Scuderia Ferrari Spanish driver Carlos Sainz has confirmed that Red Bull and Mercedes’ pace in Sunday in the Hungarian Grand Prix came as a surprise to the Maranello team, who did not expect its rivals to be able to leapfrogging them as the Hungaroring weekend developed.
The F1-75 cars of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz looked very strong on Friday’s practice sessions at the Hungaroring in very hot conditions, but then lost all the pace advantage on Saturday and Sunday, as rain hit the circuit and the temperatures dropped. Carlos Sainz and his Maranello teammate Charles Leclerc were surprisingly beaten by the Mercedes of George Russell in the fight for pole position, with the Monegasque driver confirming “massive struggles” to get his tyres working in the much-changed conditions.
As for the Hungarian Grand Prix, Charles Leclerc seemed on course to take at least a second place finish, but in the end he had to settle for a lowly sixth-place finish due to some poorly-timed pitstops from the Maranello team and the use of Hard tyres, which did not work in those temperatures. Carlos Sainz finished fourth, behind the Red Bull of Max Verstappen and both Mercedes W13 cars.
In an interview for the media after the Hungaroring event, Carlos Sainz admitted that not being able to take at least a podium finish in Hungary following such a strong display in Friday practice came as a huge shock.
“It was definitely a bit of a surprise for us, because we were coming from dominating on Friday. We had mega pace on a hot track. We were clear on pace to everyone else. All of a sudden, Verstappen and [Lewis] Hamilton were flying [in the race], and we didn’t have the pace of Verstappen and Hamilton. We need to be honest with ourselves and analyse why, in these conditions, our car was not working very well, and we have to be better next time.” – the Spanish driver said.
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Carlos Sainz is confident the Maranello team can “regroup” and “analyse” during the summer break as they attempt to understand and solve the tyre issues and fight back starting with the Belgian Grand Prix:
“I think [in the race] clearly there was something on the conditions that didn’t help us. Already [on Saturday] we took a step backwards [from Friday] and we were not on pole, and [in the race] we took another step backwards, so I think there was something [wrong] on the car. We need to regroup, analyse what we can do better in these conditions, and I’m sure we will come back strong.” – Scuderia Ferrari Spanish driver Carlos Sainz concluded.
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