Carlos Sainz Issues Stark Warning on Ferrari’s 2024 F1 Car Limitations
Carlos Sainz has issued a stark warning that even maximizing Ferrari’s latest updates will not be enough to overcome the inherent characteristics of its 2024 Formula 1 car that are hindering its performance.
As the Formula 1 schedule reaches its midpoint, Ferrari finds itself struggling to keep pace with its rivals, with Sainz and teammate Charles Leclerc failing to secure a podium finish in the last two rounds. The Italian outfit’s latest upgrade package, introduced in Spain last weekend, has failed to yield the desired results, leaving Sainz to finish sixth and Leclerc seventh.
Sainz has expressed concerns that Ferrari’s weaknesses remain deeply ingrained in the SF-24’s architecture, and that even successful updates cannot eradicate these issues. “It just shows that even if the upgrades work, there are certain characteristics that you cannot solve with a simple upgrade,” he emphasized. “And we need to work on the whole package to become more competitive in these kind of tracks.”
The Spanish driver believes that Ferrari’s struggles are rooted in its car’s inability to perform optimally in long, combined corners, a trait that has been evident since the early stages of the 2024 Formula 1 season. “If you remember China and Suzuka, I told you before those tracks that I don’t think this is going to be a great track for the Ferrari, and it’s still the case,” Sainz recalled.
Sainz has also acknowledged that high-speed corners remain a weakness of the car, citing the bouncing he experienced through the high-speed corners in Barcelona as a major issue that needs to be addressed. “I agree with Charles that our main problem is combined, medium-speed and low-speed corners,” he said. “I do still think that high-speed remains a weakness of the car, just because I’m not a big fan of what the potential little bouncing that we have in the corners might do to the tyre.”
Despite Ferrari’s recent struggles, Sainz has rejected the notion that the team is experiencing a “slump” in competitiveness, instead crediting its rivals for making significant progress. “No. I think our set-up is the same as at the beginning of the year, we’re running the car very similar,” he said. “It’s the same car, we just upgraded it, putting more downforce on it, but our rivals are also upgrading and they are also making themselves quicker.”
As the Formula 1 standings continue to take shape, Ferrari finds itself in a precarious position, and Sainz’s warnings serve as a reminder that the team must focus on addressing its underlying weaknesses if it hopes to reclaim its spot at the top of the Formula 1 news cycle.
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