Scuderia Ferrari Spanish driver Carlos Sainz confirmed that the new Ferrari low drag rear wing will be be useful in the Maranello team’s top speed battle against title-rivals Red Bull, but at the same time Carlos admitted that it is not in fact a game-changer.
The Italian side brought a new rear wing at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal two weeks ago, with the goal of increasing its straightline speed – a key factor where Red Bull has better in this first part of the 2022 Formula One season. In Canada Ferrari only had one such part available and it was decided, taking into consideration the fact that qualifying took place in wet conditions, that it would be better for Charles Leclerc to use it, because the Monegasque driver was starting from the back on Sunday, which meant there was no risk losing much if he crashed and damaged it.
For the British Grand Prix there was of course enough time to get more parts ready, which means that Carlos Sainz will also be using it at the Silverstone circuit, as Scuderia Ferrari are pushing hard to reduce the championship gap to Red Bull. The new rear wing should help the Maranello team with its top speed progress, which is an important step to being able to challenge and defeat Red Bull.
When asked whether the new low drag rear wing solution could turn the tables on Red Bull, Carlos Sainz explained: “It shouldn’t be a game changer in terms of our top speed and efficiency of the car, but every step that we do is a little help that goes in the right direction in order to make us more and more competitive. I think for sure they look at our qualifying speed and they say, how can we get there? And then we look at their top speeds and race pace and say how can we get there? It’s all about balance. We are both chasing each other and how to improve, and it’s a nice fight going on there also on development.” – he added.
The Spaniard was looking in a strong position to take his first F1 race win in Montreal, but eventually did not have quite have enough pace and top speed to overtake Max Verstappen in the final stages of the race.
There was of course the question of what may have happened had Carlos Sainz used the new lower drag rear wing at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, but the Spanish driver is not sure the straightline speed difference would have been enough to allow him to pass his rival:
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“I don’t think so. I think the speed was there all weekend. The pace was there, so the wing choice was the correct one. In terms of overtake ability, we know that with these cars, in order to overtake another car, you need to be more than half a second a lap quicker. Yes, we were quicker than Red Bull on many phases of the race, but it’s not like we were more than two or three tenths faster per lap, which is not enough overtaking delta. So with these cars, at least around Canada, if on top of that, we see that on the hairpin, we were not the strongest car, then the only spot to overtake was into the chicane, and you’re never going to really make it, So it all stacks up, it’s just circumstances.” – Scuderia Ferrari Spanish driver Carlos Sainz concluded.
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