Carlos Sainz has revealed that Ferrari’s 2024 Formula 1 car is “behaving differently” in the simulator compared to the team’s troubled predecessor last season.
Ferrari’s bid to mount a renewed challenge for the title in 2023 was stymied by a capriciously performing SF-23 that was prone to displaying extreme inconsistency.
Although it landed the sole non-Red Bull win of the year through Sainz in Singapore, the Italian marque still lagged a colossal 454 points behind the reigning champions.
While Ferrari had the one-lap pace to trouble Red Bull and landed seven pole positions, the supreme long-run speed of the RB19 prevented its rivals from competing in races.
Along with Mercedes, Ferrari announced that it will be pursuing a revamped car concept for 2024 to eradicate the flaws that were ingrained within its previous design scheme.
When asked at the final round of last season in Abu Dhabi for an update, Sainz said: “I think we are going to have to wait until testing. It’s incredibly difficult to know.
“The car in the simulator is behaving differently for sure, but I think until we don’t put the car in 100 kilos and used tyres, it’s going to be impossible to see how the car is actually treating that tyre, treating the pace and how our race pace is going to be affected.
“That we will only know in Bahrain [for pre-season testing] when we put it on track and in the meantime we can focus on adding performance in the wind tunnel and trying to make it better and better.”
Having evolved the inwash bathtub sidepods conceived on its 2022 car, Ferrari abandoned that solution to converge on a version of the downwash philosophy pioneered by Red Bull.
Ferrari’s issue with rear-end instability prompted Sainz to pursue a set-up direction that dialled in more understeer, much to the detriment of his team-mate Charles Leclerc.
Despite claims throughout the campaign that he had been comfortable with its handling, Sainz has argued that he still endured “headaches” getting on top of the SF-23.
When asked how much he wants Ferrari’s 2024 challenger to change compared to the previous season’s machine, Sainz told Spanish newspaper AS: “A lot.
“It has been said that it is a car that suits me well, that I like. Honestly, it has given me headaches, not only to me. For my partner, for Ferrari, it is very difficult to understand.
“I don’t enjoy driving it, I had to adapt many things and I had to try many set-up things.
“I hope that in 2024 it will be more versatile and easier to drive and tune up. That we will have a better racing car.”
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