Carlos Sainz has revealed Ferrari’s decision to revert to an older specification in the British Grand Prix means it is “three months” down on Formula 1 car development.
Ferrari’s emergence as Red Bull’s closest contender earlier this season has dissipated in recent races since upgrades in Barcelona have caused bouncing to reappear.
The marque’s recent woes prompted it to experiment across practice in Silverstone as Sainz went back to the old package as Charles Leclerc continued with the new.
But while the data witnessed Leclerc also return to the Imola spec before FP3 to control the bouncing at high speed, Ferrari’s competitiveness lagged behind its rivals.
Sainz hauled his SF-24 into contention during the wet points in a mixed-conditions encounter, but he was powerless to match those ahead once it dried and took fifth.
The Spaniard has conceded that Ferrari being forced to undo its latest development work has placed it multiple months on the backfoot compared to the competition.
“It is clearly not good enough,” Sainz lamented.
“We have basically the same car as in Imola and since Imola everyone has upgraded, probably added two-tenths to the car and we have had to revert.
“We have lost two or three months of performance gain in the wind tunnel or performance we could have added in these three months, so clearly we haven’t taken the right calls recently.
“I feel like today was at least back-to-basics, back to a car which was in Imola and we just need to upgrade it from here. But it is clear that our rivals are a good step ahead of us.”
But Sainz gained positives from the execution on his side through the various crossover points as Leclerc rued a premature move to Intermediates that put him 14th.
“I think we did the maximum,” he said
“Especially in the middle of the race when it was slicks-on-wet, I managed to catch the podium positions by six or seven seconds in those conditions that I always enjoy.
“Honestly, all the calls were pretty much spot on, all the tyres, all the radio calls.
“It was just a shame we were not faster because I feel like we would have been 100% in the fight for the podium or the win.
“But [fifth] and a bonus point at the end with the fastest lap, so we need to be happy.”
Sainz has admitted Ferrari won’t be in contention at the top in Budapest or Spa-Francorchamps before the summer shutdown as it bids to address its recent setback.
The three-time F1 race winner has also hinted that the Maranello-based squad will switch between the two packages depending on the differing track characteristics.
“We will bounce in Turns 4 and 11 [in Hungary], but until something better comes we may have to live with bouncing for a while,” he explained.
“In high-speed tracks we might have to run the floor of this [older] package because if not, the other one is undriveable.
“I trust the team will make the right calls circuit-to-circuit until a more solid package, which is not bouncing in high-speed and good in low-speed, arrives and then we will start thinking about battling the top three teams again.”
