Carlos Sainz’s professional future, which sees him leaving Ferrari, changed drastically when the Italian team announced the signing of Lewis Hamilton. Over the months, the options on the Spanish driver’s table have progressively increased. Audi, Williams, and then the addition of Alpine after the drastic end of the collaboration between Esteban Ocon and the French team. This interest was confirmed by Flavio Briatore, the new (so to speak) advisor of the French team. Red Bull and Mercedes have never been concretely interested in the Spaniard driver for different reasons.
The Austrian team renewed with Sergio Perez, although considering the underwhelming performances of the Mexican, it cannot be excluded that he might be replaced with internal options. Toto Wolff, taken aback by Lewis Hamilton’s departure, is trying to convince Max Verstappen to join the Silver Arrows. At the same time, he is watching with interest the growth of Andrea Kimi Antonelli, for whom an apprenticeship program consisting of intense private test sessions has been planned to determine if the young man is ready for the big leap to the top category.
It is rare to find a driver of Carlos Sainz’s caliber on the market at this point in the season. Indeed, his situation is very peculiar. The possibility of a sabbatical year could have its advantages if the available offers do not align with Carlos Sainz’s ambitions. On the other hand, he aims for the Formula 1 world title and does not want to play a mere supporting role. After the Austrian Grand Prix, in front of the media microphones after his 3rd place, he confessed to being satisfied as next year it will be very difficult to reach the podium.
This statement actually confirms his desire to be among the top 20 drivers in the world, but at the same time acknowledges the Spaniard’s awareness that, in all likelihood, it could be very difficult to immediately aim for the same level of competitiveness that Ferrari guaranteed him during his four years with the Prancing Horse. In this scenario, there is much talk and some suggest another option that could bear fruit in the long run.
Proposing a visionary opportunity for the son of the two-time Rally world champion is the former Scottish driver of Williams, McLaren, and Red Bull: Scotsman David Coulthard. According to the former F1 driver, Carlos Sainz should seriously consider the chance to stay within the historic Maranello team as a third driver. For David Coulthard, such a role would allow the Spanish driver to remain within a team that, at the end of Lewis Hamilton’s tenure, would allow him to aim for the Formula 1 world title.
An original idea, especially because it was formulated by a former driver of considerable success in F1. David Coulthard himself was catapulted into the Williams seat after the tragic events of Imola 1994, and from that moment on he had the opportunity to drive for several seasons in the winning cars designed by Adrian Newey, first at Williams and then at McLaren. Which driver who has already won Grand Prix races and achieved pole positions could ever think of planning two years as a tester and then hope to return through the main door, assuming Ferrari builds a winning car?
No one, and not even David Coulthard himself, would have smiled at such a possibility when he was still active. However, according to the Scottish driver, the three main options on Carlos Sainz’s table, Alpine, Audi, and Williams, will not allow him to fight for the title in the next three years. For this reason, it woul be better to remain employed in Maranello, suffer a bit but, at least, have the chance in the near future to achieve the much-desired goal.
Assuming that a former driver would hardly advise a young colleague to become a third driver even if it is with Scuderia Ferrari, David Coulthard’s suggestion might contain a subliminal message that is indecipherable to most. We are in the realm of hypotheses and bordering on fantasy, but what has been reported corresponds to the chronicles of F1. By a strange twist of fate, David Coulthard and Arian Newey have collaborated at Williams, McLaren, and finally at Red Bull. Perhaps it is the Scotsman who knows the brilliant English designer better and longer than anyone else.
David knows well that success at Red Bull did not come automatically with the hiring of the British designer, but it was necessary to build a team that could support Newey’s incredible insights. If it is true that the English engineer is considering the lavish offers from Ferrari and Aston Martin, why not suggest to Carlos to look towards Silverstone? Is the surreal stay at Ferrari as a tester suggested by Coulthard somehow linked to confidential information regarding the future of the legendary car designer.
In the meantime, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz are going through a difficult period at Ferrari. When the SF-24 doesn’t perform well, it often happens that Charles shows up disconsolate, if not furious, ignoring the instructions of his press officer Mia Djacic. To understand what has plagued the Ferrari, it’s necessary to listen to Carlos, who tries to explain the problems of the Italian car in an analytical and fairly clear manner. This approach is highly appreciated by the team because it does not fuel further controversy and allows the working group to base their actions on unemotional, straightforward information.
It goes without saying that the feedback from the technicians is certainly more detailed than the interviews given to the press at the end of the race. The contractual position of the Spaniard could lead him to a more biting and critical stance on the Prancing Horse. However, his statements have rarely appeared to be sharp or biased. In all likelihood, shortly, if it hasn’t already happened, the Spaniard will no longer participate in all the technical meetings. Especially, for obvious reasons, those concerning the 677 project, namely the 2025 car.
Carlos Sainz is free from constraints after learning that he is no longer part of Ferrari’s plans. For this reason, he has no problems providing an honest and very clear interpretation of what is happening with the SF-24, unlike the technicians and drivers bound to the Maranello team by long-term contracts. First of all, this aspect demonstrates the driver’s professionalism, and secondly, Carlos’s words from now until the end of the season will have significant weight because they are unbiased and reflect his professional outlook.
After the success of the first update that debuted at Imola, the second seasonal update package was supposed to elevate the SF-24 to McLaren’s performance levels to compete equally with Red Bull in every race. Unfortunately, the increased downforce seen in the simulator and wind tunnel data did not materialize on the track. On the contrary, a side effect known as bouncing, the nightmare of technicians and drivers, was triggered. For this reason, several comparative tests were carried out in Britain, highlighting the need to temporarily shelve the new package, which made the SF-24 less effective in high-speed corners.
At the end of the weekend at the Red Bull Ring, following the fortunate podium of car number 55, a confident Frederic Vasseur firmly declared that they would not revert to the pre-Spanish Grand Prix configuration. Instead, they would continue studying the new parts introduced in Barcelona. This intent was contradicted by what happened at Silverstone, where, following comparative tests with different floor versions, they decided to step back and return to the old specification.
Fred Vasseur hoped to mitigate the phenomenon through setup choices made after practice, thanks to the return to the classic weekend format for the British race. This situation did not materialize, as the technicians understood little, and the famous surplus of aerodynamic downforce did not appear. This condition is compounded by the even more important problem of the inability to achieve a balanced car. The SF-24 shows a setup blanket that is too short and cannot properly manage the balance between high and low speeds. A compromise that currently cannot be achieved.
Reducing the rear end means losing downforce that cannot be balanced by stiffening the suspension to handle fast corners. They tried this at Silverstone with poor results. Using the new medium-high downforce specification highlighted a serious flaw of the SF-24: drag resistance. The correct operating point of the Ferrari has been lost, confirmed by the lack of mechanical grip experienced in Austria. In practice, if the latest updates have not brought the expected step forward, the previous version suffers just as much.
Source: FUnoanalisitecnica
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