Ferrari still needs improvement. But as he said Carlos Sainz a few races ago, it takes time. After fighting for the podium until the end in Australia, now those in red will face a very different circuit as in Baku, a track that punishes the tires, with a very twisting sector 2, and a long straight of 2.1 kilometers where those in red can squeeze the power of their engine. . They need to show reliability with the engine and this event will once again be a litmus test in this regard, in addition to the difficulties that the new sprint weekend format will bring for all teams and drivers, with two qualifying sessions . In this context, Sainz wants to make it clear that his options in Baku are the same as in Australia, where he fought for third place, although he is confident that the performance of the car could be a little better.
“Last year we suffered a double retirement in Baku (due to reliability problems). After three races we now know the car better to understand the direction to follow in the expected evolution. Understand the strengths and weaknesses, ours and others, to fight back. That’s the goal”he says.
“Our chances in Baku will be similar to those in Melbourne, although I hope we will be more competitive.” commented the pilot from Madrid.
“I’m in favor of the sprint format”, said Carlos Sainz in the run-up to the Baku GP, which will be the main one before the change of format from the weekend to the sprint, with a short race on Saturday with the previous classification independent of what happens in the rest of the Grand Prix, with no Final affectation on Sunday’s starting positions. In this sense, Sainz emphasized how hard it is to push from the start in qualifying for the sprint race, which will take place on Saturday morning before the short sleeve, instead of the Free Practice 2. So, the riders are must go to their cars without practicing in Free Practice that morning, straight into the ‘qualy’ sprint.
“The ‘shoot-out’ qualifying session (on Saturday, before the sprint race) won’t be easy either because of the schedules and we need concentration right away. The sprint race is also exciting. We are tough, drivers. , but if it helps the product improvement… we do it”he commented.
“At the end we are racing and every lap counts so welcome. Get up and go straight to Q1 (Saturday morning), maybe I need to work out before or take a cold shower… because it’s going to be intense. More racing, more importantly, it will be difficult mentally and physically”, he added in this regard.
The march of Laurent Mekies
In addition, Sainz referred to the departure of one who acted as the race director of Ferrari, Laurent Mekies, who from next year will be the new AlphaTauri Principal Team replaced Franz Tost. This defeat joins one already announced by Ferrari from its former chief design engineer, David Sanchez at the start of the course.
“Mekies goodbye? On a personal level I say that he is a strong and valid person, but he will grow in his career, he will become a team manager (AlphaTauri) and he cannot deny it. But we are also restructuring the team and whoever comes in will make up for the losses incurred in recent months. I trust the approach and management of Vasseur (Frédéric, Ferrari Team Principal)”Said Sainz, trusting the management of the current head of Scuderia de Maranello.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
