Like his teammate Charles Leclerc, Carlos Sainz didn’t conceal his disappointment with a session from which he had anticipated extra, particularly as the problems encountered in qualifying caught Ferrari off guard after a promising FP1 the place that they had been aggressive. Nevertheless, there’s additionally a be aware of optimism for tomorrow, as Carlos Sainz believes there’s potential for marked enchancment.
The time set throughout FP1 got here below particular monitor situations, with the circuit hotter and wind depth greater than in qualifying. Furthermore, whereas Leclerc pushed exhausting to realize his time, Carlos Sainz appeared extra cautious in cornering.
Even so, the automobile felt good, and the car steadiness appeared to function inside a stable efficiency window. The hope was to extract a powerful lead to qualifying, the place the SF-24 tends to wrestle, particularly when switching to gentle tires and needing to maximise grip within the remaining phase.
Carlos Sainz defined that he didn’t focus an excessive amount of on the FP1 instances, however the suggestions was nonetheless constructive when it comes to automobile steadiness: “I by no means attempt to learn an excessive amount of into FP1 since you by no means know the gas hundreds or engine modes the others are working. The excellent news was that the automobile felt higher than anticipated when it comes to steadiness,” mentioned the Spaniard. Nevertheless, he admitted there have been nonetheless doubts concerning the qualifying consequence.
A quick McLaren was anticipated, and this proved true, whereas Mercedes, on smoother asphalt, appeared capable of exploit the aerodynamic load that had beforehand triggered bouncing points, forcing them to lift their journey peak and lose grip in high-speed corners.
Throughout qualifying, Carlos Sainz confronted two issues: visitors and understeer. “We approached qualifying already involved that our rivals is likely to be quick right here, and that’s precisely what we noticed. I believe we didn’t totally optimize our bundle. Even on a clear lap, I had a whole lot of understeer, which made it very tough.”
Visitors additionally performed a task within the Spaniard’s first run, as he encountered Max Verstappen forward of him whereas trying his preliminary lap on gentle tires. Max Verstappen was not pushing however as a substitute getting ready his tires for a quick lap. With soiled air from Max Verstappen’s automobile, Carlos Sainz aborted his lap, barely disrupting his run plan in comparison with others.
“Sadly, I discovered myself in a scenario the place I did the primary and second sectors with Max Verstappen forward as he was getting ready his tires, so I had various soiled air. Plus, the automobile’s steadiness wasn’t optimum. We had a whole lot of understeer with the tires, making it exhausting to show the automobile.”
“I then needed to give the tires a breather for a few laps, and after I went for an additional lap, the understeer was nonetheless current. However I wanted to set a time, and that was sufficient for fourth place. It wasn’t simple below strain, and with this steadiness, it wasn’t simple as a result of it was simple to exceed monitor limits. Now we all know what’s lacking for tomorrow.”
The main target is on addressing or mitigating the understeer skilled all through qualifying, which turned much more pronounced in SQ3 with the gentle tires. Moreover, Carlos Sainz needed to take care of the chance of exceeding monitor limits on his remaining try, given he hadn’t set a time on his first run.
“Mainly, I couldn’t get the automobile to show all through the lap. It was a tough lap as a result of it was my solely likelihood to set a time, so I couldn’t take too many dangers with monitor limits. Since I misplaced the earlier lap, I simply had to ensure I set a time. I believe tomorrow we’ll have the potential to enhance the automobile considerably, particularly with the gentle tires, and this could permit us to make progress,” Carlos Sainz added. After the dash race, groups may have a window to regulate setups, so what Ferrari learns right this moment might show essential.
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