F1 | Sainz: “We have understood what is wrong with the new package”

The risk you run when you start developing a Formula 1 single-seater is that, if you make a few mistakes, you can find yourself in an instant going from challenging your rivals for victories to being cut off from the fight for the podium.

This is what is happening to Ferrari. 2 victories obtained up to Monaco and several podiums, then the introduction of the new package of innovations did not meet expectations in terms of performance, while rivals such as McLaren and Mercedes found the right path, managing to win 3 races (one Lando Norris, one George Russell and one – obtained yesterday at Silverstone – Lewis Hamilton).

Carlos Sainz, a driver who is very good at analyzing the situation and without any real constraints after learning that he was no longer part of Ferrari’s plans starting in 2025, gave an honest and very clear interpretation of what is happening both on the SF-24s and what has happened in Maranello over the last few weeks.

“We basically have the same car as Imola and from there everyone has made an upgrade and probably made their cars a few tenths faster, while we had to go back and we lost two or three months of performance gains in the wind tunnel and performance that we could have added in these three months, so it’s clear that in these weeks we haven’t taken the right path”, the Madrid driver candidly declared.

“I feel like today was at least a back-to-basics approach. We’re back to a car that we know went well in Imola and we just need to improve it from here on, but unfortunately our rivals are clearly one step ahead of us.”

The Silverstone weekend served as an opportunity for Ferrari to make comparisons between the old and new packages introduced a few weeks ago, accumulating the data needed to better understand how to make the innovations work for the rest of the season.

According to Sainz, this work has borne fruit. The Maranello team has understood what is the knot that restrains the performance of the Reds. But it will take time, days, in the wind tunnel to correct the aim and find the competitiveness that the Gestione Sportiva expected to have already in the last month.

“We are finding our way again, we have understood what we did wrong and what was the wrong direction we took. Now we need more time in the tunnel and in the factory to sort out the new package that really brings us performance, and not the problems we had in the last races.”