The most awaited pilot
Carlos Sainz he shows up this weekend in Japan as the winner of the last one Singapore Grand Prix, where he had obtained pole position and, above all, his first victory of the season. A significant success not only in terms of statistical data, having been the first non-Red Bull driver of this world championship to climb to the top step of the podium, but also in terms of how the triumph was achieved, with an intelligent strategic defense and at the same time risky in the final laps of the race.
The post-race celebrations
A move that, in the end, paid off 100%, with Ferrari’s first success after about a year and a half of waiting: “There were some nice celebrations after the victory in Singapore and I had fun with the whole team, mechanics and engineers – the Spaniard told the microphones of f1.com – we celebrated on a short night because we finished at 02:00 after the debrief, but we still had a lot of fun and it was great to see the team rejoicing after a difficult year which was hard for everyone. By doing so we gave everyone the opportunity to celebrate and it was a great moment.”
SF-23 suddenly competitive?
But what was the recipe that put Ferrari back in front of everyone at Marina Bay? For Sainz there was no specific technical intuition on the part of the engineers, but only and exclusively a set of factors that pushed the SF-23 to express the best of its potential, as happened in other circumstances during this season : “We put all the things togetherI don’t think the car suddenly became close to how I wanted it or how I would have wanted it, other than a setup change that would have helped me with the driving style – has explained – The car is still difficult to drivewe still struggle a little in long corners, but it’s also a car that on some occasions it can offer you the chance to take pole position as it happened to Charles in Baku, as it almost happened to us in Monaco and as we did in Monza and Singapore. It can therefore give us some good moments and we still want to relive them.”
More optimism
Sainz and Ferrari therefore arrive at Suzuka with the main intention of being able to give themselves a welcome encore, even if expectations do not completely smile on the Maranello team. However, after Singapore, nothing is impossible: “I think this it will be a more difficult weekend and which may re-present our limits, but at the same time I’m also more optimistic than before – he concluded – now I want to stay focused on the fact that if we can do a good lap in qualifying and then defend the position in the race like we did last weekend, looking a little more in the mirrors, a good result could come“.
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