Charles Leclerc k.o.
The Sunday experienced by Scuderia Ferrari at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir was certainly not what all the fans of the Maranello team expected ahead of the first round of the 2023 Formula 1 championship. The new Maranello SF-23 car has never been able to compete on par with the Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez and only the super start of Charles Leclerc has allowed the fans of the Italian side to dream – at least for the first stint – about the possibility of defeating at least one Red Bull car in Bahrain and finishing on the second step of the podium.
Soon, however, the wishes of fans collided with the harsh reality of how things stand for Ferrari in this start of the 2023 Formula 1 season: first Sergio Perez overtook the Monegasque #16 during the second stint and then Charles Leclerc himself had to wave the white flag due to an electrical problem with the power unit which forced him to a sad retirement while on his way to a third place finish that would have at least brought more points for Ferrari.
Carlos Sainz’s bouncing
At this point it was up to Carlos Sainz to try and save the day for the Italian team. The #55 Spaniard was unable to resist and defend against a charging Fernando Alonso, who ended up on the podium after a long time, thanks to a very impressive Aston Martin car.
Carlos Sainz was instead able to defend against the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton, finishing in fourth place at the checkered flag. Precisely during the battle that saw him opposing to the seven-time world champion, however, Carlos Sainz also had to find a way to manage the bouncing of his Ferrari. In fact, the SF-23 began to suffer from this issue on the straight which made the Spanish driver’s goal of fighting for a podium much more difficult:
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“Why am I bouncing so much?” – a worried Carlos Sainz asked his track engineer Riccardo Adami via radio during the 48th lap of the 2023 Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix, while pushing hard to stay ahead of the Mercedes. However, no concrete answer came from the pit wall: “We are checking, concentrate on the race”, was the laconic reply provided by Riccardo Adami. This is a further issue for Scuderia Ferrari to check and possibly improve in view of the next race weekend, which takes place in Saudi Arabia at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit.
