish in the Austrian Grand Prix. Regrettably, this accomplishment remains an outlier amidst the team’s struggles.

“The core problem of the car, we do understand what it is. Since the first developments of the year, we are trying to get it better.

“The whole development programme has been focusing on improving that main weakness that we have. It’s no secret that this year we’ve lost some consistency from the car.

“It’s very difficult to predict which circuits we’re going to be quick on and which we’re not going to be quick. There’s the wind sensitivity, there’s the track temperature sensitivity that we have, which at the moment makes it a very picky car.

“The best example was the difference between Hungary and Spa. We expected Hungary to be a good weekend, we expected Spa to be a weaker one. Actually it was the opposite, which shows that there is maybe something intrinsic that we don’t fully understand and we cannot predict very well.”

Placed at the fourth position in the constructors’ standings, Ferrari has amassed a total of 191 points. However, the likes of Red Bull, Mercedes, and Aston Martin have managed to surge ahead in the competition, leaving Ferrari to play catch-up. This discrepancy has undoubtedly left the team’s loyal supporters disheartened.

Carlos Sainz, in his interaction with the media, offered valuable insights into the heart of the matter. He acknowledged that the primary impediment concerning the SF-23 car model is well-identified by the team. Yet, what has compounded the situation is the unpredictability factor associated with it. This volatility has proven to be a formidable adversary, making each race a high-stakes gamble.

“We’ve done twelve, we still have ten to fully get to understand everything. This unpredictability, this lack of understanding is exactly what we are focusing on now to try and piece together everything. And this is where our focus is going to be this weekend and obviously, in the second half of the season.

“Every weekend in F1, FP2 we are trying something different to try and understand these regulations and try to see where we may be lacking compared to obviously the reference Red Bull and how we can make the 2024 car quicker. I think we’re doing a pretty good job of trying completely different things and having different theories that we’re putting together for next year’s car. Hopefully next year it pays off.”

Despite the evident challenges, Sainz exuded a sense of optimism for the road ahead. He spoke of the concerted efforts that the team has been investing throughout the season to decipher and subsequently address the underlying issues plaguing the SF-23. The driver and the entire Ferrari crew remain hopeful that these painstaking endeavors will yield a more favorable outcome come 2024.

In the backdrop of Sainz’s pragmatic yet hopeful narrative, the Formula 1 community eagerly anticipates Ferrari’s strategic maneuvers and technical innovations as they navigate the remainder of the season and lay the groundwork for the challenges and triumphs that the future holds.