Formula 1, safety car to blame for the next Ferrari bankruptcy?

umarkamran June 5, 2024

0 7 4 minutes read

The 2 predicted the entire Method 1 weekend Ferrari-Pilots for the British Grand Prix not good tempo within the race. And that additionally got here true on Sunday at Silverstone. As well as, Charles fell Leclerc and Carlos Sainz sufferer of the security automotive section. Ultimately, Leclerc and Sainz solely managed ninth and tenth place.

Security automotive section as set off for Ferrari crash?

Carlos Sainz on the British GP at Silverstone, Picture: LAT Pictures

The security automotive section triggered by Kevin Magnussen put the 2 Ferrari drivers in a dilemma: each drivers have been already within the pits. Whereas Sainz opted to remain out on onerous tyres, Leclerc – after only a few laps on the onerous tires – accomplished a second tire change to recent mediums.

“I came [auf den harten Reifen] back with a very strong pace. And then the safety car came out at the worst possible time,” Sainz complained after the race. All of the Spaniard’s plans fell through. Amusing: A few laps earlier, Sainz no longer knew exactly what the different strategy plans meant over the radio “A pit stop would have meant P10. Unstoppable P6, but I had positions to lose,” said Sainz about the opportunities he had during the safety car phase.

Ultimately, however, he left the decision to his team. This asked him to stay outside. “I thought to myself, why should I be on softs in P10 when I know that I’m competing against cars of the same speed on soft or medium tires,” explained the Ferrari driver. Only used softs were available to the Spaniard. “So I tried to hold my position with the hards. In the end we took the riskier option.”

It didn’t take long for Sergio Perez to come rushing to the fresh softs. “We made it three or four laps to Checo [Perez] overtook us in the Red Bull,” said the Spaniard. To the Spaniard’s disadvantage: He lost three positions within five corners. Not only Perez, but also Alexander Albon and teammate Leclerc grabbed Sainz. “When they pass, you have a bit of dirt on the tires and it’s always difficult when the others are on softer tires,” explained Sainz.

Teammate Leclerc, on the other hand, hardly blamed the safety car. From his point of view, Monegasse had no bad luck. “Honestly, the lack of pace put us in a position that would have been quite difficult to master in any situation. Then it looks like bad luck,” said the Ferrari driver. “The timing of the safety car was definitely not the best for us and it was very beneficial for other drivers.” His early pit stop – intended to prevent George Russell from undercutting – was his ultimate undoing. “The safety car came and we were overcut by most people,” Leclerc recalled. Instead of the safety car, the race pace was a thorn in the side of the Monegasque.

Ferrari’s Achilles heel strikes again

The two Ferrari drivers already complained about the pace of the SF-23 on the Friday practice session. The Ferrari is fast for one lap, but Sainz and Leclerc have to take it again in the race. With this knowledge, Leclerc and Sainz dreamed, starting fourth [Leclerc] and five [Sainz] prone, not even from a podium finish. “We knew the track [Silverstone] would be one of our worst because of the high speed corners. That’s one of the weaknesses of the car,” said the Monegasse. According to the driver, Ferrari is already working flat out on further developments for the high-speed corners.

But teammate Sainz sees it differently: “It’s not because of the high speed. We improved in Austria and were able to confirm that here, because over one lap and in the race we weren’t that bad in the high-speed corners.” Instead, the Spaniard points to a list of other problems with the SF-23: “It’s clearly due to tire degradation, tire force, sensitivity to wind and the unpredictability of the car,” says Sainz. The wind in particular caused major problems for the Ferrari drivers on the Silverstone Circuit. “If the wind shifts, our car will be extremely difficult,” said Leclerc. Sainz also struggled with traction when there was a tailwind.

When it comes to tire degradation, however, the two Ferrari drivers do not quite agree. “Our tires didn’t degrade any more than the others. It’s just that Mercedes and McLaren were significantly stronger than us,” said the Monegasque. Next time, the premier class will stop in Hungary. Here Leclerc’s hopes are significantly higher again: “In the next race, the track characteristics of our car should be a little better.”