Carlos Sainz concluded his Saturday at Suzuka in sixth place, nearly a second behind the leader and three-tenths behind his teammate. However, the Spanish driver explained that, although Charles Leclerc had been very fast throughout the weekend, there were also his adjustments to the car’s setup behind this result. These modifications, however, didn’t work, prompting him to return to a basic setup.
Being nearly a second off the pace and three-tenths behind his teammate, Suzuka represents a bit of a rude awakening for Carlos Sainz after securing two pole positions between Monza and Singapore. However, the Spaniard believes there are reasons behind his challenging Japanese Saturday, which should not only be attributed to the characteristics of the track but also to how he prepared for the weekend.
Before arriving at Suzuka, Ferrari was well aware that this track would challenge some aspects of the SF-23, especially in the first sector. They aimed to compensate with strong engine performance on long straights and good cornering in the slow corners. However, they expected that the long, fast corners would strain the car, resulting in a gap of over three-tenths to the McLarens and about half a second behind pole-sitter Max Verstappen.
This led Carlos Sainz to explain that he spent part of his Friday experimenting with car setups to find something more for the fast and long curves at Suzuka: “It was an approach we needed because I wanted to try some things for this track to find something in these faster and longer corners we have here at Suzuka. We know that this type of corner is one of our weak points, and we knew even before coming here that it would be a more challenging circuit.”
“It wasn’t the best thing for my weekend and my qualifying preparation, but we know that a much better or cleaner lap wouldn’t have given me more. The McLarens are ahead, the Red Bulls are ahead, and it will be difficult to beat them,” Carlos Sainz explained before delving into his preparation plan and why it may have penalized him.
“This morning and yesterday, I tried to change several things regarding the setup and balance, trying to put the car in a different condition. But it didn’t work, and we had to revert to a more basic setup that I know. However, I didn’t have much time to get into the rhythm, and it compromised my entire weekend, but I’m still happy that I tried these things.”
“Charles did a very fast lap, but on my last lap, I didn’t have a particularly clean first sector, which accentuated the gap. But he was a tenth or two faster throughout the weekend. I was a bit distracted by trying out so many different setups, and I couldn’t get into the rhythm,” the Spaniard added.
Regarding the gap to the two McLarens, Carlos Sainz suggested that the gap in the first sector had a significant impact and that, starting from behind, it would be much more complicated to catch them tomorrow: “A bit of everything. Especially the first sector with fast corners, the McLaren is almost like the Red Bull in that section. While we are faster on the straights and in the slow corners. I think the McLaren should be at least a tenth faster tomorrow, which, over 50 laps, is a lot, even though a tenth seems like a little. But with the undercut, maybe we’ll have a chance; anything can happen.” – Scuderia Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz concluded at the end of the qualifying session for the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka.
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