Carlos Sainz shared his expectations for the 2024 season in an interview with the team’s press service. The Ferrari driver hopes that he can compete for the title with the new SF-24.
Question: What was your impression when you first saw the SF-24?
Carlos Sainz: The first introduction to a new car is a special moment. I got a general impression of what kind of car I will be driving in 2024. It looks different than last year and I can’t wait to get behind the wheel. I’ve been waiting for a new car for the past few months and I finally got it.
Question: Without going into details, can a driver influence the design of the car?
Carlos Sainz: My contribution was to provide continuous technical feedback on last year’s car. During the development of the SF-24, I spent many hours in the simulator together with the engineers. My feedback consisted of describing the sensations of driving the car. I hope this made the car faster.
We spent many hours on the technical details of the new product. I hope that the work we have done will allow us to become faster this year.
Question: Have you tried the new product on the simulator yet? What impressions has she left behind?
Carlos Sainz: I don’t want to go into detail about how the car behaves in the simulator, as this is proprietary information that should only be available to the team. I can say that the behavior is different from last year, but this is what we aimed for, so that the drivers feel more confident behind the wheel and can squeeze more out of the car.
Last year it wasn’t easy, but I’m pretty sure we took a step in the right direction. Time will tell whether this will be enough.
Question: What differences do you expect the SF-24 will have from last year’s car?
Carlos Sainz: Of course we have tried to improve in every area. We want to fight for the title this year, but to do that we have to improve in all areas. This is what the team did all winter.
Question: What key areas does the car need to improve on this year?
Carlos Sainz: My wish is simple: that the cars become easier to drive. It is important that the machine has a larger working range. Last year we had problems in certain conditions, which meant that on some tracks we were not as good as we could have been.
At the beginning of last year it was difficult for us to predict the behavior of the car, but as the season progressed we managed to improve in this area. As I said, I hope the new car will be effective over a longer range, which will make racing easier.
Question: Do you think the competition between the teams will become closer this season?
Carlos Sainz: I assume this will be so. In 2023, competition in the entire peloton became fiercer at every race, and the results of the first, second and third parts of the qualifications turned out to be unpredictable: any team could drop out of further competition.
I think the competition will become even tighter in the new season, so every little thing that can help improve is important. This will be crucial as the battle is expected to be as tight as possible.
Source: F1 News
I am Christopher Clyde, an experienced journalist and content writer with a passion for sports. I have been writing about Formula 1 news for the past five years and am currently employed as an author at athletistic.com, one of the top sports websites in the US.
