Carlos Sainz reveals how he adapts Ferrari SF-23 car to his driving style. Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz on how he adapts SF-23 to his driving style.

With only five races left in the championship, it can be clearly stated that the 2023 Formula 1 season for Scuderia Ferrari has proven to be quite complex, considering the results achieved and the performances displayed since the beginning of the year (with some occasional flashes of brilliance along the way). Looking at the data, the Prancing Horse, despite the triumphant expectations of the winter, has consistently struggled to extract the potential from the SF-23, which, despite being the evolution of the 2022 F1-75, has never been competitive or easily comprehensible for the engineers. This has led Ferrari to fall to third place among the constructors.

This situation has placed the red team not only behind the remarkable Red Bull but also behind teams like Mercedes (from the start of the championship) and previously Aston Martin and McLaren. This is a situation that the technicians and drivers at Ferrari are eager to overcome as soon as possible. To do this, they had to confront and address a series of significant problems with the car from the beginning of the season, the most crucial being tire management and degradation. For at least 50% of the races, tire management has been the real Achilles’ heel of the SF-23.

Carlos Sainz discussed this issue during a media session in the Losail paddock. The Spaniard emphasized that the work on tire understanding and management is far from over; it is ongoing and relentless, even with an eye on the future.

“We have worked very hard to manage the tires to the best of our ability, both as drivers and in terms of car setup. It’s ongoing work that we have been doing since the beginning of the season.”

In addition to tire management, the two drivers under Frédéric Vasseur have had to work during the races to make the car more suitable for their driving styles. They have tried various setup solutions to find the right balance and the necessary feeling with the car to perform at their best. Carlos prefers to do this work on the track rather than in the simulator, sacrificing some FP1 sessions on specific tracks.

“This season, I have always chosen certain Fridays to try new and different things on the car, especially from a mechanical perspective to make it more drivable and suitable for me. Sometimes, this work pays off in the same weekend you do it, and sometimes it doesn’t, but it certainly pays off in the long run.” – the Spaniard pointed out.