Carlos Sainz reckons the Qatar Grand Prix will mark Ferrari’s “biggest challenge” since introducing the updates that propelled the team into Formula 1 title contention.
Ferrari outscored McLaren once more last time out in Las Vegas to slash the gap to the leaders in the Constructors’ Championship to 24 points with two events to go.
However, Ferrari is braced to lose integral ground in the title race this weekend in Qatar amid the team’s suspicion that the track characteristics won’t suit its package.
Despite the changes that have inspired a late resurgence, the Italian marque’s SF-24 car has continued to possess a weakness in high speed relative to its main rivals.
The Lusail International Circuit is poised to expose that limitation as the venue comprises high-speed turns without the slow-speed corners to claw back the lost time.
But while he has admitted that the team’s prospects aren’t favourable, Sainz has stressed that Ferrari must ensure that it delivers the maximum points haul attainable.
“On paper the biggest challenge that we’re going to face since I think we’ve introduced these upgrades to the car that have made us perform better,” Sainz told media including Motorsport Week.
“Look at Mexico Sector 2, Austin Sector 1, Vegas Sector 1: whenever there’s been high-speed corners in a sector we haven’t been, out of the top 4 cars, we’ve never been fast.
“So if you join the fact that this track is smooth, it’s cold and it’s only those kind of corners then on paper we should struggle.
“At the same time, one thing is to struggle on performance one thing is the amount of points that you come out of the weekend and we need to make sure we maximise that.
“It could still be a tough weekend in terms of performance but then it could be a good weekend in terms of points.
“I’m hopeful that we can still execute a good weekend and maximise everything we have.”
Ferrari aiming to capitalise on Sprint weekend
Charles Leclerc has concurred with his team-mate’s assessment, but he has acknowledged that the Sprint format could give Ferrari the chance to spring a surprise.
“I think that realistically here, it’s going to be a bit more of a difficult weekend,” Leclerc agreed.
“However, it’s a Sprint weekend as well. And if we do things really right from the first few laps and the car is in the right place from the first laps in FP1, it can make a big difference and much bigger than any of the car characteristics we may have seen or anticipate for the weekend.
“So I think that on paper it doesn’t seem like it’s going to be our strongest track. However, things can still turn our way and we are super motivated to prove us wrong.”
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