Ferrari struggles in Miami
Carlos Sainz started the 2023 Formula One Miami Grand Prix in third position on the starting grid, while his Maranello teammate Charles Leclerc from seventh. The Monegasque finished the race at the Miami International Autodrome in Florida in seventh place, while Carlos Sainz lost two positions, giving way to George Russell’s Mercedes. It was an inevitably negative Sunday for the Maranello team, with Charles Leclerc also suffering from neck pain after yesterday’s incident in Qualifying in Q3.
While the SF-23 could dream of pole position and the front row on Saturday, the same cannot be said for Sunday. In fact, the problems with race pace were evident today, with Mercedes far better than Ferrari and Fernando Alonso already in his customary “island” of solitude in third place behind the Red Bull but ahead of any other competition.
Fred Vasseur’s comments after the fifth round of the 2023 Formula 1 campaign
“This race leaves me with a strange feeling, we were not in a good condition,” Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur told Sky Sport F1 microphones. “Qualifying was good yesterday, and the two drivers put everything together. Today we were inconsistent. In some parts of the race, the pace was good, while in others, we were lagging behind. It’s not a matter of tire degradation; we have to understand why we are so inconsistent, even though we found the pace.” – the French manager explained at the end of the race.
“I haven’t talked to the drivers yet, but it was pretty clear from the pit wall that there was a lot of inconsistency in performance. Charles struggled in the first part of the race, at one point he caught up with Gasly, I think, and had more or less the same pace as Carlos. The beginning was difficult, and we also lost positions in the opening lap, which was a shame,” he added, emphasizing that the overtaking maneuver suffered by Charles Leclerc between Turn 11 and Turn 12 by Kevin Magnussen on the first lap was decisive for the Monegasque’s race.
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“That’s why I talk about inconsistency because it was the opposite with Carlos Sainz. We have to be consistent throughout the race with both tire compounds if we want to achieve a result. It will be important to have the support of the fans in Imola. Today, we have to focus on the race, not the updates. We have to concentrate on consistency. Clearly, we will have updates in Imola, but they are not the main point. Red Bull? It’s impressive how they change their pace from Qualifying to the race,” Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur concluded.
