Carlos Sainz praised the work of Ferrari, which managed to make the SF-24 a car capable of winning and achieving doubles at the end of the season. After the developments shortly before mid-season, the car had become catastrophic to drive, as he details.
“I'm happy that the car is not bouncing as much and that it is in a correct window, because that is how a Formula 1 car should behave and perform” Sainz said. “What we had mid-season was unacceptable and undriveable.”
“The moment we created this, I'm happy that it stuck because it's the way an F1 car should behave and be, I'm happy that it turned out that way because it gives us a much better platform to work with and it’s just a more usable car.”
He admits to having been critical of his team, as he saw McLaren making F1 progress quickly: “I think all the teams have gone through a difficult period this year in terms of development. McLaren is perhaps the only one that has managed to make everything they have put into the car work.”
“But I think all the other teams on the grid had difficulties and it's the same for us. I didn't mince my words and I criticized those difficulties and the things that I didn't like in this package. But at the same time, I'm the first to praise the team's turnaround process from that point on.”
“The way we accepted it and bounced back from it shows great team strength and I think in that sense we bounced back really well and found ourselves in a good position.”
