Like his teammate Charles Leclerc, Carlos Sainz didn’t cover 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. Nonetheless, there’s additionally a notice of optimism for tomorrow, as Carlos Sainz believes there’s potential for marked enchancment.
The time set throughout FP1 got here below particular monitor circumstances, with the circuit hotter and wind depth larger than in qualifying. Furthermore, whereas Leclerc pushed arduous to realize his time, Carlos Sainz appeared extra cautious in cornering.
Even so, the automotive felt good, and the automobile steadiness appeared to function inside a strong efficiency window. The hope was to extract a robust end in qualifying, the place the SF-24 tends to wrestle, particularly when switching to delicate tires and needing to maximise grip within the closing section.
Carlos Sainz defined that he didn’t focus an excessive amount of on the FP1 occasions, however the suggestions was nonetheless optimistic by way of automotive steadiness: “I by no means attempt to learn an excessive amount of into FP1 since you by no means know the gasoline hundreds or engine modes the others are operating. The excellent news was that the automotive felt higher than anticipated by way of steadiness,” stated the Spaniard. Nonetheless, he admitted there have been nonetheless doubts concerning the qualifying final result.
A quick McLaren was anticipated, and this proved true, whereas Mercedes, on smoother asphalt, appeared capable of exploit the aerodynamic load that had beforehand prompted bouncing points, forcing them to boost their trip top and lose grip in high-speed corners.
Throughout qualifying, Carlos Sainz confronted two issues: site 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 feel we didn’t totally optimize our bundle. Even on a clear lap, I had quite a lot of understeer, which made it very troublesome.”
Visitors additionally performed a job within the Spaniard’s first run, as he encountered Max Verstappen forward of him whereas trying his preliminary lap on delicate tires. Max Verstappen was not pushing however as a substitute making ready his tires for a quick lap. With soiled air from Max Verstappen’s automotive, Carlos Sainz aborted his lap, barely disrupting his run plan in comparison with others.
“Sadly, I discovered myself in a state of affairs the place I did the primary and second sectors with Max Verstappen forward as he was making ready his tires, so I had numerous soiled air. Plus, the automotive’s steadiness wasn’t optimum. We had quite a lot of understeer with the tires, making it arduous to show the automotive.”
“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 straightforward below strain, and with this steadiness, it wasn’t simple as a result of it was straightforward 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 delicate tires. Moreover, Carlos Sainz needed to take care of the chance of exceeding monitor limits on his closing try, given he hadn’t set a time on his first run.
“Principally, I couldn’t get the automotive to show all through the lap. It was a troublesome lap as a result of it was my solely probability 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 verify I set a time. I feel tomorrow we’ll have the potential to enhance the automotive considerably, particularly with the delicate tires, and this could enable us to make progress,” Carlos Sainz added. After the dash race, groups may have a window to regulate setups, so what Ferrari learns at this time might show essential.
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