Scuderia Ferrari Spanish driver Carlos Sainz feels that the Maranello team’s biggest Formula 1 “weakness” was even worse in the first round of the 2023 Formula 1 championship due to the special unique track surface which drivers raced on at the Bahrain International circuit in Sakhir.
The Spaniard started the Bahrain Grand Prix from fourth place and kept his position at the end of round 1, but overall it was a rather disappointing Sunday afternoon for the Ferrari man, given the fact that he could not keep pace with his Maranello teammate Charles Leclerc, who was forced to retire from the race in lap 41 due to a power unit issue. – until the Monegasque retired with an engine problem on Lap 41.
Charles Leclerc’s misfortune allowed Carlos Sainz to temporarily move up to third place, but the Spaniard was then overtaken by Fernando Alonso, who this year seems to finally be able to drive a car able to fighting for podium positions. The Ferrari man pointed out that it would have been useless to try and defend against the two-time Formula 1 world champion because his tyre were already “cooked” and at least it this way he was able to keep his fourth place against Lewis Hamilton, who was also faster in the last stint of the Bahrain Grand Prix.
The track surface of the Sakhir circuit is known for being one of the roughest on the Formula 1 calendar, given the fact that the surface has not been re-laid since the venue joined the F1 calendar almost two decades ago.
As a result, due to the very abrasive surface and heavy traction zones of the Bahrain International Circuit, the Sakhir track is always difficult in terms of tyre management, especially of the car is not kind with the compounds, a key aspect that Carlos Sainz has identified as the Maranello team’s “biggest weakness” in this start of the 2023 Formula 1 championship.
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“As you saw in my battle with Fernando – it also nearly cost me a position to Lewis – as soon as we push this car on these tyres, you just go backwards and you start degrading,” the Spaniard pointed out, a few days after the season opener in Bahrain – “It is clearly our biggest point of weakness and clearly Red Bull and Aston Martin are doing something with the tyres that we don’t fully understand. We need to find it because it is costing us in the race. I believe we can be competitive [in Jeddah] because the tarmac allows you to push more, there’s less deg. We only have one sample that is Bahrain with these cars, we’ve been here for seven days running these cars. It is clear what our problem is in Bahrain, so let’s see in Jeddah, with a different tarmac and it is a bit more front-limited which could help us.” – the Spaniard added.
After overtaking Lewis Hamilton with an amazing move on Lap 38, Fernando Alonso immediately recovered the gap to Carlos Sainz, passing the Ferrari on the run to Turn 11 seven laps later. Carlos Sainz is aware that the SF-23 car did not have the pace to challenge Aston Martin in the first round of the season and admitted that Fernando Alonso should have been in front of him from the early stages of the race based on the pace shown by each car, but the Aston Martin lost ground after the start and had to battle the two Mercedes cars.
“I knew at some point he was going to get past. I’m defending everything I can, but at some point also you’re cooking your tyres, and there’s Lewis behind, so you’re always there mentally knowing how much to push to keep him behind, but he was just a lot quicker today. He finished 10 seconds up the road, so it shows the pace advantage that he had and if he hadn’t had the trouble at the start, this moment would have arrived a lot earlier in the race.” – Scuderia Ferrari Spanish driver Carlos Sainz concluded.
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