Scuderia Ferrari F1 driver Carlos Sainz finished the sprint race in eighth place, earning a valuable point in the pursuit of second place in the constructor’s championship, the Maranello team’s stated goal for this final part of the season. However, two factors negatively influenced the Spaniard’s race: the degradation of used soft tires and the need to perform extensive lift-and-coast to control the high temperatures of the Power Unit.
The eighth-place finish is certainly not satisfying for Carlos Sainz, who is aware that Ferrari leaves this day with a few more doubts and a few less certainties. On one hand, there is optimism from Team Principal Fred Vasseur, who was well aware that the planned choice was to sacrifice the sprint race in favor of Sunday’s race, with the goal of achieving better tire degradation in the long race compared to Mercedes.
However, on the other hand, there is also a sense of realism because objectively, some elements had a significant impact on the performance of the two Ferraris in the sprint. For example, Carlos Sainz knew that not having a set of new soft tires would make it challenging in the shootout, suffering compared to rivals who could rely on fresher rubber. The second qualifying of the weekend ended with a ninth-place finish, forcing the Spaniard into an uphill sprint.
Other elements came into play, such as the degradation of the softer tire, clearly exacerbated by the many duels that saw Carlos Sainz fighting tooth and nail to defend his eighth-place finish. However, another crucial aspect is the management of engine temperatures, which reached significant peaks, requiring the Spaniard to perform about 350 meters of lift-and-coast on every single lap to cool internal components.
This issue had already occurred in Mexico, where the altitude of the track affects the available air for brakes and the engine. But it also had a significant impact in Brazil. After gaining a position at the start from Daniel Ricciardo, Carlos Sainz stayed behind Yuki Tsunoda, who had started the race on fresh soft tires. Staying behind another driver for a long time quickly raised the engine temperatures in car #55, making lift and coast, as indicated by the Ferrari engineers via radio, a top priority. However, with Daniel Ricciardo behind him, and unable to push during braking, the race was all about defense for the Spaniard, with unique lines that also affected the tire life.
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This prevented him from taking advantage of Lewis Hamilton’s late-race drop in performance, as Carlos Sainz had to spend most of his time watching his mirrors to contain his rivals’ attacks: “We started the day thinking of saving as many tire sets as possible for tomorrow. So, we knew today would be tough. What we didn’t expect, however, was to have to manage the engine temperatures so much; we did a lot of lift and coast. This cost us a lot of time today,” Carlos Sainz explained at the end of the Brazil Sprint race on Saturday.
“We didn’t expect to save as much today; we really had to do a lot of management [on the Power Unit’s temperatures], and hopefully, it will go better tomorrow. Today, I couldn’t push at all. We had more degradation than in other races, so we have to see what we can do for tomorrow,” added the Ferrari driver.
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