Like his teammate Charles Leclerc, Carlos Sainz didn’t disguise 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 they’d been aggressive. Nonetheless, there’s additionally a observe of optimism for tomorrow, as Carlos Sainz believes there’s potential for marked enchancment.
The time set throughout FP1 got here underneath particular monitor situations, with the circuit hotter and wind depth increased than in qualifying. Furthermore, whereas Leclerc pushed laborious to attain his time, Carlos Sainz appeared extra cautious in cornering.
Even so, the automotive felt good, and the car steadiness appeared to function inside a strong efficiency window. The hope was to extract a powerful lead to qualifying, the place the SF-24 tends to wrestle, particularly when switching to smooth 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 constructive 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 working. The excellent news was that the automotive felt higher than anticipated by way of steadiness,” mentioned 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 in a position to exploit the aerodynamic load that had beforehand precipitated bouncing points, forcing them to boost their trip 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 perhaps quick right here, and that’s precisely what we noticed. I believe we didn’t absolutely optimize our package deal. Even on a clear lap, I had a number 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 making an attempt his preliminary lap on smooth 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 automotive, 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 automotive’s steadiness wasn’t optimum. We had a number of understeer with the tires, making it laborious to show the automotive.”
“I then needed to give the tires a breather for a few laps, and after I went for one more lap, the understeer was nonetheless current. However I wanted to set a time, and that was sufficient for fourth place. It wasn’t straightforward underneath strain, and with this steadiness, it wasn’t easy as a result of it was straightforward to exceed monitor limits. Now we all know what’s lacking for tomorrow.”
The main focus is on addressing or mitigating the understeer skilled all through qualifying, which grew to become much more pronounced in SQ3 with the smooth tires. Moreover, Carlos Sainz needed to cope with 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 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 automotive considerably, particularly with the smooth 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 in the present day may show essential.
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