Carlos Sainz Concedes Ferrari Lagging Behind Rivals in 2024 Formula 1 Season
Despite securing his fifth podium finish of the season at the Austrian Grand Prix, Carlos Sainz has acknowledged that Ferrari’s rivals are currently a “step ahead” in the 2024 Formula 1 season. The Spanish driver capitalized on the collision between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris to take third place at the Red Bull Ring, but admitted that Mercedes and McLaren have a pace advantage.
Sainz, who is now 15 points behind teammate Charles Leclerc in the Formula 1 standings, believes that Ferrari maximized their weekend in Austria, but struggled to keep up with the leaders. “I think there wasn’t much more in it this weekend. I think we did a good job yesterday in qualifying and in the Sprint,” he said. “And today, you know, we set our targets in trying to beat the Mercedes. We managed to beat one, even if one of them got ahead.“
Sainz explained that Ferrari’s SF-24 lacked the pace to resist the charging McLaren of Oscar Piastri, who ultimately took second place. “Once I knew it was a podium, it was difficult to judge the level of risk that you can take, especially because Oscar was just quite a big step quicker than us this weekend,” he said.
Sainz’s comments come as Ferrari’s recent struggles continued, with the team’s SF-24 lagging behind the competition. When asked whether his third place showed Ferrari was back on track, Sainz answered, “I think if anything, it just proves that the last two weekends, they haven’t been easy… We’ve been always the first Ferrari finishing behind the first Mercedes.“
The Spanish driver emphasized that Ferrari needs to improve its high-speed cornering to get back on terms with its competitors. “Well, I see the factory pushing flat out to understand the troubles that we’ve hit in the last couple of weekends and trying to bring already for Silverstone a package that allows us to perform a bit better in the high-speed corners because it’s clearly been our weakness,” he explained.
With the British Grand Prix coming up, Sainz is hopeful that Ferrari can bring a step forward in performance. “We need to work hard. We need to understand what’s happened the last couple of races… And once we understand it, hopefully already for Silverstone, we can bring a step and improve our performance.“
Formula 1 fans will be keeping a close eye on Ferrari’s progress in the coming weeks, as the team looks to close the gap to its rivals in the Formula 1 calendar.
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