(Motorsports news) The Scuderia scored less than half of the points as the undisputed champion Red Bull, although they were still three points behind Mercedes in the constructors’ standings. Sainz and Charles Leclerc recorded seven pole positions in the 2023 car’s ability to contend in qualifying, but race pace was inadequate.
The group attempted to address the vehicle’s unsteady rear end by shifting the setup in favor of understeer. Leclerc was particularly stung by this. According to Sainz, driving the car model in the team simulator already seems different as Ferrari explores a new idea for the 2024 season. He responded, “I think we’re going to need to wait until testing,” when asked about the status, Sainz added. It is, in my opinion, quite hard to know.
“There’s no denying that the simulated automobile is acting differently. However, I believe it will be impossible to determine how the vehicle is actually handling the tires, how the pace will be affected, and how our race pace will be affected until we put the car in 100 kilograms of racing gasoline and used tires. “That we won’t know until we get it back on track in Bahrain [during testing].” We can just concentrate on trying to improve the car’s performance in the wind tunnel in the meanwhile.
In order to move closer to Red Bull, Sainz saw the SF-23’s strengths as having to be sacrificed. These strengths include straight-line speed, braking, short-corner performance, and the capacity to ride the kerbs. As part of this, the winner of the Singapore Grand Prix said Ferrari is now highly focused on achieving consistency in order to correct the inconsistent form that characterized its 2023 campaign.
“We understood it, so we just put it on track and try to make the most of it every weekend,” he said. We are, in my opinion, doing a far better job doing that. The possibility of such fluctuations in performance is nearly unfathomable. But it’s the modern equivalent of Formula 1. “At this point, we must ensure that we comprehend why the car is strong in some types of circuits and corners and why it is so weak in others.”
Also read: Alonso: Aston Martin “more than anyone else” deserved to win the Formula One in 2023
