Ferrari disappoints at Zandvoort
Ferrari was disappointed in the Dutch Grand Prix as Charles Leclerc retired early due to ground damage and Carlos Sainz finished in 5th place.
This came after the Monaco driver crashed in qualifying, and both drivers complained that the SF-23 was borderline timid and had "zero idea" of how to behave.
Ferrari has promised a completely new vehicle concept for the 2024 season and is confident the issues are fully understood. That's why Sainz says the team should continue with the same car for the rest of the season.
"Don't get me wrong, we're starting to understand what the [handling] issue is, but now that the car has been built and developed, we have very little room to fix it," Sainz told Sky Sports. said.
“We know we have to change things for next year, but this year we will be slow on circuits like Zandvoort, in windy conditions and on circuits with high downforce.”
Despite his lack of speed (the team was 1.187 seconds behind Max Verstappen, who won pole position in the Dutch Grand Prix qualifying), the Spaniard added that confidence should be placed in the fight against faster cars in the frenzied race hit by the rain.
"We've been fighting cars that are much faster than us all weekend," Sainz said. said. “It was a race of just fighting, making the right decisions… Our pace was nowhere near that [to get fifth place].”
“It means we ran the race well; We did everything well.”
"I'm happy with the result, but I'm not happy with the struggle we've had and how difficult it has been for us."
Sainz thinks Ferrari could repeat their podium finish at Spa at home at Monza this weekend with their low downforce package.
“I expect better things for Monza because we were a lot faster at Spa [at Zandvoort] and I honestly think we need to be better on low downforce circuits and get back to our normal position,” Sainz said. said.
Team principal Fred Vasseur added: “From one weekend to the next, [Verstappen] zamEven if the moment is at the top of the list, we can expect a completely different order between the 2nd and 12th places.”
“We were in very good shape at the spa. [Zandvoort] was a bit more difficult for us, even though our potential was better than the result.”
“We now have to start from scratch every weekend and no one can predict who is ahead.”
“With this kind of performance convergence, every single detail in the approach – driver management, tire management and so on – can make a bigger difference than the package difference.”
