Carlos Sainz admits Ferrari faced more challenges than expected at Spa but team will look more competitive in the next two rounds.
Q: At the end of the race George Russell had already caught up with you – were you sure you would have enough speed to get ahead of him?
Carlos Sainz: No. The situation was on the brink, because on the last set of rubber he drove three or four laps less than me, and on this track such a difference is very noticeable.
In the first two laps after the start everything was fine, but immediately after that a strong degradation of the rubber started and I realized that the level was higher than it should be. At the same time, Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez were in their own separate league – unfortunately we couldn’t resist anything, so we had to hold on somehow. We have yet to find out why we were not so quick in Spa.
The Zandvoort track should suit our car better – we will try to fight for the win there.
Q: So despite starting from pole, there was nothing you could do during the Grand Prix to put a fight on the Red Bull drivers?
Carlos Sainz: I do not think so. I think we’re all over it. They qualified well, they were strong in the race, they were better at working with tires, their cars are faster, both on the straights and in many corners. Unfortunately we just didn’t have enough speed this weekend.
Shortly after the start I felt the tires overheat, the car skidded heavily and it was impossible to stay ahead.
Q: Were you surprised by the extent of your backlog from Red Bull?
Carlos Sainz: To a certain extent. If we deny it, we would be prejudiced. We are surprised, because this gap has certainly become much wider. Over the course of the season, there has never been such a noticeable speed difference between our teams. Of course we didn’t expect this.
This means we have to go back to the basics of the team and analyze why we underperformed on the Belgian circuit. It is necessary to draw conclusions and try to increase the efficiency of the version of the aerodynamic body kit, designed for a low level of downforce, to Monza. Otherwise we’ll get in trouble there.
Q: How did warmer weather affect the speed of the car?
Carlos Sainz: I was hoping that when the track temperature is higher, the gap we saw in qualifying would get smaller – on Saturday it was close to 0.6-0.8 seconds. Apparently I was just hoping that my prospects in the race would be better and I was too optimistic. Unfortunately, the gap only got bigger and the car slipped even more.
But we can be happy with the fact that we finished third, and this is a normal result, as we simply couldn’t have done better.
Q: How can the new requirements of the technical regulations for the underside of the cars affect your speed?
Carlos Sainz: Frankly, they had no effect. I think the whole thing is just a combination of two factors: the characteristics of the track and the characteristics of our car, which Spa is not suited to. Let’s see what awaits us in Zandvoort.
The Dutch Grand Prix circuit requires a high level of downforce and we have to see what results we get there. Then it becomes clear to what extent my feelings are true. So far it’s a feeling, but this weekend we really lost something and our car wasn’t efficient enough in Spa.
Q: The Belgian Grand Prix has remained on the calendar and will be held again in Spa in 2023. Do you like it?
Carlos Sainz: I think the circuit in Spa is one of the best on the calendar. In addition, the organizers of the Grand Prix have done an amazing job doing its reconstruction. Some of the asphalt barrier zones have been replaced with gravel traps, the Eau Rouge has been made safer – all steps in the right direction and the track owners are to be congratulated.
We will be happy to return to this track in the future – I hope the Belgian Grand Prix will remain on the championship calendar for a long time to come.
Q: Are you very concerned about Monza, where the all-important Italian Grand Prix will be held? Considering how much advantage Red Bull had in Belgium, you may not have time to figure out the reasons for such a big gap?
Carlos Sainz: I think this is due to the characteristics of our machine’s characteristics. Definitely, on tracks that require a lot of downforce, we outperform where little downforce is needed. We’ve been seeing this trend since the beginning of the year and I wouldn’t be surprised if Red Bull is a little faster than us in Monza.
But of course we want to improve to give them a fight – that’s how it was in the previous phases of the season. Even in Baku we were able to stay ahead of them in qualifying and were ahead of the race until the problems started. I think conclusions will be drawn from what happened this weekend. There are still two weeks before the race in Monza and I hope that we will analyze everything in detail and I hope that in Italy we will have a more efficient car.
Source: F1 News
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