F1 | Sainz: “Some problems with the brakes, but the SF-24 is fast here”

Monza, Azerbaijan and Singapore. Before the summer break, Frederic Vasseur had not hidden that this trio of races could have seen Ferrari fighting for a good result: so far a victory and a second place have arrived, but also in Marina Bay the Reds are raising the bar and are candidates to fight for the top positions.

Ambitions also legitimized by what was seen on Friday, with an SF-24 that was overall well-balanced and fast on a track that will need to be kept under constant observation, given the rain that will continue to cause the rubber laid down by the cars in free practice to slide off.

While Charles Leclerc was extremely fast from the very beginning, Carlos Sainz had a bit more difficulty finding the time than his teammate, with a gap of about four tenths from the Monegasque. The interesting thing is that a good part of this disadvantage comes from a few specific corners, such as Turn 8, the braking point of Turn 13, where today the two standard-bearers of the Maranello team tried different trajectories, and the last stretch that leads to the final straight.

In the rest of the lap, however, the gap does not seem to be so wide and marked, a sign that the Spaniard has to work on some specific sections, with the impression that there is also some difference in terms of braking and tire management in the search for time. Sainz also complained about problems with the brakes during the day: a problem that also occurred in Baku, where he was given a new set for FP2, but it is not unusual to hear the Prancing Horse drivers complain about the feeling with the brakes.

“It’s been a bit of a problem for our team this year, we’ve had some brake issues mostly on Fridays and today it was my turn to deal with those issues. I had a bit of an inconsistency in the brakes throughout FP2, we had a lot of issues out there which makes it difficult for you in terms of confidence and preparation for the weekend,” Sainz said in interviews explaining what happened to him.

“When we don’t have these problems and when we do clean laps, we are quite fast. So it’s not something that worries me, if we can put it all together,” added the Spaniard, before stressing however that the car has the potential to fight for a top result in the rest of the weekend. The main rival, at the moment, is clearly McLaren and, more specifically, Lando Norris, who proved to be the quicker of the two “papaya” drivers.

“I think we have a strong enough car to be in the fight with Lando, who is very quick, and I think Red Bull and Mercedes still have to show what they are capable of. So I think we have another interesting weekend ahead of us,” added the Ferrari driver.