The Spanish press does not spare criticism for Scuderia Ferrari: the newspaper Marca points the finger at the team’s treatment of Carlos Sainz. According to the Iberian newspaper, the Spanish driver’s Austrian race was ruined by the #55 team.
Hit by friendly fire: according to the Spanish press, Carlos Sainz’s sixth-place finish in Spielberg is entirely Ferrari’s fault. The heavy criticism appears in the columns of the MARCA newspaper.
According to the Iberian newspaper, Austria was the stage for “a new series of errors by Ferrari, which entangled and damaged Carlos in the first third of the race.” The reference is to the duel with Charles Leclerc: “Carlos Sainz had to settle for fourth place, despite being faster than his teammate and having driven better throughout the weekend. From the Ferrari pit wall, it was decided that Sainz should not attack Charles at the start, when he was faster. This ended up destroying the Spaniard,” reads marca.com.
“Sainz penalized by the FIA and also by the mechanics”
But the criticism does not stop there. In a small article titled “Ferrari’s Mental Block,” the newspaper writes: “As if that weren’t enough, Carlos was given a 5-second penalty for track limits. When he had to serve these five seconds, his mechanics added six for a total pit stop time of 9.4 seconds.”
“A matter of incompetence”
“Everything that could go wrong happened to Carlos again and again,” continues the Spanish press article. “Ferrari doesn’t do it on purpose, but slowing down the fastest car and then punishing it in strategy, instead of bringing it in one lap later, has no great explanations.”
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“Carlos complained about it over the radio, but everything seems useless when it comes to making logical decisions on that pit wall. For many years, they have made mistakes when difficulties arise,” it continues. “This will happen again to the Monegasque driver: because it doesn’t seem to be a matter of preferences but of incompetence.”
“Sainz would have finished second”
In conclusion, Marca accuses Ferrari of having “low ambitions,” considering a double podium possible, but with Carlos Sainz in front. “From Fred Vasseur’s words, it is clear that there had to be a sacrifice. It was Carlos’ turn.”
“If they had focused on the fastest pace in the race, Carlos Sainz would have finished second without penalties,” writes the Spanish newspaper, referring to the numerous track limits violations by Sainz that occurred “when he was recovering positions lost during the double pit stop.”
“Charles would have been in a fight with Checo for P3. But the choices were made without considering the possibility of a double podium. Very low ambitions for a car that is already the second best on the grid,” concludes the article.
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