Ferrari failed to “resolve its fundamental problems” for qualifying

The Ferraris of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc will start from seventh and fifth positions this Sunday in the main race in Qatar. The Spaniard admitted that despite the team's efforts, the drivers could not do anything to circumvent the limitations of the SF-24 on a circuit that does not suit it.

“It seems like our balance, our balance in the corners, our overall load in those long corners combined in fifth and sixth gear, is not as good as it should be.”he declared.

“I think we've tried everything possible with the soft tires to make better use of them: faster exit laps, slower exit laps, everything you can imagine, and we just seem to be hitting a limit as time goes on. that we could produce especially with Charles and the new floor, and me too with a slightly more difficult session. [que vendredi]. But that’s how it is.”

The characteristics of the Losail circuit, with its many fast, linked turns requiring the drivers to take the kerbs a lot, combined with cooler temperatures at this time of year, were not expected to favor the Ferrari.

After Saturday's sprint event, where Sainz and Leclerc finished fourth and fifth, the Scuderia made a few set-up changes before starting qualifying, although without much success: “We tried a lot of things”Sainz said. “Both in terms of setup and tire preparation. It didn’t seem to change our fundamental problems.”

“I think that with the preparation of the tires, we are talking about a last tenth [que l’on peut acquérir]. When you're three or four tenths short and you're seeing all the corners at medium speed, you're just lacking minimum speed and balance in the corners.”

The Spaniard remains convinced that there was nothing better to do in terms of results so far this weekend. However, the Ferrari driver's qualifying could have been managed better, which would have allowed him to start a higher position.

“So far I think we have maximized everything [en termes de points ce week-end]”Sainz said. “I should have qualified P6 instead of P7. I approached the last lap of Q3 without a car in front, therefore without aspiration. I don't know why we were at the head of the peloton, and [l’aspiration] these are normally a few free tenths on the straights. We probably ran out of time a little bit.”

“At the same time, Charles' 1'20″852 [meilleur temps du Monégasque en Q3] are the 1'20″852 that the car can more or less achieve. So yes, so far I think we are maximizing everything – but maximizing everything may not be enough.”

Ferrari's main objective at the end of the season remains the constructors' championship. McLaren's double in the sprint race puts the British team 30 points ahead of the Scuderia in the standings.

“We just need to finish in front of them and regardless of position”added Sainz. “Of course it's good for us if they don't win P1 and P2 – but even if they finish P3 and P4 and ahead of us, it will still be almost Mission Impossible in Abu Dhabi.”

Avec Stuart Codling