Sainz is clear about the reason for Ferrari’s downfall in Mexico

He couldn’t even get out of the car he was carrying. Carlos Sainz maintained fifth place from the start in the face of attacks from charles leclerc and then imposed a higher speed than the Monegasque to finish in 5th position. He was faster than his teammate in qualifying and in the race and was comfortable in the car. That performance, on any other weekend, would have helped his battle for pole position and victory. But in Mexico, ferrari He suffered more from altitude problems, something that prevented him from fighting for better positions. Red Bull and Mercedes they are in another world and the best Sainz can do is finish 5th.

The explanation lies in the 2,238 meters of altitude of the Hermanos Rodríguez Autodrome. That causes the air density to drop by 25%, something that directly affects the engine. The turbo has to work harder to push more air and the engine cooling is more complicated, as are many other components. In addition, higher air density reduces the performance of aerodynamic components. All this affected the Italians more than their rivals.

Ferrari had to reduce power and downforce

According to ‘Auto Motor und Sport’ on Saturday, Ferrari had to reduce its engine power to protect the turbo and, in order not to lose as much speed in the straight because of that little power, has been forced to reduce drag on both of its cars, i.e. by removing downforce, which complicated things for them on the curve. That explains it Carlos made sure on Saturday that the car was left and right on all curves and very difficult to drive. Under these conditions, it is remarkable that the Spaniard suffered less than a Leclerc who was seen to be more tired in his car.

Carlos Sainz did not confirm this information about the reduction in power, but he indicated that the shots will go there at the end of the race, making sure that they were forced to “compromise the car”, which means a clear and well-known loss . of performance.

“We know we lost a lot in performance”

“No more in the car. Unfortunately, this was the worst weekend we’ve had so far. We know the compromises we have to make with the car for this type of altitude and circuit. We know that we lost a lot in performance compared to other races…”, commented the Spaniard on DAZN F1.

In this sense, he regretted being strong all weekend precisely in the Grand Prix where he had fewer weapons. “It’s a shame because for a weekend I was comfortable in the car, that I was attacking and I was running well in the car, because unfortunately there wasn’t much pace. But hey, at least I was able to finish the race and learn. I had two races without a run at least I learned and had a good career”, he added.

“How much trouble have we had with the machine? Certainly more than others. I don’t know how hard the others worked but we know that we lost a lot here”, he reiterated, clarifying that more than a spike in performance from Mercedes, the difference between the silver arrow is the Fall of Ferrari. He emphasized in this area that it is only a specific thing, due to the characteristics of the circuit, and what was seen in Mexico does not indicate what will happen in Brazil and Abu Dhabi, where he is confident that everything will return to normal. and they will have another car. competitive than Mercedes.

“I think more of us lost (performance). Saw that in Austin on a normal circuit we are still there, certainly not at the level of Red Bull, far from it, but Mercedes will certainly go to Brazil and Abu Dhabi does not worry us too much “.

The exit

“I attacked. In turn 1 I tried to go inside but I had to brake as soon as possible to avoid eating those in front (‘Checo’ Pérez) and then Charles took the opportunity to jump to the outside in the turn 1 and in turn 4 and I have to do it. bear with the guy, but well… I didn’t make a mistake, I think I went well, what happens here is always dirty and complicated when braking on the inside”, he said about his start , in which he. very well defended in 5th position against Leclerc. He couldn’t do more than he did after that.