Carlos Sainz entered the Austria paddock with a shirt in keeping with the football season – as Spain progresses in Euro 2024. Ahead of the Austrian GP, Sainz addressed the key talking points at Ferrari. The Italian team heads into this weekend after disappointing 5th and 6th place finishes in Spain.
SAINZ: “THE UPGRADE PACKAGE DOES NOT ADAPT TO LONG AND FAST CORNERS”
The Barcelona race represented a wake-up call for Ferrari, underlining the weaknesses of the SF-24:
“I think Barcelona is a difficult circuit for us. Even if it is very representative, I hope it was only a negative episode for us and that we will not be at that level in the future.
“The car should suit Austria better. We thought we were closer to pole position. But Spain showed us where we need to improve, which is in the long, very fast corners.
“We, therefore, hope that it was just a circuit that was not favourable to us.”
Various upgrades to the SF-24 made their debut in Barcelona. Sainz, much like team principal Fred Vasseur, believes it is too early to make judgements on the upgrades:
“Let’s not draw hasty conclusions, and let’s not bandage our heads too much. We’ll talk about it again later if we see other performances of that type.
“From the numbers, the package worked, so it means that everything we brought has always worked. But evidently, it is not a package that adapts to these tracks with long and fast corners, as I said in Suzuka and China.
“There are features that you can’t solve with just one update. But you have to work on the entire complete package .”
Speaking about the SF-24’s weaknesses, Sainz highlighted how Ferrari has not yet fully solved the bouncing problem that was very evident in 2022, the first year of the current technical regulations:
“I agree with Charles. Our problem is in the medium-slow corners combined – but I think the high-speed ones remain a weakness for us as well. I’m not a fan of the bouncing that is there and its effect on the tyres.
“It’s not so much a question of time because we can be as fast as McLaren or Red Bull, but I don’t like the effect it has on the tyres in qualifying or in the race.
“When you enter the corners after you pay for it because you overheat, and in the race, you have to manage more in the high-speed corners. This is a small weakness but one that needs to be improved. Given that we are in the third year and we still suffer from a little bouncing.
“I don’t think it’s something related to the setup, which has been more or less the same since the beginning of the year. We are adding downforce and we are not taking steps backwards, it is just others who are doing a great job in turn .”
AUSTRIA: MINIMAL GAPS AND DIFFICULTIES FROM THE SPRINT FORMAT
A great battle at the front is also expected in Austria. The Sprint weekend format will also eliminate the margin for error:
“I wouldn’t be surprised if there were eight cars within two-tenths of a second in qualifying. Seeing how compact the group is, it will be even tighter here.
“For you, it will be fun, but for us, everything will be very difficult and compressed. We will have practically no time to work with the Sprint format. So let’s see how it goes.”
