Carlos Sainz admits “we didn’t have enough pace to recover” in 2024 F1 Canadian GP

The setback in Montreal was too bad to be true for Scuderia Ferrari. It’s clear something went wrong in the Maranello team’s garage. After the success on the streets of Monte Carlo in Monaco, expectations were different for the Canadian Grand Prix, but the weekend was a great disappointment: first came the exclusion of both cars in Q2, then a double retirement in the race, something that hadn’t happened in almost two years (Baku 2022).

But it is not the double zero points finish that is most concerning, but rather that the SF-24s never managed to be competitive. Carlos Sainz had contact with Valtteri Bottas and Daniel Ricciardo, which also damaged the front wing and floor (team principal Frederic Vasseur mentioned a loss of 20 points of downforce), but in the wet, there was simply no way to recover, as the Spanish driver himself explained.

“Honestly, it was one of those races where the pace never picked up. Obviously, we had some damage to the car because of a couple of contacts during the race, but today there was never enough pace to recover,” said Carlos Sainz.

Unfortunately, the retirement came at the best moment of his race, when the track was drying out and he had finally entered the points zone. However, he put the tires on a wet spot at turn 7 and spun, getting hit by Alex Albon’s Williams, who couldn’t avoid the collision.

“Only when we switched to slick tires towards the end of the race did I start to feel that maybe there was potential for some points, and I was beginning to get a bit faster. I was just trying to take some risks to overtake in the DRS trains, but I probably hit the wet in the second sector. I don’t know. It was very strange that I lost it halfway through the corner, ending our race like that. So yes, it was a very disappointing weekend for the whole team because we never managed to find a good rhythm.” – he pointed out.

However, according to Carlos Sainz, there is no need to overreact: “I believe Canada was a unique event, an isolated case, and we need to understand what happened as a team. It’s clear that others did something in qualifying with the tires to prepare them better. In the race, we got stuck and couldn’t move up.” – the Spanish driver continued.

The idea of continuing to challenge Red Bull and Max Verstappen should not end here: “I think both McLaren and Ferrari can be a threat to Red Bull, but it’s clear that we can’t afford to have more weekends like Canada. We need more weekends like in Monaco.” – Carlos Sainz concluded at the end of the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal.